PressurePros

Graffitti on a fence is often brutal to remove. The VOC's carry the paint straight through stain and embed the pigment into the wood. At the very least you are looking at a complete strip of that area. (my guess without seeing any pics)

no, but I know a guy that is okay at marketing with a high ranking website ;)

Dan, you'll "hate" that . ;-)

Dan, I can only speak for myself. I have multiple business holdings, bought my first piece of real estate in Oct and of course have a strong position in the DIY market. RAD is going to be my focus over the winter. I have a feeling DIY is going to be booming in '09.

One thing I have learned with both an education in economics and 20 years of owning businesses.. Nobody is truly smart enough to predict the economy with any accuracy. I was just on a blog that predicted that there was no way gas prices would fall below $3.85. On that blog are ten+ replies agreeing with the author. $1.69 here in Philly Metro. For every person that foretold of disaster, there was another MBA or Phd saying the opposite. Not many predicted the deflationary cycle we are going through. Some saw the housing crises happening while the experts in our government let it occur. I doubt anyone can say they "saw it coming" with anymore pride than having a lucky guess. The same can be said for how long this will last or how bad it will get. The reality is.. here we are. I still say commercial washers are going to feel it hardest. Malls are falling into disrepair. Large retailers are running for the shelter of bankruptcy. People are spending less and less money while retailers drop their margins to get a larger piece of the shrinking pie. The commercial real estate market is now also in crisis. Anchor stores in shopping centers aren't paying rent. Restaurant chains are filing bankruptcy. Gas stations gross sales are going to be way down from falling prices. Property managers are going to be tightening belts. Homeowners are going to start foregoing maintenance. I still won't put the doom and gloom spin. Its just time for all good business owners to be proactive. Make sure all your eggs are not in one basket.

There is a long thread which was probably just before your time on here where this topic was discussed. "Private" is used loosely when it involves a forum. As soon as someone joins, its no longer private. I am unsure of Beth's policy regarding validating companies but I can speak for the ***** forum. Starting January first, we will research anyone that we do not recognize and omit their membership from the forum if we cannot verify their business information. This is the first step towards privatizing the forum (some sections, not all) for ***** members. Its a fine line you have to walk when taking this step. The PWNA caught a ton of flack for going "members only". If you find that thread, you will find a bunch of dissension on privatizing some forums here as well. One advantage to keeping it open is that the pages are indexed in Google. This can help potential customers find you. That too is a double edged sword as anything you write from lockeroom humor to political affiliation can be construed the wrong way and turn someone off.

You don't really have a choice but to let it go til spring unles we get a seriously warm January.

1. 700 hundred gas stations at an average of say $110 per =$77,000 2. Traveling three states averaging 6 per day (which seems like a long day with covering things, windshield time, setup, customer interference, etc)= 140 days for one crew. 3. Fuel for 140 work days: approx $1600 4. Chems: $3500 5. Payroll for a one man show with helper: $21,000 (a real employee at $10/hr with matching taxes and workmen's comp) 6. Equipment depreciation, vehicle wear and tear and other indirect costs: $2500 7. Lodging expenses at $70/night (factoring in that half of days would not require lodging): $4900. Costs: $33,500 Gross profit $43,500 10% to company for net profit: $4350 Leaving $39,150 for owner/operator. That works out to $279 per work day. During the peak of the season? AJ, I am curious to hear how this worked out for you.

I like the Aldon sealers.

That can happen when you apply a solvent based sealer onto masonry that is not completely dry. When you get the opportunity, fill out your signature line so we all know whom you are.

Go to HD and get one small bottle of "TSP substitute" which is actually sodium metasilicate (the active ingredient in Citrakleen). Also get a bottle of good quality car wash. Meguiar's etc.. something with wax in it. How much you use will depend on your method for applying chems. Add your sodium hypochlorite and you have an outstanding basic wash formula that removes everything and won't film windows.

Do you perform cleaning or not?

Now I am really confused.. From your other thread: Which one is it?

"Combining an acidic compound with an alkaline compound produces a salt. pH Acid Alkaline balance

When an acid is combined with a caustic, a salt is formed. Extensive rinsing should be the final part in any chemical restoration/cleaning.

The last question on the poll sums up a lot. If one's knowlege of flow and applicable pressure is limited to naming colors of a nozzle, then they really don't have a clue as to what they are doing. Spread pattern (the various colors that come with a machine) do not determine the pressure leaving the nozzle, the orifice determines that. How fast you can clean has almost nothing to do with pressure with maybe the exception of concrete. I do understand the theories of "cleaning units" but in the real world flow determines how quickly a job can be done.

Looks like you may have jumped out of the pan and into the fire. I do hope you stay here and read many of the back threads. Your methods and suggestions for cleaning are antiquated. On a positive note, I do admire your marketing efforts and skills.

I could achieve utter perfection in any job whether it be a house wash, a deck job or cleaning and selaing a strip of concrete. Two things preclude me from adapting a policy of perfection. Profitability and customer satisfaction. The profitability needs little explaination. There would be too much diminishing return in the time spent trying to upsell three and four trips to a single job site and/or the time spent achieving perfection. ie. I could probably push the ultimate restoration on a deck but would customers pay $1800 (not counting carpentry) to have a 12'x20' deck restored when in one year it would look markedly faded and in two years it could look crappy again? Would I be setting a precedence of perfection that would not lend itself to just maintenance cleaning and restaining every couple of years? The customer satisfaction angle is one some contractors don't have a grasp upon. People are not paying for a pressure washing job. They are paying for the benefits that come from it. Yes, a customer wants a good job and may even believe they want perfection but they are not willing to pay for it. In an exterior environment, its silly to even ask them to pay for it. Dan, even in an interior paint job, there will be flaws revealed if someone sticks their nose 6" from the surface. People also want little inconvenience. The very nature of having a contractor on their property is an inconvenience. Having to keep their furniture off the deck while the stain cures is an inconvenience. Prolonging that inconvenience can hurt you more than it can help your sale. I have added sanding all deck floors as part of my service. After doing this (deck work) for awhile, I have noticed a big difference in decks that were sanded.. a more even finish and better penetration of sealer. To set nails and sand the average deck adds maybe an hour to the job. I've settled on adding $.15 per s.f to my base pricing to keep it profitable. If you are using a good surfactant with your acid, it will pentrate farther into the wood than sanding will remove. So first trip is clean and pH balance and second trip is sand, blow and stain.

Hmmm, I have not had the same experience with the adjustable A-frame/extension ladders. I have two of them and they are covered in stain, regularly recieve doses of stripper and acid and sometimes bleach. Both are kept on the trucks year round and exposed to elements. One is newer but the three year old one has never been oiled and operates the same way as the day I bought it. I'm guesstimating but I am confident in saying it has been involved in at least 150 projects.

Dave, I would still recommend a taller A frame. Get yourself one of those Little Giant type adjustables. They are very stable and you can adjust one side to compensate for hills. In addition, those ladders can break off into two smaller A-frames that you can plank. For the $200 bucks or so they are a great investment.

Nice job, Pete! Was that an acrylic strip? Looks like some type of water borne.

I am going to assume you are asking about the Little Giant knockoffs made by the companies you mentioned. I have a Werner and its been great. The only thing I cannot give you is a direct comparison in weight because I have never had my hands on a Little Giant brand.

I think there was another type of website at one time that had a similar area for contractors to post about deadbeat customers. I don't know what ultimately happened, but I heard there were leagl issues that arose. Maybe the webmaster at uradeadbeat dot com could elaborate.

Definitely a candidate for a maintenance staining after a light bleach cleaning. Not sure how it is going to look after the winter.

I'm glad you cleared that up Kevin.. was much clearer the second time around. :think: