PressurePros

12% in Florida should be cheap, plentiful and fresh.

Customer service is easy. Do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it and fix mistakes quickly and without hesitation. The equipment is secondary to your success. A new business owner has to make sure he has his/her ducks lined up and a way to make that phone ring. Spend some time in the marketing and advertising sections. Ask questions as they arise but not before reading everything. We'll see you in a week to ten days ;-) Welcome to TGS.

Find a supplier of 12% sodium hypochlorite.. otherwise known as liquid pool shock. You should be able to get it cheap down there. The e-spec product I used on houses was called emulsifier plus. Its bleach (sodium hypochlorite) friendly.

I agree, Rick. That's what I advocated to customers who purchased WoodZotic. I was generalizing about softer species decks. I've found that since we switched to a lesser solution of acid, we eliminated decks looking overly yellow or turning orange when using certain sealers. Deck stain consumption was also reduced by about 15%.

Dan, a deck will stain multiple shades darker on a caustic balanced deck. In addition, a slightly acidic environment will promote covalent bonding in drying oils. I think it is possible to balance a deck to within one measure of neutral with proper rinsing. That's why I downstream acid. You don't need a strong solution of it. It just makes the wood dryer and leaves it unnaturally white.

LOL.. nice going going Rick. We had a greenhorn on the hook and you blew it. :rotfl:

I hear the chemical we all use the most is on that list.. dihydrogen monoxide. Here's some good reading: Facts About Dihydrogen Monoxide

Its clean. I see stop and start lines in the last picture but that was intentional, yes? You have to put acid on after you use a stripper to neutralize and pH balance the wood. It will brighten up during that step.

$1500 job up here. $50/hr is a fast track to the poor house. A business owner is really only supposed to take 20% or so of the gross. An owner operator can take maybe 50%. So your actual pay would be $10/hr to $25/hr. Now factor that you don't really work 40 hrs a week when you account for rain, drive times, slow work periods etc.

Hail Zorro, the PW hack!

I agree "chemicals" is not a customer friendly term. "Chemicals" cause burns, release toxic fumes, kill plants, present risk to children and pets, etc. Since a person's perception is their reality, I am on the same page with you. There are other terms that accomplish the goal of letting people know that "landscape friendly cleaners" do the work.

:rotfl: He doesn't know.

Big Dawg, your production rates will go up as you get used to the new techniques. Also keep in mind that half the production rates you read about are BS. Do a good thorough job, charge enough to make profit and who cares what Joe Armchair pressure washing contractor is doing?

Adjust your unloader to keep your pressure below the pumps rated psi. It will not affect flow if you do it correctly. Its a good way to prevent that spike as well. I adjust my unloaders to bypass at 1500 psi or so. The key to not affecting flow is using the right nozzles.

You're welcome, Michael. It's easy to get caught up in trying to reinvent the wheel. We all have that technician in us that loves to tinker. That's the great thing about these boards. Someone else has usually done the hard work or experienced the mistakes already.

I'm probably down to about 10 decks or so before we call it a season up here. My numbers are down. I'm gonna have to go work for William to make ends meet this winter. :D

We're getting unseasonable temps here too. Three decks to finish today. Guys aren't starting til 9.. too much dew. Its an appropriate end to a lousy season for weather.

If the ventilation underneath is poor, you can count on it peeling in 1-2 years. If its adequate, you just have to keep on top of maintenance. A solid will cover everything, so don't worry about sanding marks. Did you use a random orbital?

Jim, I'd say 60% of my ipe customers now just want a percarb cleaning in the spring. I expect next year for that number to grow even more. Most people grow very tired of the expense.

Very cool.. great way to build the excitement.Looks like everyone had a great time.

Reconsider using a solid stain. I cannot get the full height of the deck from the pictures. How is the ventilation under the deck? That wood probably needs oil in the worst way.

Bravo Defy! To me, ipe staining is about one thing.. color retention. There is no need to condition or fortify the wood. Mother Nature took care of that with natural oils and extractives. I'll give it a look next year as well.

Meanwhile I sneeze at my phone and the call button stops working. I have bad luck with phones.

sodium hydroxide is a chemical and sodium hypochlorite (bleach) is a different chemical. Since you mentioned 12% I am assuming you mean sodium hypochlorite. The powder is calcium hypochlorite and is not usable in washing. It cannot be mixed strong enough and it leaves a film on everything.