John T
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Posts posted by John T
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I always admired Congressman and past House leader of Home Land Security Peter King. Him and I crossed a few paths over the years. To this day I still think about how a select woman screwed up something that I was working on to get some more recognition for the Powerwashing Industry especially for Robert Hinderliter who always gave everything his best shot( I never agreed with everything Robert believed in but always admired his passion and will to help others) These pictures I posted in the past was an agreement with Peter King to get Robert Honored and also the Powerwashing Industry noticed. I still keep tabs on a few things and who knows how some things will play out.
I know I was offered just a few years ago to work the United Nations bldg in NY city as security when I was considering on retiring from Law Enforcement. Look I always believed in serving people. Plain and simple. Reason why I'm also a contractor.
As for the UN building there was a second pension if I served another 20 yrs there but like alot of you guys I just love the Powerwashing Industry and also.... lets be real. My 25 yrs was more then enough for babysitting adults. I just didn't have it in me anymore to deal with that and of course things much worse then that.
So my hats off to Peter King who if I was a betting man the favorite to beat in 2016 will be Hillary Clinton(I also worked a detail for her in the past.... excuse me if I puke..lol)
As for the shirt I was wearing in this picture, One of the Powerwashing Industry's many good guys, Rob Huffman bought that shirt for me when him and I did a Parking garage together years ago. Rob is a rock solid good guy who is the kind of person I gravitate to who would give you the shirt off of his back it you needed help with something.
Stick with the winners in life and tell your kids the same. Reason why I support Guys like Rob and many many more who put themselves out there to do..... The right thing and they do it well.
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I've been going out at night at times this past month to do some commercial accounts my guys can't get to because they were loaded up with residential work. I always loved doing flat work. Using heat, Stronger Pumps and surface machines. To me its like exercising and getting paid:)
In the past I had these following things happen when dealing with my machines and burners. The worst was causing a propane Sonic boom while in my box truck yrs ago to having a burst valve suddenly not work along with the unloader which was continuously building pressure. I just unhooked my hose from that Unloader when it suddenly shot upwards at least a 100' in the air. I also had a few hose break off where I got my hands smacked and including my face once where I had a nice size bruise on my eye lid and far head. I also burned myself a few times dealing with higher heat in the past.
Dealing with homeless people and drug addicts is another story.
But lately I'm turning into a bit of a chicken. I keep thinking the way my guys beat on my machines that one of the quick connects are just going to fly off and Knock out a few of my teeth. (Must be an age thing). We generally deal with 8+ gallons a minute and in the range of 3500 psi. I'm no wimp but just the thought of one of these things popping loose and if it happens you couldn't react fast enough.
So what's your biggest fears dealing with your Powerwashing machines and burners?
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i thought it was 20?Shane you are such a Kiss azz. Your not even close. She's 29 already.
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Happy very belated birthday Beth. Hopefully you had a nice sunny day that wasn't to hot like today.
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[h=2][/h]One of my customers wanted the High end of his home washed today...In return he took me up in his fully restored war plane a 1948 Steadman open cockpit bi-plane in mint condition.Not only did he take me up but for most of the time he let me fly the plane from the front seat.After we landed ...he asked if I wanted to take his small Piper plane for a ride......Sure enough when we got up there he let me have the controls on that as well.Very fortunate to have customers like that....he was a jet fighter pilot for the Navy and a retired commercial pilot.Today was a day that I will never forget!!Hey Al I seen these pic links and I've been dying to actually see these pics. Totally awesome bro!!
Yrs ago we had one of our customers buzzing us while we were working on his gargantuan deck and all I thought was how cool it would be to be in that plane as well.
Very cool experience you got from your customer. Stories like this remind me why I love this business so much. It's some of the great customers we all have.
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You guys have always done excellent work for as long as I can remember.
Quick question. It's been a short while where I couldn't view any pics. Now I only can only see links. Some are opening and some are timing out on me. Maybe it's my I-pad.
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Looks like it's going to be a great Event. If it wasn't for my daughter going away to college for the first time that week we would be there for sure.
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That's a well thought out response Craig:) What your saying is you want really what most people want where most of us want to help others who will appreciate it and it comes right back to you the same as in it can work both ways for the better. You want to keep this where your at which is on the professional level. I agree with that a 100%.
I'm targeting something geared toward mostly commercial if not all and it's somewhat specialized(not parking garages). It's also truly professionals and has nothing to do with homeowners. It's not a "Jack of all trades" thing either.
The other thing I was thinking about is what I see and experienced within this Industry with organization mentalities and how that seems to go. Its like there still in somewhat of the "Dark Ages" with the way they go about "Some" but not "All" Of their business. There's dots that aren't connecting and there so bad in some of those area's that it's like there somewhat stuck in the mud.. That is why I was asking you & Carlos what your thoughts are in dealing with them and potentially other ones as well.
I appreciate your candid response & it does hit some nails right on the head as to what I was thinking as well.
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I always kept things Transparent so what you see here on the net is the same behind closed doors. Very rarely in my Union days I had to keep something below radar unless it was legal issues.
So here's my thoughts briefly(To much to say here and its a work in progress). I'm in the midst of building something Globally and its extremely time consuming. My company is extremely busy winning/losing bids and servicing my Customer base of 18 yrs. Always keeping myself busy because I never sit around and do just nothing except when on Vaca(I like doing nothing there like all inclusives) here is my question to you two.
Are you guys locked into certain groups or can you call your own shots?
The reason I ask this once again goes back to my Union days. What I did was form numerous alliances. I am a believer if something is good like your products are for example and you guys are for sure, can you branch outwards enough to go your own way or is your mind shut to that?(Money is not offered here to sway your thought patterns because Money can buy most anything but its your thought patterns that matter more).
Think hard about this. Do you believe in multiple alliances if you think there good or are you restricted once you commit to 1 or 2 things?
How about some others come into this and give your opinions. Do you believe in forming alliances with many different groups or is it 1 is always right and the others are mostly wrong? Do you think its possible to work with others in a group setting?
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We used F9 & I have to say it's pretty impressive. Craig's claim about what it does is very accurate. That being said we also mixed some of our own mixes that I would never recommend a newbie or even a pretty seasoned Vet use. We do this because we can rinse with a pretty high volume of water thats higher then most truck setups.
Oxalic acid we use on all of our wood restoration jobs and we also buy 15% SH by this skid load to mix our own concoctions. We have used Muriatic acid(rare) and at full strength it can etched concrete(done that).
HF to me is to much. It scares the bejeezus out of me because I don't take surprises to well. This stuff eats you inside out where you initially won't know it's doing that(don't like surprises).
My deciding factor on HF to not use it even though I was told it works great was when I met this girl who owned her own Powerwashing business. Met her at an ACR RT. I think if she wanted to she may have been able to kick my azz if we fought fair that is.. Another words she was tough as nails and pretty tall & big.
It was maybe a month or so later she got HF on her skin and she was hospitalized for many days maybe even weeks. We were told see was in bad shape from this...
Lesson here is HF is great for what it can do.. And yes where professionals...but it's so darn dangerous I wouldn't recommend to 99% of the contractors to mess with it in it's pure form.. If you do you can make bank with it but be very very careful.
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I built a large enclosed trailer with all the goodies last summer. Includes 2 new Hydro-Tek hot water machines, on board generator, rhino-lined floor, insulated floor, walls and ceiling, 110v & 12v interior lighting, hand tools, air compressor, extra water, chemical and pressure hoses. Burners are vented through the roof and engines exhaust out through the floor. All complete unit - ready to work. Works awesome for our projects, however, very expensive to set up.[ATTACH]20253[/ATTACH][ATTACH]20254[/ATTACH][ATTACH]20255[/ATTACH][ATTACH]20256[/ATTACH][ATTACH]20257[/ATTACH]Now that is the "Kong" of trailers!! That sucker is a beast. Real cool. What types of cleaning do you predominately do with that setup?
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Does anybody run their heated setups/units out of an enclosed trailer?If so, I would live to see pics.
TIA
I had 2 trailers over the years where I had a hot water skid inside. Man was that great when I did commercial accounts on those cold fall/winter nights. The downfall with the hot water skid was when I did hot summer days and I would be using hot water PW. Even though I paid a pretty penny for the insulator smoke stack piping that went thru my trailer ceiling I had some engine issues such as a warped valve because of the heat build up in the trailer.
If vented correctly and the engine is face outwards by a door opening you should be OK but then again your in Florida in your trailer is going to be like an oven with that Machine running in there.
if Security is your issue you may want to consider caged upen trailer so you won't have to worry about venting anything.
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Nice job Al. You do great work.
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Thanks for the props, JT, but I don’t think the Pressure Washing Resource Association has much in common with either of the two orgs.It’s just a totally different animal. But thanks for your support.
Sure thing Thad-- you guys definitely have something special there.
Hey little secret- I ran into someone today while I was at a mandatory walk thru during a bidding process in NJ. This guy knows Chris and Alex well. He's predominately a window washer that also does Powerwashing-- small world.
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STOP JOHN.LET IT ALONE.
LAST WARNING.
You are baiting people. No more means no more FOR EVERYONE.
Beth
I hear ya Beth. "Who loves ya Baby" Telly Savalas -Kojak :)
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As for you Part-timers & Fulltimers who do take your work seriously and don't want to be treated like "2nd class citizens" you can always join the groups I belong to. The PWNA www.PWNA.org & the PWRA www.Pressurewashingresource.com
In both of these groups the big factor here is you both have all the benefits these groups offer once you join and your treated with class & dignity. Your also treated equally.
You won't see any leaders in these groups acting bizaar on the net and showing anytype of unfair favoritism to their members.
Maybe one day you can become a Fulltime Powerwasher or maybe you still will be successful in 2 jobs like many Part-Time Powerwashers have been. The PWNA & The PWRA won't be judging you any differently and they will also accept you because they care and they want you to succeed in whatever direction you decide to take.
These two groups act very professional which is what you want from any organization or association you end up joining who consider being professional is a way of life when your in business. They also accept fireman,cops etc etc and they don't judge them either. Judging people is not the business model of either of these two groups. Their business model is to help you become more successful no matter if you stay part-time of become a larger fulltime business cause you can be highly successful in both.
Good luck on your choices and ask around before you before you join anything to get a better idea on the direction you want to go.
John Tornabene PWRA & PWNA member.
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Again whats your point?
If you didn't see my point Guy when I started this thread then as far as where concerned where good. No point in discussing this further between us.
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I think you two are in violent agreement.Lol.. I don't think me and Guy will ever agree on critical positions. We've been arguing for years. Wait to Guy finds out what where working on next. Lol I can hear it now.. "I will do whatever I can John so you fail fail and fail again". I got a bullseye on my back with Guy and around 3 others. Maybe 4 others. Can't please everyone.
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.Part timers are in a unique position and I don't think they fully understand that they can actually sell higher and make a larger profit margin than I can, but because they have a "Regular Job" to fall back on they sell low for some reason.
My point is that. Did you do that when you had two jobs?
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Same here Guy. I network with companies on both sides of the fence. I get it that people with one business or one place where their money comes in do stand to possibly lose a lot more if they fail.
Tell me if you don't know these type "Fulltimers"
1-they have such a high volume of customers and they can clean faster then most so they can charge less per sq' for example but they have the ability to clean a much larger area which gives them a high revenue when completed? I know companies like that who have multiple accounts because they can do just that.
2-there desperate to keep themselves busy because they have no other revenue streams so they may lowball a job just to get it?
Your wife has a good job if I remember correctly. When I had 2 jobs my income from Powerwashing was just as important as yours was because I was the only one bringing in the cash in my family.. And that was because my wife wanted to be home with our kids. I also recall that you powerwashed for a few yrs like most of us have before you went completely fulltime. Why should have you got any less respect then when you were floating 2 jobs?
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I have a hard time imagining how a part-timers viewpoints and suggestions should be ignored simply because he is a "part timer". Shouldn't their viewpoint or suggestions be weighed on other scales? Just because they're part time doesn't automatically mean their stand or viewpoint is bad and should be avoided.This is like saying an elderly person shouldn't be allowed to vote - because soon they'll be dead and they won't have any "skin in the game".
And where do you draw the line. Since you're judging ones source of revenue as someones "skin in the game", should a contractor's ideas whose business makes a million dollars a year be weighted heavier then a business owner whose business makes only 100,000 a year? Crazy. The guy who's making a 100,000 a year may be making more profit then the guy whose making a million.
Or what about a full-time pressure washing contractor whose spouse makes a 6 figure income every year. Or, maybe a pressure washing contractor has a multi-million dollar inheritance. All of the sudden.. they don't have any "skin in the game" - so let's ignore them.
Heck, I don't care if somebody is a landscaper, doctor, or dog groomer. If they have an idea that could better the industry as a whole, let's hear it.
Great Post Micah!! Some of these guys who crack on the partimers don't tell us that their wife has an excellent job that covers their health insurance that they would have never been able to afford with their "Fulltime" Powerwashing job.
In my case my wife has been able to stay home from the day 1 after our first child was born so no matter how someone wants to crack how back then us "Part timers" meant nothing, to family it meant everything and that's what really counts.
Also this remark is directed at Chris Apple so he can let those others know who are discrediting to what they think part-timers stand for in this Industry. I became a BOD as a "Part Timer" and I ended up finishing my 3 yr term as a The Treasurer but still a "Part timer" and initially I got some cold stairs in the board room but knowing I probably represented a higher % of contractors that belong to orgs and may be considered part timers I felt I gave them a voice so they won't be dismissed like some are trying to do at different places.
Lastly the President of the org I served on made it a point to say that I was probably the most successful part time Powerwasher he knew. I always took that as a compliment because I was in the same room with him..
Cool stuff but don't let others tell anyone they don't matter within this industry and all professional Powerwashers who take their work seriously and get paid pretty well in doing so earned the same rights within any org they belong to and they should have the same right to vote as well. Also don't listen to anyone who wants to drag you down so they can try to make themselves all important. It only makes them look foolish is discrediting who you are within this Industry.
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If anyone believes people that do this part time are hacks I don't want to know you and if ......people that have only done this 3-4 years and now calling themselves "experts " I don't want to know you...
If on the other hand ..if people say your good at what you do and they want to call you expert at what you do ...I probably would like to know you...
class division of part time or full time or part time is nuts ....
what next ...someone doesn't like full time one man companies verses a "real company " that has more employees full time....lol
on a side note ...I believed the original poster meant when he said "I don't like part timers" my understanding was he would help people that were working part time get more business for them so they could do this full time.
I DON'T know if my interpretation of this is correct ...but would hope so.....
i think your right in your assessment here David. I just don't buy into how much he really wants to make them full timers compared to probably just trying to sell them something.. But like you I could be wrong as well.
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As far as Part timers...I know of three well known internet contractors who say they started cleaning in 19** . But they never say "I was a part timer for the first 10 years of my total years of being a pressure washer". They give the impression on their site that they have always been a full time washer from day one. I have even seen them add years to their " experience". These same contractors who put these other contractors down because they are part timers also was Part Timers as well, they just do not want anyone to know it.
Good points Jim. I seen those same guys do exactly what your saying over the years.
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Your first problem was relying on Home Depot to sell you a "Contractor" strength anything. Home Depot is mostly geared toward the "Do it yourself" homeowner.
Nothing wrong with that but if your a contractor in the Pressurewashing field I wouldn't rely on Home Depot to have the quality equipment for the contractors in this field.
Peter King potential run for president and the PW world
in The Club House
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In one of those pictures I have my Powerwashing folder in there with many peoples names on it. I also have if you look close enough my I-Pad next to it. This picture was in 2011. That's my little secret. When I'm out and about I just wifi connect from my phone to my I-pad which always gave me plenty of time to post on these bulletin boards which as some of you can tell I always liked to do:)