GymRat

I a'm just a small timer just trying to get things started. I am using a 3100 psi Karcher 3.1GPM cold water machine, that has been sufficient in my house washes thus far. I know that buying a bigger machine in the future with more GPM will help me finish a job in a more timely manner. It took me about 3 hours to clean a house this past Saturday, which included two sidewalks. I thought that was pretty good for a rookie with a small machine working by myself. I a'm trying not to be a lowballer, and working hard on trying to give good estimates for myself and my customers. I believe the main priority is customer satisfaction, no matter what size rig or crew you have. Sorry to be so long winded, and I know this is not the right area to post this question , but here goes anyways. With the size of my machine, I already have 100' of pressure hose on a reel, would adding another 100' for a total of 200' greatly affect my pressure and gpm?

I work out a minimum of 3 days a week, and never do a heavy leg workout before the day of a big job. Gettiing a good nights rest is a great help in making sure you are ready for a hard days work. Make sure you drink plenty of water the day before working out in the heat, because starting a job already dehydrated is nothing but trouble. I also read up on this great information highway on anything new I think I may encounter on the job. Thanks again for all the help. John

Happy New Year!!!! Hope everyone had a safe New Years Eve. John

Go to the gym and work my butt off, or mouth off to the wife and get the worst beating of my life----LOL. John

I wear my mp3 player and run the cord under my shirt to keep the ear buds from getting ripped out of my ears like Ryan mentioned. My problem is I never take the time to change my music on my player and have been listening to the same playlist for about 8 months. John

Neighbors have to think I am Crazy. I have been outside washing the cars today. It will be in the teens tonight. I believe the neighbors are right about the crazy thing. On the way to the gym to warm up. Hope we get a white Christmas John

I was wondering how you can wear blue jeans when doing a house wash and not getting the solution on your pants and bleaching them out. It may just be me, as a rookie, because I always seem to at least brush the xjet hose against my pants and have that nice white spot on my jeans. I was thinking of buying some white painter pants to solve this problem. Merry Christmas to all! John

Getting ready to purchase a trailer for my pressure washer, roof cleaning rig, and ladders. I have read threads suggesting for one to buy a dual axle trailer vs the single axle model due to the weight of water carried on the trailer. I was interested in buying a single axle 5x10 open utility trailer for my needs. Maybe I'm cheap, but for the house cleaning I mostly do, I don't see where a large water tank will help. A 200 to 300 gallon tank is not big enough to do very much cleaning. Am I looking at this all the wrong way or what. Thank you for your suggestions. John

I work as a utility job trainer at Honeywell International. My job entails training operators how to run our boiler house, refrigeration generators, Large air compressors and the equipment users throughout the plant site. Just started pressure washing this summer, and have only done about 6 houses and 2 roof jobs. Still learning a lot from this board, and wanted to thank everyone for the great advice and expertice. John

Thanks Mark, I will give Dominiion Chemical a call first, and see what they can do for me. Thanks guys for all the help. John

Hopewell, Virginia:cheers:

I know it is not always posible when doing residential work, but if possible, have a rope at the top of the ladder to tie it off. I know it is hard to find anything to tie it off to sometimes. Also when working at heights, a harness with fall protection tied off to the ladder is a good idea. Safety is #1 John

I would have to agree with Ryan, on giving a little free service, and I would write it off as advertising. We all know that the best advertisement is WORD OF MOUTH. I have given some free jobs in my lawn business, helping my good name in the business, and received plenty of work from doing this. I just finished building my hand cart rig for cleaning roofs and will try to take a picture this afternoon, and let you guys grade my work. Hey Ryan I would like to see your new Kick a$$ rig also. John

Congratulations Craig, kaitlin is a beautiful little girl. Hope you can enjoy every minute of her childhood, and be the most bestest daddy you can be. Don't blink, because if you do, she will be in college and you won't know where her childhood went. Enjoy and take care of Mommy. If Mommy is not happy, no one is happy. John

I would greatly appreciate a copy also. Thanks; John wrays1@adelphia.net

Sounds high to me. You need to find out what percent sodium Hypochlorite is in the mix. I believe 148 oz (1gal 20oz) of bleach from walmart contains a tad over 6% of sodium Hypochlorite and costs just under $2. Sodium Hypochlorite is bleach, and I think that is what does most of your cleaning. Hope this helps! John

I would lik a copy also. Thanks Reed. wrays1@adelphia.net

I normally get a flu shot every year, but I have to agee with Reed on not taking a shot away from the elderly. I believe the craziness of the whole situation is that people always want something that they cannot have. With the guesswork of the flu vaccination, on predicting which strand of virus will be around this season and so forth, I am not concerned about not getting a shot this year. I only got the shot each year for the past 4 to 5 years, because my work place provided me with the shot. John

First off, I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to post all of this knowledge on these boards. I am getting ready to wash my first house ( Which is my own). I have ordered the Xjet (m-5) and planning on using it Tomorrow. I will try a homeade concoction that will include regular 6% bleach, car wash, and some cascade dishwashing detergant. I will try to apply this soluton, so the sodium Hypochlorite reaches the house at approx. 1%. My question is, will prewetting my cloth awnings keep this solution from harming the awnings, and also will this solution do ok on my vinyl siding? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. John :) PS. I live in the Richmond, Va. Area, and of course with all the rain we have had this year, we have a lot of algae.

Thanks Ryan, I like the idea of hitting the awnings from the underside. I do have a digital camera, and I will try to take the time to take some pics. I recieved my M-5 in the mail today and gave it a try this afternoon practicing on the garage. I sure like the way it throws the solution on fast, and the adjustable nozzle is great. If anyone likes sending pictures via email or posting them on websites and want to keep them small, try a FREE program called Picture Tray www.picturetray.com This is a small program (600k) that allows you to resize pictures 1/4, 1/2 or special size and drag the smaller pictures into your email without harming your original picture files. I have two children in college and use it all the time, and it also works on aol instant messanger. Thanks again, John