Emminz

I just cleaned a marble paver patio. It was pretty clean to begin with but most of it is under a deck and sees no sun. There were a few parts where it looked like algae was growing. I got most of it off but as you can see in the photo, there is still a little green staining. Is that a stain from the algea and how do i remove it? I did use some bleach, but that seemed to do nothing. Thanks Scott

What's everyone's thoughts/experiences with Messmer's for hardwoods on ipe? I have a homeowner that insists on on using it. That's what the builder recommended. I've never used it or see a deck done with it and thought I'd get some more information about it before I give in or try and push something else on them. Thanks Scott

Thanks. They are already expecting regular maintenance so if they don't like it there is plenty of opportunity for change. What do you guys use?

I was given a job to bid on. It's a beautiful deck area with a few gazebos for a condo association. The problem is that it's right on the D&R Canal here in NJ. Think of it like a dock. My main concern is the canal of course. If nothing can go down a storm drain because it may end up in a waterway, then I really cant do anything with this deck because basically everything washed off the deck will end up in the waterway. How can I do this job legally, responsibly, and in a way that would show that this is being don the right way and reduce or eliminate any environmental concerns that the local residents may have? Thanks Scott

Do you know how they do it? I've thought about pulling water from the canal, filtering it and running through an older machine, but the water was really the least of my concern. It's the stuff I'm washing off. It would be an awesome project to do. It's probably best to walk away but I know if I do, I'm 90% sure the that the guy who does it will do it the totally wrong way.

Has anyone used a sealer called Seal Once? It's a water based no VOC sealer. I have a sample on the way to play with. I wanted to see if anyone had any long term experience with this.

We are a home repair and maintenance company that added power washing services a few years ago. We do pretty well with it. If you have experience, then you should be OK. There are a lot of painter/power washers in our area that can paint well, but have no idea how to power wash properly. Since you are in the cleaning business, it would be a great add on. One thing I noticed, is it's hard to find a stopping point. First we started with decks and houses. No we clean just about anything on the exterior of a house and am looking at getting a pure water unit this year so we can do glass. If you can sell it and it goes along with your existing business, go for it. Start with the basics and add new eqipment and services each year. Good luck

We've been offing house washing as part of line of home maintenace services for about 4 years now. We're finding that many of our customers get the houses washed every 2-3 years, depending on thier environment, but want their windows washed every year. my question is, what is the most economical way to offer just window cleaning? In most cases, especially 2 story houses, we just "house wash" the windows. I'm looking for some way that would yeild a better result and may be easier to do. We squeege ranch houses. I don't do that on 2nd floor windows. I just haven't found the right way to use a squeege on a pole. (I know, pratice...) The water fed pole with pure water looks good, but there's more $$$$ for purifying equipment. I have seen some window cleaners running around with small power washers and hose reels on their trucks. What is thier method and cleaner? I thought about scrubbing with window cleaner and rinsing. Is it that simple? I haven't tried that yet for some reason. Thanks Scott

Has anyone added BBQ grill cleaning to their deck or house wash services? There is a company in my area that specializes in grill cleaning, so there must be some market. Thought it would be an easy add on service espically if you have a hot water machine. Wasn't sure if anyone has a refined process before I go the trial and error route. Thanks Scott

That was one of my thoughts too. I haven't figured out the economics yet, but I wouldn't do this as a stand alone service, just as an add on while we're there for the deck or house. There is a company local to me that does this as a stand alone service. I think they charge $120. I have no idea how well they are doing.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. Didn't know if there was a better way or a really good product to use. Thanks

One of our customers wants the sides of their log cabin stained. Right now there are may layers of Cabots solid stain that need to be removed. Is there anyone willing to to travel to the Lamberville, NJ area to blast that off for me? We'll do all the staining, I need someone to do the prep. I'm trying to avoid stripping and washing with water. I want to find someone to corncob blast it. Thanks Scott

Thanks. I'll be back there on Friday and can get some good photos. I wish this came up last week. You could have stopped on your way to or from Tom's. You would have pasted within a few miles of the house. I'll get back to you. Thanks Scott

Thanks for the invite Tim. I may take you up on that. I've been trying to figure out the best way to add this service. The ladder is the best. We do a lot of other maintenace on homes and many times we just can get a ladder to where we need it due to the landscaping. Overgrown bushes mostly. I was just trying to find another way.

Do you have some type of disclaimer in your contract stating that you are not responsable for any issues with a homeowners well? Basically ours states that we will be drawing 5gpm and that we are not responsible for issues with the well. We put that in over a year ago and haven't had any questions until this year, which is odd since we have had tons of rain here lately. We added that because we had two issues. The first was that the recovery rate of the well could not keep up with the equipment. Apparently our inital flow test when we estimated the job didn't draw the well down far enough to test the recovery. The second was a blown pressure switch on a freinds house. Basically I don't want to get stuck with a repair bill on something that would have needed repair eventually anyway, as in the case of the pressure switch. We can supply water for problem wells, but we do charge a little extra for that since there is added cost (trucking extra water, time in filling tanks...) I guess I want to know if I should remove it, or if someone has a good way of wording it so people don't get so jumpy. Thanks Scott

I have a 275 gallon tote and rent a 1000 gallon trailer when I know there is a water issue. The 1000 gallon trailer is just a pain with all the hills, narrow roads and twisty driveways we have around here. It also adds a lot to the cost. There are only three of us around here that do the job "right" and I need to keep my pricing inline. We're competing against Average Joe's Paint and Powerwash that charges half as much, so we all use well water. I'm not saying that using the well is right, but that's how everyone around her is doing it now. I plan on setting the 275 up to buffer, but haven't done that yet. The ultimate plan is to but the pw part of the company up to the point where I can dedicate a truck to it full time and set up all the proper tanks. Right now I just have a my pump and reels skid mounted and the pw tools and chems in bins. I schedule in batches and load and unload when needed. I also built a trailer over the winter, but have the long twisty driveways to deal with again, mine included. I keep looking for a good cheap NPR or similar, but haven't found one yet. Thanks Scott