staudend

Hey Don, how did you afford all that cool stuff? I don't charge enough... Check this out.. lol 1993 Chevy 1500 w/camper 5x8 trailer with 5gpm 3000 psi 16hp hot hydrotek 4 gpm 3500 psi roll around unit tons of other little stuff, chemical sprayers, airless my list shudders in comparison! However, I'm 22 with a business degree and working summers up to now, so I've still got time.

I have 275 feet of pressure hose and 160 in supply, plus two other 50's of pressure that I can hook on if I need them. So far I have not needed more than 275 for any residential work. I have a trailer mounted hydrotech with a tank. Nick

I just experienced today that a 30 inch surface cleaner at 5gpm is not nearly as fast as a 17 because of the slow rate of spin. In fact, the 10 incher I have spins twice as fast as the big one and is faster still. Food for thought, but 10 gpm might make that 30 incher crank! Nick

I steer clear of extending wands when doing decks. I can't really see what I am doing enough to use the wand without being up close and personal. I use a tall step ladder (Sam's has one that is completely adjustable) so I can have complete access without a extension ladder leaning up against the rail for 2nd story decks, and an extension ladder for higher decks. I tried the lean-over-the-rail technique a few times, but I still can't see everything that well and you can't get the bottom stringer properly. Nick

How many of you work on your own equipment? How many send it to the shop and let the pro's handle it? Just interested, I hate spending 50 bucks an hour for labor on something I wish I knew how to do without screwing something up. Nick

I did nothing unusual to the pump or anything, it just started cavitating pretty bad, and that is after 275 feet of hose. I took it in, and there were no air leaks between the source and the pump. After the valves were replaced it still did the same thing when attached to the big tank under vacuum, but not when using the float tank. We took the filter assembly out and attached directly to the big tank, and it ran just fine. Weird, I know. I least I know the pump is good because we tore it apart and inspected everything. Oh well..

I am washing 14 big condominiums that have oxidation on the vinyl on a few sides. I doesn't really stand out except for on one side of one building where I can't get all of it off with pressure and a weak mix of bleach and emulsifier plus. Should I mix my detergent strong and try again? That one side looks like crap at least to me. Some parts are whitish color on the originally blueish siding, and the rest looks new where the oxidation came off with the whitish oxidation interspursed. Help!!!

Hey Jesse, I didn't even use the X-jet on this building, I used a 120volt shurflo I borrowed for the job to apply chemical in the meantime before the X-jet came in the mail. Still low pressure rinse, it was that badly oxidized though. X-Jet M5 rules!! We are faster and grossing about 800-1000$ per 8 hour day on this job. Jesse, call me if you have any more info on subbing- I'm thinking about a Columbia newspaper ad to fill me up for the rest of the summer because work is going to thin out pretty soon due to my lack of interest in door to door and flyers anymore. Nick

Speaking of maintenance, I just spent 100 bucks labor for troubleshooting and replacing the valves for an extra 45 in my AR pump today. CRAP!!! I did watch him this time and I think I could change the packing and valves myself next time, because the only special tools are the ones that take out and replace the packing. I turns out that besides the bad valves, there wasn't enough vacuum from my tank to the pump, so we got rid of the filter between the pump and tank (I still have the filter pre-tank). the cavitation was caused by too much junk between pump and tank, not enough flow. Weird because I have used it like that for 4 strait summers. Older machines must need a little tweaking. Nick

These condo's are cheap and old vinyl. oxidation is nearly white, and the siding is blue. I tried heat and stronger emulsifier, but no go. It's just one side of one of fourteen huge four person condos, so I'll just educate the management of the oxidation problem. It should fade back fairly soon I hope? Nick

Thanks Ryan, I was hoping that I might be able to do it with the chemical sprayer and little elbow grease. I'll probably try emulsifier full strength first and see what happens, then resort to elbow grease next. Oh well. I'll be waiting a long time on Tetris. Tetris champion of the Universe!!!

Cabot is ranked #1 of all deck stains in consumer reports if that means anything (it may not). I think that was for its semi-transparent oil-based stain though, which is nearly a solid. I use it for those really picky customers who don't want to hardly mess with it for a long time. Had been burned in the past with a bad product etc.... It gets on everything (good luck getting it off yourself). Nick

I have heard no less than .75 a square foot and up to 1.25 complete, but I'll wait for some wood siding professionals to pipe in because I am interested as well, I stick to decks and vinyl.

Is there good money in wood shingle roofs? Sorry about Tetris RyanH- I'm a tetris professional... lol

He's in the phone book. I'm pretty sure that's where they got him, but not 100%. Have you talked with Twig and Erin over at American Cleaning systems in Columbia? I may have talked with you a couple of summers ago. Did you do Brick restoration or something? I do a little subconctracted with Paul Clark, part owner of Deckcare. You might have met him too. Other than that I do door to door and try to get in with real-estate agents. If you need help with anything or want to subcontract decks staining or anything, I would like to get into the Jeff City market for those if you don't do decks. I've got a hot hydrotek from Twig. Phone (816) 550-5230 Thanks, Nick

My brother-in-law bid on the Mizzou football Stadium cleaning of all the concrete in the whole place. He has two 8gpm heated hydroteks on one truck (one on the skid, one on a trailer). He bid 15g's, another company bid 4 g's, and another bid in the high 70 g's. Talk about pricing differences. They chose him because they had a general idea what it was worth, and 4 g's was too little, and 70 g's was too much. He admitted he underbid it because of gas prices and such. Just a note on differences in pricing. A company here also does decks for half the cost of what I or any other biz does here. They cut corners like no other which cuts down on time, so that is a factor as well in pricing- whether you do a good job or not. I still charge too little I think for the job I do, but my name isn't really out there yet so I'll take what I can get.

Right after I get done spraying when the deck is dry enough (with oil-based stain), I walk on the deck with just socks on and take down the ton of plastic I put up to prevent splatters. I carry a paper towel with me with some paint thinner on it, and give the house a good look over- and dab up any spots that get through the masking tape and plastic. I've never had any problems with that with as much plastic I put up, and I use it as a selling point to illustrate my thoroughness compared to other deckers in the area who get crap all over the place. Hey stoppie, tell me how to do a stoppie!! I just bought a 1999 Honda CBR 600 F4, my first sportbike, and laid it down three days later- not scared though, just cosmetic damage on both of us. I'll be back and running soon though, and trying new tricks (maybe).

I wish I knew about this before I spent 98 bucks on a replacement shurflo from Orschlens last year. My current shurflo troubles led me to System accessories (877) 917-1199. They sell shurflo pumps and parts for way less than locally, even with shipping. I called Shurflo directly and they referred me to them. They are in Georgia somewhere. A new pump there costs around 70 bucks as opposed to near 100 at Orschlens I spent on my last pump. Just a quick note from a relieved Pressure Washer who couldn't find a good shop or shurflo dealer anywhere close. Hope this helps you pressure washers who aren't in big cities.

I traded cards with a lawn mower dude and washed his equipment, free of charge- gettin' the word out....

Thanks squirtgun, I'm getting the concept finally from your pictures and the website. Do you use x-jet mainly for housewashing? I see how my tank would be useful. My understanding is that your hose reel attached draws from the chemicals through the PW gun, and more hose gives you more mobility without moving your chemical source. How fast does your chemical get used? It seems like that volume would get rid of it pretty quickly. Thanks for your help, Nick

When the pressure treated film comes off with EFC-38, is it typical to have some fur on the wood? It's happened to me several times with the first wash of a pressure treated deck and it's a pain in the butt. Is my mix too strong? I only use 8oz per five gallons of water and enough pressure to get rid of the PT film. Lastly, if this is typical, how do you remove the fuzz? I've used a brillo pad once and it seemed to work OK. Sand paper might be better but I'm not sure. Thanks, Nick from Missouri.

I thought the x-jet somehow ran off the pressure washer downstream or something. If you have it on a tank with some hose, what is the power source? I really don't understand yet how the x-jet works. Thanks, Nick

I mainly do summer residential work because I just graduated from college- I started it right out of highschool with a 13hp roll around washer. Four years later I have a hydrotech heated PW on a trailer. For quick work, I find a good neighborhood and knock on doors, explain what I do and offer a free estimate for anything they can think of, if that fails, they still have my flyer for future reference. Some weekends I can advertise in this way Saturdays and stay busy all week. I haven't tapped the commercial market because I couldn't keep it up routes during school, so I have no advice on that. Being a good salesman along with residual work from referrals from high quality gets the ball rolling at least in the residential market. During school when I need quick money for spring break etc, I will be less thorough and just drive around and look for dirty houses and decks and knock on the door with a smile on my face and a flyer. I haven't advertised in any other way to keep my profit margin higher at least up to this point in my seasonal business. Knowledge is power too, if you can tell a customer exactly what needs to be done and what you can do for them, you have the expertise- so pick up all of the tricks you can, and you can differentiate yourself at a whole new level from the competition who might unknowingly cut corners that decrease quality.

While on the subject of x-jet, can you use it with a trailer mounted unit and still reach around a house or deck? I have 275 feet of PW hose after trailer is parked. I use a shur-flo 12 volt attached to a 20 gallon tank on a dolly, very manuverable although still ladder dependent because of lower pressure. I've never seen an x-jet, let alone seen one in use, and I would like to know more.

Is it possible to clean and brighten in one step by mixing the two products into a brew? One step would cut down on time. Also, I washed a deck last summer for a woman that was trying to sell her house and didn't want sealed, just washed. Now she can't sell it and wants it sealed. Should I clean it again or just put some citralic on it and rinse? It is a little grey again. Thanks, Nick