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Ron Musgraves

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Posts posted by Ron Musgraves

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Job Variables

    When pricing there are several critical job variables to consider. These are all dramatic when considering the price since these variables change from job to job. This is focused on commercial flatwork but it should give anyone in anyfield an idea of what goes into a price

    Gum? Lots of gum = lots of time

    Mildew? Heavy mildew can take more time to clean

    Estimate last time cleaned? The longer it’s been since it was last cleaned, the longer it’s going to take to clean it this time.

    Obstacles? Columns, Planters ((Plants can really hurt buy causing you to try & not blow out all the bark ground covering & when you do you have to clean that too)) Columns can significantly increase your time on the job even though you may not have to clean them, merely from the fact that you will have to work around them threading your hose in & out, & in & out. A job 2000 ft long with a column every 20 feet may take a few hours more time to complete than one with no columns. This can have a greater impact when it's a job that you "should" complete in one day but will now require a 2nd day because now an extra 3 hours of working around columns becomes an additional 5 - ... hours because of breakdown, setup & driving time.

    Water availability? You need water & lots of it. If you are cleaning a property that's 2000 ft long & only has 1 water supply on one end it's going to be tough going especially if it's a spigot with a low rate of flow. 5 gpm at the spigot will only be maybe 3 or 4gpm at the end of 400 ft of garden hose thus in most cases you will require a significant tank. In addition you will only be able to run one machine at a time or you will beat the tank too often. (unless you have a really really big tank)

    Hours of operation? Movie theaters, restaurants, & bars can inhibit your working hours. Working around these places can be time consuming & sometimes this needs to be calculated into your pricing since it can add up several hours to a job trying to work around these open & often busy establishments. Hours of operation are also affected by what's near your property, for instance if the property (or part of it) is next to a residential area you will probably not be able to work in the wee hours of the morning due to noise ordinances.

    Location of property? Is the property near a residential area. If so you could find your hours of operation even more limited. I was run off by the cops more than once in my early days for breaking noise ordinances near residential areas, and was levied a $250 fine for it once.

    Concrete type / condition? Fibermesh can be slower to clean than standard crete. Reason is that fibermesh is softer than standard thus you will need to drop pressure &/or increase technique or you'll stripe the it. In addition gum removal takes more finesse since the concrete is softer. Rookie gum removal can cause divots, so cleaning & gum removal takes more time & time = $$. There are other concrete variables too general hardness, age the older the pour the harder the crete usually, porousness,

    Curb FaceWill you need to clean it? 9,800 lft of curb face cleaning could add hours to the job if it's bad. Can make rinse harder too if where the curb face hits the tarmack there is a space. In that space is a boatload of dirt dying to come out & into your face. This dirt may need to be rinsed away across the driving area (especially if it's sealcoated)

    Is the parking lot Sealcoated? If the parking lot has a nice fresh looking "super" BLACK sealcoating on it, it can add on half again the time it takes to do the job for you will need to fully rinse AT LEAST the driving lane across to the parking area or it will leave a nasty white residue on the area. And if you do not do this you will quite possibly find yourself back at the place using your surface cleaner on the entire drive thru area & possibly more!!

    The dimensions of the property? If a property is 75,000 sqft the amount of time will differ depending on how that 75k is laid out. If it's 5000 ft long by 15 feet wide, you will move quicker than if it's 1875 by 40. The reason lies in the rinsing issues, in most cased you cannot allow a surface to dry before rinsing since many types of stains will re-adhere. In addition you will have more solids to push off the cleaning surface at longer distances which will also slow you down. you might think it's the same difference either way but it isn't. The wider it is, the further it is to push the water off the more you will have to push, plus it will reduce the span which you can clean at one time this will cause you to actually have to rince even more since you will find that you need to rinse the solids off the area where you will resume with your surface cleaner. Example: If you can only clean 800sqft before you begin to dry, on a 10'wide sidewalk you can span 80' prior to needing to rinse. But on a 40' wide walk you can only span 20'. If you have to rinse off 3 feet of your new work area then you will be rinsing several hundred extra feet on the 40' walk. Plus, as I said the rinse will contain a heavier load to push off across the 40ft.

    Parking areas can be the worse. Huge square areas say 200 by 200' can be fairly brutal to deal with especially if you have no way to pick up the water & are forced to push all the messy water to certain locations.

    Thats my favorite part

  5. Posted · Report reply

    http://www.powerwashnetwork.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6352&perpage=10&pagenumber=1

    This post has a lot of great info, I realize the intent but yet if it causes damage to tell your prices then I think this post sums it. Or does this post damage this even more.

    I for one don’t believe that sharing the base for a price can hurt the system unless you’re a lOWBALLER like this.

    I think low ballers are affected and fear the competition. They compete on unfair playing fields and are constantly worried about someone else rather than just flat taking the work.

    I don’t agree with the semantics but I like the info in the post.

  11. Posted · Report reply

    I to agree with Paul, These parents who let the children stay over knowing they are sleeping with Mike are the guilty ones as well if in fact he is guilty.

    I don’t know if KOBY or mike is guilty. I do know as and American my constitution affords me and anyone else that’s a citizen rights. These rights I hold sacred and I don’t presume anyone to be guilty until there peers have found them guilty or they confess.

    I have never been accused of a criminal offense. In my lifetime I have been judge incorrectly and I know it does not feel good.

    Talking about whether someone is innocent or guilty is ok. Telling jokes about peoples children about molesting is not. I’m not condemning anyone because I myself have laughed at a couple. That’s my mistake. As men we will all continue to make them.

    It’s really a shame if mikes Guilty and almost worse if these people are on a gold hunt.

    Koby Bryant, my opinion is he’s a fool. Guilty or not sleeping around is bad. I feel sorry for his family and wife.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Jon, I wouldn’t care if you where talking about anyone. Making light of any child being molested is wrong. There may be someone here who has a child that’s been molested.

    I understand making light of someone or something in the privacy of a conversation. This however is not private, and also has do with how I make a living.

    I guess some here might tell there customers a tasteless joke about children in someone’s underpants and so on.

    I for one am no angel and Jon you know that, I’m not on a high horse here. Its just not the right place that’s ALL.

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