PressurePros

The deck I had no problem with..it's the cedar shake roof that I am unsure how to bid. I don't know whether to tell him 2K or three times that. Any ideas or thoughts from your roof guys?

That sounds way too high. Even if it takes you all day to do one of the three story units. With one helper, no lift rental you might shoot for $650 per building. The two story units, I would think $450 apiece 2 per day. I would feel comfortable bidding $5000 for the whole job. I think at over ten g'd they will politely (or maybe not so politely) tell you to walk.

Or is it the wave of the past just making it retro-chic? Ok, the fire has been stirred. What's the deal with downstreaming for house washing? You mean I spent hours awake at night thinking about how my rig is to be setup, what chemical ratios work correctly etc. and now some are figuring out the old methods are the better way? Questions.... 1) What tips can you use to get an effective spray height? 2) What type of downstreamer are you using to get an effective level of hypochlorite to the house? 3) What effect is the housewash going to have over the long haul on QC's, fitting and hoses? 4) What type of detergent are you using that defies the laws of mixing and allows you to mix powdered crystals into a strong enough concentrate to be downstreamed? 5) Is this a situation dependant application or do those of you trying this think it will work for most housewashes?

Thanks guys for the offers. I have the problem resolved (thank you to the southern goddess whom came to the rescue (though I ended up finding something more local, I called Gary and told him I was okay). Ordinarily I would have called the customer and rescheduled but the pool guys are coming to open this lady's pool on Friday and they cannot reschedule for next week and she is having a party next friday and has been insistent on getting this thing done. It's a $2500 job and the clients are crucial to another very expanded project. I had put her off one day already..thanks again to those that came to offer aid.

Hey Craig, I missed that picture when you posted it. Ahhh the good old days. I'm a small guy (about 5'8 190 now) I used to weigh 215 with a 32" waist. I was thick. I'm a genetic mesomorph. I gain muscle very quickly but I can also gain an equal amount of fat if I don't watch my carb intake. I was also on the Vitamin S program for awhile so I built up my muscle level to abnormal levels for a guy my height. Here is a more recent pic. Did someone mention a wheelbarrow full of concrete?

BOTTOM LINE: (and this may be harsh or offensive to some) If one can't convince a person that their company would be a better choice using high powered machinery around their 100K, 500K, 1M dollar house, then some uninsured, on-the-job chain smokin', underequipped, undertrained, non-certified hack, then you may need to re-examine your ability to sell. Cry "but my market only bears..."" til you are blue in the face. If this is true and your market will positively not feed the kids and pay the mortgage, then I say you ventured into this blindly without making sure of the economic viability of your business and you need to go back to working for someone. This is not targeted at anyone or meant to cut anyone down. Even if only one person reads this and says to himself.. "Ken's right, I have what it takes to make my business successful. I will put aside the excuses and the blame and do WHATEVER IT TAKES to make this thing work", this industry will be elevated into being viewed as a real service. It's up to us as a new age of cleaning contractors to change things. I promise to switch to decaf cofee next week. :dancing: Have a good day all.

Washaway: "PressurePros, I'm not sure of what your demographics are like but I have to admit that around here, in my experience, it is the middle class that will pay for quality of service and the Macy's shoppers will tend to be cheaper and pickier then anything." I follow where you are going with your train of thought, I just don't know if I agree with where it ends up. Macy's is a mid to upper level department store. People that shop there want customer service and quality of goods. These people are not the level of wealth that buys Pravda or shops for Armani. When I was in college I worked for Macy's during the holidays. Many of the products we sold were also sold at competing stores for less money. My point is, someone convinced these people that shopping at higher ends stores is a more pleasant experience that yields better results. Money aside, they are right. Customers don't get grunted at by some undertrained, unmotivated saleperson that is not only counting down the time 'til her next cigarette break, but let's you know exactly how much she hates her job by her actions and expressions. Higher end companies exist not only for those that can comfortably afford them, but for people that want an overall pleasant experience. If someone wants to nitpick, they are paying me for the right to do so (within reason of course).

Philip, I hear you loud and clear about the winter hurting you financially. This will be my first winter without pressure washing work though I have other ventures to keep me busy. The focus of my business (under my Grease Doctor™ subsidiary) for the last five years has been restaraunt exhaust cleaning. That kept a positive cash flow for those months when residential work would have been nil.

Very nice, good job! ::looking down and back up::: My rig seems so small now.

Jon has a good point. The best compromise I have found is to do tiered price work and be discilplined with it. Compete with the "lowballers" by offering soap on, soap off housewash. Mix some dollar store dish liquid and bleach. X-Jet on, X-Jet off. No brushing, rinse well and you're out. I find when you offer competetive pricing in your proposal you get your foot in the door. So far this season I have done about 20 housewashes. Initially, 12 of them were my highest level, platinum. Of the remaining 8, I had five homeowners come to me after seeing the kind of work I do and say "Is it too late for us to upgrade and have you brush the gutters and do the sidewalk?" It's also true about demographics. If you want a single home in my area, 1/2 acre you better be prepared to part with a half million or more.

Very sad, Philip. I am sorry to hear you have a bunch of wannabes to compete against. The problem with them is when one disappears, two more pop up so it's an ongoing price war that you lose every time. At 40k a year I would sell my equipment and go to McCollege to learn the art of burger flipping. I am starting to understand what you southern guys are up against. Don't throw in the towel just yet. Tough markets demand the next level of strategy. You need to refocus your demographic. What group is seeing your advertising? You need to refine your sales pitch. Find out what buttons to push to drive sales. Everyone is out to save a buck, rich and poor alike. But if the dollar was always the bottom line, everyone would drive a Kia, drink Piels and shop at a wholesale club. The fact that Lexus, Sam Adams and Macy's are still in business is a testament to finding the right people to target. Let those hacks work their ****** off for the cable and electric bill and beer money. Eventually your name will be your guiding light and people will know that if they want your level of service they have to pay for it. This is why I warn people venturing into this business (or any business) don't go in undercapitalized. You need a safety net so you can ride out the storm and find your niche. i really wish you the best, Philip. you sound like you have it together. Hang in..pray and stay grateful..you will be rewarded

That the less pressure you use to strip, the better the old sealer comes off? My #12 took a dump today and the next larger nozzle I had was a #20 (about 350 psi on my machine) I liked the results much better. I was able to move more quickly. Have I been breathing in too much chemical or is there a physical reason for this?

I was using HD at 1/3 cup per g. Fifteen minute dwell on PT with 3 year old Cabot's semi trans on it. No furring. I am still refining the dwell time with HD-80. It's very potent and the urge to make it a little hotter for faster effect can come back to bite you. The only time I really get the annoying fuzz is on Cedar.

The strangest request I had was two years ago before I really got into residential work full time. A customer had me wash her house after we took over her restaurant exhaust cleaning. She started talking about her dioceased brother and husband. Then she asks me if I can clean tombstones.. sure, okay, Ill take a look. Well the plots are on her property about 350 ft from the water supply. I told her it would cost her too much.. she insisted so I did them. They were so moldy and dirty I couldn't make out the markings. I cleaned one and it came out very nicely. I get to the second one and as I can make out the name, I had to go back and look at the first one. Same exact name and birthdate on each stone only the dates of death were different. I was too stunned to even ask questions. The longer I stayed there I started feeling like I was in a Stephen King novel.

Jon, I'm not familiar with this procedure. More details?

A local company, ETS, carries Biowash. I used it once. Was very expensive and maybe it was my technique (I forgot to hug a tree and smell a flower before I applied it) but it was lousy compared to NaOH

I don't know that you need all those containers. I separate sprayers and mixing drums as "caustics", "acids" and "bleach". As long as you know which one is which, you are fine. But I guess Don already covered that.

There is a guy I talked to last week. He actually brags to people he has no insurance. He tells them it keeps his overhead lower and he can pass that savings on to the customer. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This guy also ragged on me for using "chemicals" on decks. Hot water and pressure is all you need, young fella. Yeah okay. He washes siding with high pressure from a ladder. He has been in business fifteen years and he says he has only had to replace minor damage here and there. The best part though is, I have come acrossed his estimates in the field. He is not much cheaper than me because his archaic method takes forever. There is nothing you can do about it except to educate your customer. My brochure has a section called "Is Your Contractor Up To Standard". In most cases, one whoopsie too many puts these guys out of business. Now when it comes to fire supression and KEC, a restaurant has to be boneheaded not to verify insurance (and 80% of my former customers in this end of the business never asked me)

Everything I have found on this stuff is way over my head. What is it doing for you that a standard surfactant is not? Does it allow you lower your chlorine ratio? That would interest me. I am paranoid about hurting expensive landscaping I come acrossed very often. The xterior link was dead when i tried it.

It has been sunny, warm with no wind (except the past couple of days) here in the Philly area. Of course I was doing mostly estimating and selling and now that I started really working (two jobs per day for the next 12 straight days) the weather changes. If the weather semi cooperates, May will come in at 20% above my expected gross.... ::doing the NO RAIN dance:::

Ugggggh, sounds like fun. Hd-80 at 8 oz/gal should hit it

So far some good information here. I think the most important thing in the beginning is to get your name out there. Local papers, Val Pak, Phone book at first. Then target marketing for your neighborhood with magnets. People love magnets. Someone on here (maybe Roger and Celeste?) went around with door hangers that explained if a person wanted a free estimate for washing they should stick an enclosed dot onto the door hanger and put it back on their door. I thought that was an excellent idea.

Good job, you are on your way to more work than you can handle. Stay strong.

Artillery or shotgun fungus as it's affectionately known, is the closest thing to impossible to remove you will come a crossed. High pressure, low pressure with chems, hot water, scrping, I still haven't found an effective way to remove the attached spores.