Henry Bockman

Dan's right, just use a good house washing product. We use Power House from Sun Brite Supply. That mixed with some bleach will remove almost anything, even black streaks from gutters if you mix it strong enough.

I just posted on another BBS that if your around long enough some bozo is going to come out of the woodwork and bash you. It's not personal, it's just one of those things! Beth and I have had a an issue or two in the past and we've both put it behind us and moved on. If two heavy duty competitors like Beth and I can put the past behind us and move on I don't see why anyone else on here can't do it. Come on folks, we live TWO BLOCKS from each other and compete against each other in the real world. You know, the face to face one where it really matters? Unfortuanetly a lot of people misinterpet posts online. One misplaced comma or period and the post takes on a whole different meaning from what was intended. Carlos's and Beth's last few posts prove it! I've started focusing on running my companies over the last year or so instead of trolling on BBS's and it's done amazing things for my bank account, I'd highly recommend everyone focus on running a business instead of getting all tied up in BBS's. I think Beth is doing a hell of a job here at TGS and I don't think anyone really understands just how much time is invested in running a BBS. Her and Rod spend a lot of time on here trying to help people out, they sure don't need to deal with meaningless BS.

I've got three decksters and I love them. Occasionally we use them for applying roof wash and they hold up to it well. However, they won't hold up to hydrofloric acid. The only problems I've ever had with the Decksters were the pump bulb, an occasional air leak from the hose connections and I broke a pump body once when I pushed something into it. And of course the hydrofloric acid incident..lol I've never had a problem with the fold down handle for holding my stain, I'm not sure why it folds down though. I think the Decker 5's use a different motor and pump body but I'm not positive. How much are the Decker 5's?

I think most of us use low pressure for washing houses.

Hey Beth, I got the same call.. Just for kicks I decided to see what they had to say. I'll let you know what I find out. Maybe I'll get to have some fun or maybe I'll get to make some money. I doubt it will be the latter though!

I've made quite a few tools for downstreaming and for downstreaming at the gun and they all have their place on some jobs and they all work fairly well but not nearly as good as a real x jet. For example, were in the process of finishing up 11 buildings this week and were downstreaming those with some homemade tips. Then I'm going to VA Beach to do some other buildings with my home made downstreamer and a bunch of shopping centers, then I'm going to frederick for two more buildings when I get back, then I go to the Georgia RT for a few days off. Then I start a complex in Laurel of 40 buildings using a foamer I made. Most of these buildings are small so I don't have to shoot more than 40' up at the most.

I agree with Lance, we rarely if ever, meet a client to give them a bid. As a matter of fact I'd say 75% of my customers we've never even met! I don't have a problem meeting them but in most cases it's just not possible. I'm actually the opposite of most contractors, if a customer wants to meet me or one of my techs for an estimate we are rarely able to do it, were just too busy doing the jobs. Sometimes we call them when were on the way out to their house to bid a job and they can meet us but it's the exception, not the rule in my case. Could I charge more if we met with them? Probably but I'm definetly not low balling anything. We speak with the customer on the phone, explain our services, estimate the job, do a follow up call and sell the job based on our conversations and the information we leave with our bid. When someone says don't you "want" to meet me to estimate the job? I tell them I'd love to meet with them but in this day and age everyone works and most companies that insist on meeting with you are only doing so in order to "SELL" you on a job and charge as much as they can. I tell them I don't want to "SELL YOU". Then I tell them I'm a home owner myself and I hate high pressure sales techniques, as much as I hate seeing people destroy property using high pressure cleaning techniques. Then I say MR. (Mrs) Smith, I want to "earn your trust" through an honest bid, high quality service, and our 20 years of experience without forcing you to take time off work or away from your family to get it. We close 75% of our bids with this technique and I have time to spend relaxing with the family on weekends.

I get the same calls too Beth. I think they want to compare everyones prices in the area so they can "undercut" us. That's fine let them try! On deck cleaning and sealing they have to have a license. On house washing with that 2-4GPM power washer they will take all day to wash a house and end up making no money in the end. I don't mind helping other guys out when they start up either but I agree, if they were only honest when calling to figure out pricing they would get a lot more usable information. Sometimes I call them back about 20 minutes later as a follow up call to see if they have any questions.. <G> That's when it get's really fun!

Great article Tom, I love when the media contact us like that. I've had local papers and the occasional TV news contact us for segments on pressure washing. I may have some jobs in Fredericksburg coming up soon from some trade shows I've done recently. If I'm down your way estimating some jobs I'll try to get in touch with you. Or give me a call if you like on my cell at 240-274-0300. I'll be looking at some complexes down there.

You can also convert a 24' extension wand into a sprayer using a deckster. I converted one of mine to stain a cedar sided home about 5 years ago and it worked like a champ.

If the sealer on the decks is oil based you might create a small oil slick. I'd be careful about anything getting in the water, if oil from the sealer gets in the water and drifts on to the yacht next door you could have some real unhappy locals that may report you for violating the Clean Water Act. I'm suprised that DNR would give you a letter approving you to do the job. Even plain water with no chems is going to break free some of the oil and other chems from the lumber and dump it into the bay. Personally, I'd pass on the job, I don't want that kind of media coverage...

Usually there are two or four bolts that hold it in place, if you look closely you will see two threaded holes in the pully that don't line up with any threads, take two of the bolts and place them in the threaded holes in the pulley, and slowly tighten them down equally, this will pull the pulley off. Your pump and pulley may vary but this is usually how it's done.