HighTide

I like it and read every issue. It has good articles and industry calendar and I learn a tip or two from each issue.

Very nice. That guy will make a lot of money with that bad-boy skid. Way to go Russ for putting up such a nice unit for a lucky contractor!!

I have cleaned a lot of Trex decks and they clean up nicely. Mildew, algae and leaf stains all come off with my normal house wash (detergent mixed with bleach). Rinse well. This link is the cleaning recommendations by Trex: Care & Cleaning Guide | Trex Trex recommended cleaners with Oxalic acid to remove tannin stains. Rinse well.

That's a good thing to do John and Shelley!

The MSDS on Purple Power contains the good stuff listed below...just very diluted. If I ever ran out of F-13 and needed something in a pinch, I may try this. 2- Butoxyethanol* <8% Sodium Metasilicate <5% Sodium Hydroxide <6%

I go through about 5 gallons a year of the F-13 and it works great. I did have my first set of gutters 3 weeks ago refuse to come clean and I even strengthened it to around 3 or 4:1 and tried on a small section and on a 70 degree day...nothing. After 100's of gutters I finally came up on one that it wouldn't work. But every gutter since like a charm!

A huge thanks to John Allison of Envirospec for putting together this month's 2-day technical school for contractors. This was, without a doubt, the most informative hands-on event yet for me! Everyone got a chance to rebuild a pump (I rebuilt both an AR and General), injectors and two kinds of unloaders to see how they work. There was a burner class to understand and troubleshoot them, an engine class for preventative maintenance put on by Greg Dupree of Kohler, and lots of demos on guns, foamers, and several different pressure washers. ANYTHING you wanted to test out was at your fingertips right at Envirospec facilities. Day Two started out by building a pressure washer from the ground up. My group's unit was an 18 hp Vanguard mounted to a skid plate, which we then attached a gear box, pump, unloader, inlet filter, and bypass line. After completion, we took them outside for us all to test out. This class will minimize my downtime going forward as I now have a much better grasp on the maintenance of my equipment. Even two awesome lunches and a dinner were provided. Great networking and lots of great tips learned. Thanks again to John and all who attended this month's technical school.

This is the TNT mini-skid that we built on day two. I got really attached to this unit with it's PA gear drive and the new Quantum Z unloader (flow type that acts like a pressure type) that I brought it home with me with a great "show special" price. Thanks again Envirospec!!

Chris, there were several folks in the class that have never downstreamed before so we discussed how they worked, took a couple apart and changed out the internal oriface. I have always used WD-40 but was told that it will make the o-ring swell and to use white lithium grease instead.

I threw my last half pack in the garbage one day and have never touched one since. It has been 13 years. It was tough for the first month and then it was easy. I chewed a million pieces of Wrigley's gum that first month and was a little irritable to be around. But I wanted to do it and I did!! You can too...good luck!

I am having some of the same problems and I don't schedule clients until their week comes up. Right now, I am booked two and a half weeks out. Two estimates came in today and we agreed on a price. I then told both of them that I would call Monday morning, October 17th (2 weeks from today) to schedule a convenient time that week (I try to take Monday's off as I usually work commercial jobs on Sunday). Today (Monday), I set my whole schedule for this week after previewing the weather outlook and best ways to set clients up based on location to reduce travel between jobs.

You need a stiff corner brush to clean the stain left by mud daubers. Home Depot sells them for $6. Dip it in some strong detergent and scrub away. It will even attach to an extension pole if you don't want to get on a step ladder. I cleaned over a dozen of them today! Unger Swivel Corner Brush - 962170 at The Home Depot

Looking forward to taking a few days off and heading to Tampa. Should be another great one!!

I started using them last fall as I needed something that would pull with 300' of hose. I like it so much that is all I use now as I like the extra chem pull (it will empty a 5-gallon pail of soap/SH quicker than anything I have used). The regular fixed ones work fine in most cases but there is a house or two a week that needs a little extra chem to keep me from having to hit spots a second time.

I have never used hot water on any home. Like yourself, only on the oily driveways.

I have bought from here before but there are several places you can order it from. Perhaps someone else with chime in. I prefer the flakes over the pellets. http://www.chemistrystore.com/Chemicals_S_Z-Sodium_Hydroxide.html

I have used Envirospec's Power Stroke degreaser for a long time with much success. I add in sodium hydroxide for bank and fast food drive thrus that show heavy oil stains. http://www.envirospec.com/Chem_PowerStroke.htm#PowerStroke

With my trailer setup of downstreaming @ 5.6 gpm including a small to average size driveway and assuming the house is pretty dirty it would take me by myself 2 1/2 hours. Adding a detailed cleaning of the decks (instead of soap and rinse) would add an hour. I cleaned a 4,200 s.f. 2-story house and driveway three days ago in 3 hours flat including hand brushing one of the gutters (oxidation) and hand brushing the mud dauber nests under the 2nd story front porch overhang.

The St. Johns county school contract which was done for 6.0 cents per s.f. for many years and then 4.9 cents per s.f. for the last two years will now be done for only 2.5 cents per s.f. for the next 3 years. This price includes all hot water cleaning and the use of any cleaning chemicals, and at these higher fuel price levels. This also includes any lift rentals which the contractor must lease on his own and any roof cleaning. The thing about this situation is that the high schools are the only ones that clean some sidewalks annually, where the middle and elementary school clean every 2 or 3 years (over half of middle and elementary schools clean by internal employees). On top of that, the county only pays via credit card (rewards card) that will likely take 4.19% right off the top plus monthly C.C. fees of $10-$20. A lot of the jobs are small too (less than $300) and include things that the school employees can't do, higher walls, tall ceilings to remove spider webs, etc. I expected a bid or two around 3.5 to 4.0 cents per s.f. during these times, but was quite surprised that the four lowest bidders (and ones that will be able to do this work going forward) were 2.5. 3.0, 4.0 and 4.7 cents per s.f. Since I was the contractor that held this contract for last two years (and still have it until May 12th with 4 larger projects coming up) and was able to get 4.9 cents per s.f. during this period, I know first hand about this contract. There were 3 smaller jobs that I just broke even on, especially after including the time and fuel used to complete a measurement estimate (it took me half a day to measure Nease high school and it ended up going to one of the other contractors who turned in far less s.f.). All the schools know the measurement but won't tell you (but will if your measurement turned in has more s.f. than the school’s areas to be cleaned actually has). Good luck as I hope the two lowest bidders (which will be estimating against each other) can make it work for them.

Do you happen to know what any of the bids were (and what companies bid)? It should be published next Friday or Monday at the latest on the county website. I know of 3 bids: 4.0 cents/s.f., 4.9 cents/s.f. and 5.7 cents/s.f. I would be willing to bet that more than 25 companies actually bid on it.

If I need extra draw from my downstream injector or for use with a longer hose, I snap on the ALLISON -- "Super Suds Sucker" (25%+) and it draws chemical with as much as 300’ of hose. It's sold by Envirospec. http://www.envirospec.com/CATALOG/C4.htm

One way is to go to Tractor Supply and get the following items: A cart and a 15-gallon tank with sprayer attachment. May want to upgrade the hose, sprayer, pump, etc. depending on what you will be spraying and how fast you want to spray. They have stronger carts as well. These 2 items plus a small battery and you are ready to go. http://www.tractorsupply.com/groundwork-reg-garden-utility-cart-800-lb-capacity-3599008 http://www.tractorsupply.com/fimco-15-gallon-spot-sprayer-lg-15-ec-tsc-2138134

WOW...that jerk got a great looking website for nothing. That's a shame that someone would do that.

Would love to see a demo, especially compared to the 0040. Myrtle Beach here we come!

Here is a pic of what one looks like posted by Bob at Pressure Tek. Paul at the Power Wash Store could probably hook you up as well. http://www.pressuretek.com/0dessno.html Screw that into one of these and you are set: http://www.pressuretek.com/1fptimstpl.html