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Henry Bockman

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Posts posted by Henry Bockman

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Hey Charlie, contact your cell company, they should be able to give you all the numbers you called, and the ones that called you.

    Use this as an opportunity to close sales you thought you lost before. Follow up on every call on your bill for the last 2 months. If you need something let me know, I've got all kinds of extra stuff.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Beth and Henry,

    It only protects the consumer if ...

    1) The consumer purchasing a home improvement service is aware of required insurance and/or license.

    2) The particular State puts resources into enforcement.

    In 8 yrs. of business here in NJ, I have been asked for a current copy of my insurance two times. Granted, our business is all residential.

    In 8 yrs. of business here in NJ, I have never been asked to prove that I have an updated and valid contractors license.

    In 8 yrs. of business here in NJ, I have never heard or read in the local papers of any "fly by night" contractor being prosecuted for failure to have an NJ contractor license.

    Regulation sounds terrific on paper. Protect the consumer, weed out the foul balls, etc. But unless it is enforced by law, and resources devoted to consumer awareness, regulation is a paper tiger.

    Worse yet, in a typical scenario it is another business tax with no return.

    Be careful what you wish for.

    Hey Rick, Here in Maryland its different from other states I guess. I'm not sure about Beth but people ask about licensing and insurance a lot here. I also have a link on my site where people can check our license status and it get's clicked on a couple hundred times a month. The MHIC activily seeks out unlicensed contractors and contacts them, they also prosecute them too. Theres usually some kind of article, news thing or some other public issue on scam contractors here at least once a month. Like I said before, Maryland seems to be different from what most states do, maybe it's because were so close to the seat of politics, I'm not sure.

  15. Posted · Report reply

    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.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Hey Beth, right now I'm just trying to arrange an audience with them. Once I can work something out I'm going to fill the place with MHIC Lis PW companies if I can. This has been a long process and I hope I'm making some headway on it. As soon as I know more details I promise, I'll get everyone involved that I can. Right now I'm trying not to rock the boat too much until I can get in the door.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Any particular reason?

    The replacement parts for General Pumps are cheaper and easier to find. Also, in my experience, they just seem to run longer than CAT pumps. I know some guys prefer CAT over General pumps but most of the contractors I know also swear by General Pumps.

    Every time I talk with other contractors about their favorite equipment three names are always mentioned more than any other.

    Honda Engines, General Pumps and Becket Burners.

  19. Posted · Edited by Henry Bockman · Report reply

    oww, that hurt James..lol

    Hey Beth, I'm working on putting together a presentation for the Maryland Home Improvement Commission to get them to create set, specific rules on licensing for pressure washing companies.

    Did you know that they changed the regulations recently? Now they say if your using chemicals when your cleaning, you need a home improvement license. By the way, according to them, soap isn't a chemical!! With the latest changes all they are doing is pushing people to rely on pressure for cleaning instead of the right cleaners to do the job. Which of course will cause even more damages!

    I'll let you know how it goes, if you have any suggestions feel free to let me know.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    We probably run higher volume machines than you but an average residential home in my area is about 2,500 square foot and we can usually clean it, and the gutters in about 65 minutes. The going prices in this area are 300-450 for a house that size depending on where the house is and how many weekend warriors are out offering to do it for 199.00.

    I've been in business for twenty years now, maybe I should celebrate that and run a house washing special for $200.00? I wonder if they would mind?

  25. Posted · Report reply

    Were you washing the house or dishes?? If your washing a house try using a butyl degreaser like Power House it works really well on houses and it can be used to clean the outside of gutters too.

    Most distributors sell products that are designed to wash houses and they do a much better job than something designed to wash dishes and leave your hands feeling soft.

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