PressurePros

Sure, if you'd like to do some exhaust work I have a huge job I need to book. 10 updraft fans with no hinges, a 50 foot back to back island canopy, a secondary 15 ft bakery canopy, and 50 filters. Lots of scraping and goop. By the time we're done you should pretty much know you won't want to do kitchen exhaust cleaning LOL. I'll email you, Brian.

Glass Etching is a nightmare you do NOT want to experience. Using e-specs housewash I mixed it a tad too hot. It was a very sunny day with a nice breeze. Of course, the residence I was doing had just enough non windowed wall to keep it from being called a green house. I thoroughly wet all the windows before applying chem. The problem was I moved to quickly along. I decided to coat the entire side of the house with chem... Usually fine using a milder soap. My fault for not being cautious with a new chemical. By the time I got back to rinse the windows, maybe eight minutes, the windows were dried. No amount of rinsing at that point did much to help. I had to get on a ladder and polish each and every window with compound. (Ironically e-spec sell this too, imagine that) I think my helper made more per hour that day than I did.

I use very thin mill plastic over flowers if I have to go heavy on chlorine. I have learned to tone down my chemicals a bit because plastic is a real pain when its windy, especially the thin stuff. If its very hot, (above 90 and sunny) I don't care how much you wet down, foliage surfaces will dry out and thats when they are susceptible. Most guys have said they never had a problem with browning plants. I think the customers just never complained to them about it. Besides, its no big deal. I did my house as a tester last year and didn't even wet anything first. Two days later my house looked like it was transplanted from June back to the middle of January. A month later everything came back more vibrant than ever. Though I have not done this to any of my customers (I check) I still have a disclaimer in my proposal/contract. I also wet and rewet any cars within 100 feet if I'm using an X-Jet full bore. Also watch your caustics around sealed decks.

I guess its a fine line.. Do you wait until all your ducks are lined up before you take the leap? I would have preffered to start with a brand new truck, but I found the cleanest one I could find in my budget and ran with it. My point is, where does professionalism mesh with ego? Or for that matter, insecurity? If one is afraid to take on a job he or she knows they can tackle, yet don't have the latest in pumps, chems or gadgets is that being professional or timid? After all, I'm sure all of us have rigged together parts and pieces to finish a job or hammered a nail with the end of a wrench at some point or another. There is more than one way to skin a cat. "Beware the lollipop of mediocrity. If you lick it once, you suck forever" <---- That is classic!

I had an equally poor response from espec. They had thier sale catalog online with the assicaited discount prices. The sale said ends in September and this was October 2nd. Seeing as they still had the prices posted online I put together a $900 order. I voiced my displeasure many times to the lady answering when she said there was nothing she could do. I asked her to put someone on I could talk to. After all, I was a new customer and I couldn't see the problem with giving me the prices. She wouldn't budge. I was not in the mood to fight and I placed the order reluctantly (and was UNIMPRESSED with the chems) On top of that, after they gave me the final billing during that call I get a message on my voice mail informing that they were billing me an additional $50. No explaination, nothing. I will NEVER do business with them again. I'm glad TGS is now carrying housewash chems. Beth look forward to a nice order in the spring.

Hye Cujo, you are correct for the most part. Regardless of your capital you cannot buy integrity. But, low cash flow can affect the way you are percieved. Case in point... Pull up in the Sanford and Son truck rusty and backfiring and have less than all the tools you need and your professionalism (as percieved by the customer) goes out the window.

Excellent job. How much would a homeowner expect to pay for a strip and seal job on a log home?

1) Appearance (personal, employees, truck and work area) 2) Underpromise/Overdeliver -- "I will use everything in my extensive arsenal to make this driveway look like new, but many times oil stains are not completely removable..at the very worst it will look far better than it does now" 3) Stay in contact with the customer (confirmation call the day before and show up next day ON TIME) 4) Tricks of the trade to look larger than you may actually be: • Company Logo • Company identified uniform • Toll Free phone number • Glossy stock, raised letter business cards 5) Proper tools and equipment to do the job properly and knowlege of their use 6) Detailed, thought out proposals/estimates with FINAL cost set in writing. No deviations 7) Always treat the customer with dignity and respect. Most contractor's have serious ego issues and will discount a customer's questions with wise remarks. The customer signs the check, arrogance may write its own check that can't be cashed. 8) FOLLOW UP: I send an after report to my commercial and residential customers alerting them to any problems I may have found. I also include a thank you note, tell them about my other services, and mention that they are added to my database and will be called when service is due again. Finally I enclose a little plastic covered "portfolio" of the BEFORE and AFTER photos of their job. If you don't have a printer, digital camera and a little experience in computer graphic work, it definitely goes a long way to get these things.

Lowballer, leads on price..period. Not, "I'll do the best job", "I pay careful attention to details", "we are professional, courteous and neat".. just splash and dash, slam bam thank you ma'am, hooked up, spray water and be gone before customer can even blink. Can they be efficient and do a good job? Sometimes. But I'm telling you, if I saw a guy hook up and leave in an hour's time, I would be looking for stuff that is wrong and when I found it, I would kick myself for getting exactly what I paid for. I can buy three $1000 machines, bag the insurance, pay some college kids $9 an hour and send them all over SE PA doing $100 housewashes. I guarantee I can make alot of money doing it and probably not even have to work myself. I'd be a lowballer. I wouldn't even keep a customer database as I wouldn't expect repeat business. Mike asked what the threshold of lowballing is. Here is my formula.. all legitimate business owners know what it costs per job to turn the key on their trucks. If a guy is selling jobs for that price or pennies over it, he is shortcutting insurance and integrity and is a lowballer. Staying on track with the original topic of the thread.. New guys have to pick where they want to be in the marketplace. If 10 hour days, 6 back breaking days a week are something you don't mind, then by all means go after a huge customer base with cheap pricing. Herein lies the problem.. a guy that does this has no time to manage the paperwork, the sales, labor, growth, have a family or even enjoy quality of life. Not my business model... thats just buying a job. I'll pass and enjoy managed growth with a loyal customer base. I can always go down in price if the market dictates it. What chance do you have of raising prices if price was your number one selling point to begin with ??

I had a jar break in my car.. I don't think I will ever be able to eat a pickle again. I used Fabreeze heavy duty and it worked well. I have also heard vanilla extract mixed one tablespoon into a spray bottle works well for covering odors. Good luck.

You're right, Mike.. if someone is playing on level ground and has the same overheads but has refined his business for maximum efficiency and can offer the $99 housewash and make money... great. But the original thread is about new businesses. Liken it to me starting a small retail operation and trying to match Walmart's prices. Would I last long? 3 percent profit margin is not alot, but when you consider Walmart does $9,000,000,000 a year in sales.. 270 million is not a bad net profit Ryan, I agree about Best Buys and all these corporate supercenter outlets. By setting themselves up with low margins they need to resort to unscrupulous tactics.. Walmarts earnings are up... know why? They just increased their foreign goods import ratio. I find it ironic that there are a ton of people ignorant to the realities of business structure that say "Buy American"! on one hand and then go to Walmart to buy goods. Hypocrisy at its best. Ok let me step down from my pulpit.

Don't know, I left them for a better position with a financial consulting firm in 1998. Macy's would not be in business otherwise. Walmart opened in 1962. They now answer to Wall Street with expected 20% annual growth. Not exactly appealing to the masses, manipulating the masses might be more accurate.

yes and thats the definition of working hard NOT smart. BeYoung, you're missing the big picture here. In the nineties I was a sales trainer for Tweeter. Tweeter is a nationwide retailer that sells high end audio video but they also sell your basic Sony and Mitsubishi TV's. Now you're familiar with BestBuys right? Little company that sells TV's, phones, computers etc. How about if I told you Tweeter with 1/20 th of the locations and and 1/50 of the sales volume made just about the same amount of profit in 1997? Working SMART not HARD. So Walmart is the biggest retailer in the world? I'm not impressed. I don't need the ego of walking around saying I do the most volume. Unless your volume is growing exponentially against your shrinking profit margin, you're going out of business. So far Walmart is pulling it off, and that is admirable, but trust me, I don't think there are too many Sam Walton's in this business. Its a huge gamble. I'd rather have a smaller, tight and LOYAL customer base that I service again and again.. Increasing my customer count gradually with higher end customers. This takes sales skill and customer service. I realize some people don't like selling service and would rather be just "busy". Great, in fact I need more of that kind around here. Makes my business plan all the more viable as "the new standard in pressure washing" A little PS for Walmart fanatics: ..trust me on this.. walmart does NOT operate on a 28% profit margin. Walmart operates on a 19% gross and 2.8% net profit margin. Their wages are pitiful and they make health benefits out of reach to their employees by charging a high percentage of salary to have them. Let me go get my flag and wave it for the "biggest retailer in the WORLD !" ::big rasberry:::

Laughing my ass off.... so true

Beth/Rod. I am glad to see someone finally is adressing the side of this business that is lacking. There are plenty of archived threads on which chemical, which machine, which applicator etc. Just about every customer I have dealt with views powerwashing as some hillbilly that shows up in a Fred Sanford pickup, a home depot machine and the ability to wreck everything in the path of water. There are a strong number of people on this board that are working to change the perception of the industry, you guys being two of them. I applaud your efforts and dedication.

No reason whatsoever you have to be a lowballer unless you commit the fatal mistakes of starting any business. 1) No business plan 2) Under Capitalized 3) No long term dedication 4) Lack of sales/marketing ability If you don't set realistic income goals short and long term, you may be shocked. I added up my residential work for the past year that wasn't already an existing commercial account for me. In other words, jobs I had to hustle for via advertising..the total gross? 33 grand. Minus my expenses that would have netted me about $13 grand. Can a guy that has a wife at home, a couple kids, a mortgage and all the misc payments live on that? You need capitilization or alternate income to get you through the very lean first years. If I did not have restaurants to keep me busy, I would have been sitting around 2-3 days a week with nothing to do but worrying about how I was going to make payroll. The first logical instinct of course is to drum up more business. So you plaster signs all over God's country for $99 housewashes. Now you bought yourself alot of hardwork for the same end result. In my opinion, there is nowhere for that plan to go but down the drain. John, good post especially the last line. There will always be customers that shop solely on price. They go to Walmart and Home Depot and are fine with mediocre products and results. These people I don't need because if I drop my pants on price I lose money and the next guy that comes along and underbids me by ten dollars gets their business. Both business philosophies work or Walmart and Macy's wouldn't stay in business. For me it comes to a simplified plan..work smart not hard.

Wow, 3500 SF of very dirty concrete (with gum!) including chemical application and edges, with no helper in an hour? That is superb.

Ok, I have posted on here about the labor intensive process I go through when beautifying a residential property. Up here there is not much competition, and for a 4000 sq ft house you can expect about $700-$800. For me this includes gutters scrubbed outside and all debris cleaned out. Also I use a two step process on most houses with a bleach/caustic followed by an acid because many of the houses are a mix of stone and siding or dryvit. If there are statues or fountains on the property I do them as well. I also include walkways and small patios. All the screens are also removed from the windows so the channels can drain and my helper can apply brightener to them. Every window is also brushed and squeeg'd. No stone is left unturned and I have never even browned a plant let alone kiled one. I am very proud of my work and it is a complete labor of love for me. If you're wondering why I am going on and on it is because I know there are going to be customers that are not willing to pay for this kind of thoroughness. I am pondering offering levels of cleaning.. Silver, Gold, and Platinum perhaps. Example of platinum would be the above. Silver might be a one step chemical cleaning process, Xjet only, no gutter scrubbing, no extras included. My thinking is this... You can advertise the silver cleaning then have a chance to upsell. The customer doesn't have to accept the platinum as I make equal profit margin from either process. Its not bait and switch just gives the customer a choice. What do you think? I think its win/win

$12.50 is exactly what I pay for a five gallon container also, with a break of another dollar per container if I buy five at a shot. I tried negotiating lower, but he told me thats what all his contractor's pay and some of them use alot more than I do. Everything is pricier here though. Chlorine represents 2% of what I charge on my average housewash so for me, shopping around to save two dollars here and two dollars there is pointless.

My biggest account makes me carry 10. Prior to that it was one million aggregate

For those of us that do KEC, the best are the Asian restaurants. "You do for less I pay cash"? Which is an easy one... "Sure, how much less do I pay for a quart of Lo Mein if I pay cash"?

Hey John, just wanted to touch base with you. I never got a call from this guy. Did he end up finding someone local? Ken

I have to agree with Scott on this one. Unless you are talking about spraying the chems with an X-Jet from the ground (which so far, of the twenty or so roofs I have done, I have not been able to do once) Lugging a high pressure hose up a ladder is not only dangerous its not neccessary.

Last week I mounted a 25 gallon tank on the top of my bucket truck. Espec sells a tank that is predrilled to mount a Shurflo. I ran lines through the roof to a backup battery mounted inside the vehicle which is attached to the charging system for the lift. 200 feet of 1/2" line with a 3.6 gpm pump. Flow shutoff valve mounted at the end of the line. Mechanical switch at the battery to shutoff juice when not in use. No more priming problems when attached to the X-Jet and an excellent sprayer for roofs or deck chems. I used it yesterday and it cut major time from my house wash. Drawbacks: Its more involved cleaning out a 25 gallon tank than it is rinsing 5 gal buckets. Also, I have to use a ladder to get the chems into my tank. All in all though, completely worthwhile. As an interesting aside, the customer was a contractor. He looks at the rig with all the various hoses, pumps etc and comments "I told my wife there was more to this than just renting a pressure washer from Home Depot"

Nick, I rarely get fuzzing on PT lumber, especially with the EFC. Whats your technique? Do you go over 500 psi at the nozzle? On a new deck that still needed cleaning I mixed the EFC about 6 oz per gallon and rinsed after fifteen minutes. Followed immediately with an acid bath and throrough rinsing I didn't experience any fuzzing even on the rails. I only recently started using the EFC though. Maybe Beth can help you out here.