Henry Bockman

The funny part is this: Check out the bottom left hand of the site. Copyright 2011 Clean County Powerwashing. All rights reserved.

I'd like to run a poll and get as many people as possible to vote. Think about it for a minute, we work with pretty extreme pressure, temperatures, and some pretty nasty chemicals to do our jobs. Take into consideration that some deck strippers are rated at 13 on the Ph scale. Some of the acids we use are rated at 1 or 2 on the Ph scale. Think about the amount of damage that 4,000 PSI can cause in inexperienced hands to wood, siding and concrete. Should'nt there be some type of protection for consumers against these extremes? I honestly believe that pressure washing should have it's own government codes (Cage ect) We have those now! We should have our own insurance codes. We have those now I heard! Wouldn't the next logical step to make pressure washing a recognized industry be some type of licensing requirements? This will also help to seperate us from companies that are working for extra cash on weekends, and to help raise the bar and protect consumers. I vote yes, pressure washing companies should be licensed.

I can't believe I started this thread a year ago and it's still going on. It looks like most people agree that we should be licensed though.

I dont get it, why aren't you paying yourself as part of your wages/salary? Don't you deserve a good salary for being responsible for everything? I won't share my numbers and it wouldn't matter if I did, pressure washing is only about 30% of my business. I am planning on doubling my gross profit margin this year over last year though.

The PWNA needs better internet exposure but there are already enough BBS's to stir BS up on. An org spends more time trying to manage its image on a BBS than the good a BBS would do. The PWNA should focus on communicating with its membership and doing more for its members. This new EPA thing where you pay to get a sticker for each rig is kind of silly and I don't see any benefit in it except for the org to make money off bumper stickers, how will that benefit members?

If you like give me a call I'm really big into networking and I can help you set something up in your area with some guys I know up there.

He tried to sell it to me about 5 years ago, I wasn't interested and I have no idea what happened to it.

Mike (gutterdog) is right, the best product to use on sealing those gutter seams is OSI or some type of silicone caulk. Normally when you first install the gutters you would spread some OSI into the joints, top and bottom, that way when you put it all together you have double protection.

That's what I'd like to do, get a lot of contractors involved. The MHIC did not want a large group addressing them the first time though, they wanted to see if there was any merit in it first. Now that they've decided there isn't enough of a reason to pursue licensing because not that many people care, we can prove to them that there is a need for it.

What the hell kind of advice is this??? Limestone is a very soft surface to clean. DO NOT use a turbo on limestone. If you do, it will cut it up and abrade the surface of the stone. DO NOT use strait bleach on it either, it can turn it orange. My suggestion would be to contact Prosoco, they have the best customeer support around, Eachochem has dissapointed me too many times in the past. I would suggest using Limestone Restorer, if you need soap, sometimes very hot water at 600 PSI will clean it up just fine. If you have any questions feel free to give me a call, we clean a lot of limestone, brick, marble and other substrates and I'd be happy to talk you through it.

Hey Beth, if you still have her number, ask her to contact the MD Home Improvement commission and ask for: Executive director Steve Smitson He needs to hear about situations like this so that maybe when I go through with my appeal something will be done to change it. I'd also like to get other local contractors involved as well. Let me know if your interested.

Can someone please forward me a copy of this in word please? henry@henryshousework.com

Hey Nitro, do you have a website or are you still running yellow book ads and similiar stuff? I know of a lot of guys who never ventured out on the web and they started to slow down. Give me a call sometime, maybe I can give you some fresh new ideas.

AND, you post on bulletin boards..lol Why can't you clean gutters, power wash or do roof repairs in the rain? Sure it stinks but it's still doable, my crews are out every day doing it. Try cold calling, contact past clients, meeting property managers, passing out fliers ect ect..

Season starting to wind down??? Are you kidding me? Dog keep marketing, pressure washing houses will run close to Thankgsving usually, and gutter cleaning season is just around the corner. Don't but the new equipment yet though, hang on to your money until March or April, those pumps won't do you much good until then anyway.

I had to laugh when I saw the comment about the smell. I used to use a product called ABRx100 before I switched to Ready Seal, man that stuff could put you in the dog house for weeks..lol Ready Seal doesn't bother me at all, it just smells like money!

I've been using Ready Seal for 6 years now and it's definetly our favorite sealer. Why did I choose Ready Seal? I won't risk my companies reputation on new products that don't have a history of use and maintenance in my area. I won't use products that the manufacturer is constantly making changes to without notifying me. I won't use products that can be bought in a hardware store. I won't use surface coating products.

I really miss the old PWNA website, they had really good rankings when I was doing it but they don't seem to be showing up very well anymore. I wonder how much traffic they are getting now, they used to average 200-300 visitors a day.

I may be able to make it, things are going really well on all four sites so I should be able to sneak away for a day or so.

I'm not going to make it, I'll be doing 4 buildings that week. I will be able to make it to the ***** show though and I'm taking my gun to go alligator hunting. Man we had a great time in SC hunting all night.

Next week there will be a picture of me up there too with... something. LOL

This is my post... I've already done the rest.

I'm going and looking forward to it.

I usually refer the painted decks that need to be stripped to the low ballers when they balk at my price. I just say hey, sorry but there's a lot of time and material that's going to be invested in this job. Then I say if the price is out of your range I hear there's a company doing decks for $99.00 for decks up to 200SF. Just go on Google and type in deck cleaning, then click on the ads at the top of the page.

So far were up 75k and reinvesting some of that money in more equipment to expand. Lots of new start ups in the area but a lot of guys are shutting down too so things are averaging out fairly well. I'm in the process of building another 20GPM trailer rig that should be done in about two weeks with 3 500' electric hose reels, a roof cleaning system and a new acid spraying rig.