Mike Smith

I always do free estimates. I normally meet with the customer but sometimes I never meet them from signing the job all the way through completion and payment. Some folks are just too busy or don't want to be bothered with another meeting. If I speak to them I tell them where I will leave the paperwork and try to sell the job over the phone. I then call the night of the estimate to ensure that they got it and ask if they have any questions or concerns. Most are done face to face but I land most of my estimates either way. Id say Im around 75% of all estimates. I am definitely not the low man but quality and referrals go a very long way,

I have been shocked very badly by lightening. I was in my shop during a bad storm and lightening hit close by. I was working on equipment when I happened to touch my metal garage door when the strike occurred. The charge was enough to knock me to the floor. I suffered muscle spasms in all my extremities for 3 days as well as bad headaches. I personally seek cover when lightening is around.

Prosoco makes an excellant brick sealer. They have several siloxanes that work great. I have a maintenance agreement for a customer that has alot of brick walkways and patios in a high profile neighborhood. I have been in charge of this for 5 years now and we used to have to clean 2 times a year with extremely heavy mildew and mold. 2 years ago I brought up the idea of a sealer and I cleaned the bricks wiith 6% bleach and 175 degree water with a surface cleaner. Came out great and we sealed it the following week(job was cleaned on Friday, sealed on Monday) Now the customer calls once a year to clean and there is only a skim of mildew and no moss growing on the bricks. We used prosoco's weather seal siloxane.

Gavin I really think you can go down even below 140 and achieve a very good result. I usually run 125 and lower pressure and it cleans very good. Every degree you go up you burn more and more fuel. Id try 125 and see how your comming out. Lower your psi through the use of larger tips or a dual lance wand. I use the dual lance myself and cut pressure back by about half. Heat and low psi clean better than heat and high psi.

Gavin, I do alot of different types of cleaning. I find for general cleaning, sidings, new concrete , etc... I don't need anything over 150 degrees. I usually use it at 125 and go up slightly if needed. I use hot water on old mildewed concrete or when Im trying to get out oil stains or gum. On decks I use mostly cold water unless I encounter a very stubborn stain Im trying to strip off. Then I use around 125 and decrese pressure to as low as possible. Hot water tends to raise more grain in the wood.

I use open trailers myself but I can definitely see where an enclosed van or box truck would be more benneficial. It all depends on what type of cleaning you plan on specializing in. I specialize in residential cleaning but do lots more. I clean concrete, trucks, poultry houses and what ever else needs to be cleaned. The advantage enclosed systems have over me is the ability to continue work when outside temps are below freezing and storage(the units are stored in the vehicle.) All depends on your budget.

I can remove oxidization and make the house look almost like new for around the same price as their product. Sounds like a bnch of bull and they are looking for suckers to take the bait.

We generally raost the turkey for thanksgiving but we love fried turkey. Go figure I think its just the tradition in our family to raost on thanksgiving. I personally like it fried much better.

I washed homes with cold water for years. This spring I got a hot water skid unit and ive never looked back. The heat works circles around cold water hands down heat is better and faster and the surfaces get cleaner.

Ive found that when stripping or cleaning a deck I always use cold water to clean. I do however apply my stripper via downstream injection on the surface hot. It seems to activate the ingredients much faster and dwell time is actually diminished. This is a chemical I use, not everyone. I don't know if your chems are strong enough to be downstreamed at around 20% but mine is a very" hot " caustic from a powerwashing supplier in my area.

Watch the raw chems, they are dangerous. I buy pre mixed from a chemical company(s). They are trained and know what reacts with what to make it work. Sodium hydroxide can hurt you bad be very careful. I just find it less hassle to buy 55 drums of chems ready to go but they are highly concentrated and easy to use or mix if they come in a drum kit.

I used to use cold water on residential flatwork. It is as you say "allright". I won't go back hot is quicker, easier and it cleans better with less damage. Ive had to hold on a stain alot longer with cold water. Just turn up the heat and if you use dual lance wands you can lower the pressure and apply more heat and clean even faster. GPM's and heat mix well for any concrete.

There are as many ways to clean a house as there are pressure washers and the same for chemicals used. I can only speak for myself. I mix chems by the 5 gallon pail. I use 2 gallons bleach or 12.5% Chlorine, 1 - 2 gallons commercial pressure washing soap-alkaline based either sodium hydroxide or sodium mescilliate, 1 - 2 gallons water depending on the amount of soap and a generous squirt of dawn dishwashing detergent(gives the mix more cling) I apply with extension wand - downstream at around 20%- temp 150 -175 degrees- bottom to top and allow to dwell for approx 5 mins but never let it dry. Clean windows first then rest of the wall then rinse windows again. I haven't had to brush in a long time other than the gutters. If your wash mix is right all you should have to do is rinse very well and the house should look great. Just how I do it and it works great for me I can do 2 houses a day 1 man show. For the front and back walls single story or anything I can reach with a 72 " wand I use duel lance wands to downstream and wash. Very efficient but this will come with experience. Ive been doing this for over 5 years now and just making it into a full time gig. Remember practice makes perfect and there are tooooo many variables to consider to have just one approach to house washing. Good luck and I hope you are successful. I never knock healthy competition, it helps keep us all in line and on our toes.

Rob i charge by how long i think it will take me. I charge my hourly rate and can usually clean gutters on a rancher in 30 mins both sides and for 2 story i would charge around 125 for straight running low pitch roof. More complicated higher the price. The ranchers usually get 50 bucks but like i said 30 mins im done and that is add on to the house wash. If they just want gutters cleaned its a min of 85.00 to show up and go from there. I blow them out with 15 degree tip high pressure and flush down spouts.

The duel lance wand can be used to apply soap via a downstream injector after the pump/ I have a 5 gpm machine with an adjustable downstream injector. to draw soap from the duel lance all one has to do is turn the handle all the way back and soap will draw. What it does as the handle is turned it closes off the high pressure tip and opens the tip for soap which has a larger oriface to allow a vacum effect to draw the soap from your bucket. If you are using the duel lance just for rinsing simply remove the tube from soap or turn soap off with the adjustable injector. The plus with the duel lance in rinsing is lower pressure at the twist of a handle but maintaining high volume. No tips to change or the worst way to lower pressure is to turn down the unloader. They will wear out quickly and kill you in time spent traveling back to your machine. Hope i was able to help in some way.