Mike

The cell phone thing is just a rumor. It was started last fall and was spread around in emails telling people that they had until December 15th, 2004 to add their cell phones to the do not call list. FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from adding cell phone numbers to automatic dialers which they all use. You can add your cell phone # to the do not call list though. Ken, you can report companies that are not following the do not call list guidelines and they will face fines from the fcc. Some "not for profit" organizations like the PAL and others are exempt from the do not call list guidelines.

This article is very long so I will just post the link to it. It's a great article on Insurance Advice from the SBA (small business admin.) that might answer some questions for some. http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/gopher/Business-Development/Success-Series/Vol6/insure.txt

except for the weight. I went to the werner ladder website, the 24 ft. type 1A aluminum ladder shipped actually weighs 8 pounds more then the fiberglass ladder. So when comparing the ladders that are equal in weight restrictions, the aluminum actually weighs a little more.

It's just not your weight, its the total weight of you and your equipment and or anything else up there with you. I guess like I said before why push it to its limit? You can spend a little extra and get a ladder that can support you much better then an aluminum, light duty, home owners ladder. My safety will always come before cost. There are ways you can carry ladders that make moving it around much easier, not to mention wheeled carts.

I'm surprised to see so many of you all using aluminum.

Fiberglass extension ladder, orange colored and rated to support more weight then most other ladders. Commercial rated. I use a stabalizer now and it makes a great difference. MUCH MORE support for the ladder, protects the gutters, and prevents most ladder movement. Ladders are not something you want to cut corners on when it comes to cost. Your safety should be more of a concern then money.

Roger & Wallydog.. Welcome! :) Nice to meet both of you. I look forward to hearing from other new members, dont be shy :)

Ken, no big deal. :D His prices did look a little low and I see where you were coming from. What one guy charges does in a way effect what the rest of us can charge for our services. I know you have a passion for raising the standards for the industry and I respect you for that. Keep doin what your doin! :cheers:

Ken, I have to respectfully disagree with you on that part of your response. If the guy has insurance and a proper license (if required by his state) and he can afford to make a living on the prices he has then why would you put him in the same catagory as someone who has no insurance or license and takes shortcuts (also known to some as a lowballer) Dan, Welcome to the Grime Scene. Beth has created an awesome FAQ area for common questions on starting and running a PW business. This BBS is full of useful information that can be obtained by using the search function or by searching the sub forums manually. Enjoy, ask questions and have a good time. Good Luck! Link to FAQ area: http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/faq.php? Link to Search Funtion: http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/search.php?

Wally, heres a thread that might help you out: http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=503 Also, I dont do alot of gum removal, but I've been told that hot water just melts the gum right off the surface. But someone else might know a trick to help you out.

Wally, welcome to The Grime Scene. :cheers: Chems depend on alot of things, what your cleaning, what are you trying to get off, your climate, your equipment and so on. What might be a little easier for you is to check out the Sub forums here: Residential Pressure Washing Wood Cleaning & Restoration Cedar & Log Home Care Planes, Trains & Automobiles...Boats & Trucks too Flatwork & Buildings Up on the Roof Windows & Gutters are just some of the many here. If you want to clean concrete check out the Flatwork & Buildings sub forum. There you will find many threads on cleaning concrete. See what others use and how they use it. Then ask questions about their chem or process and it might get you a better response. You can do this with all sub forums here and learn alot. Your question just seems kind of broad and you may not get the answers you want until your a little more specific. I just want to help you get better answers to your questions. Keep participating, keep asking questions and enjoy the learning experience! :D

Today I got my March issue of Cleaner Times, attached to my cover and I'm sure it was attached to yours was a $100.00 OFF coupon for the pwna convention in Columbus. Doesnt that convention start tomorrow? Why would me getting a coupon 1 day before it starts convince me to go? Why did they not send this out months ago, it just seems like that might have worked out better on trying to encourage others to come.

Chuck, thanks for taking the time to come here and explain to us what had happened. I still think this would have had a better response if it were sent out a little sooner to give those who were thinking about going, time to plan to go, but the idea was a good one! I applaud the pwna and the Cleaner Times for thier effort in working together to get the word out about the convention. I do enjoy the Cleaner Times magazine and for those of you out there who dont get it, check it out.

Hey Roger, Welcome to the Grime Scene. :cheers: Hey Ken, how do you clean windows? With a soda blaster? I use a turbo nozzle on concrete, it works great. You just want to watch your distance from the surface to avoid making swirl marks.

What ever happened to the days where everyone payed attention to what they were doing and not what the other guy was doing? I would hope that we dont see the day we have others going around playing big brother and turning in companies because they dont like the way there are running their business. I hope that person at least tried to talk to other company and explain to them why its important to do certain things a certain way and not just run off and report them. What will happen if we have a bunch of guys out doing this is it will give the industry as a whole a bad reputation... "Pw'ers are just a bunch of pollutin', no good, dirty business operators that dont care about the environment" ....if the guy or company still refuses to do his best to comply after you inform him, thats a different story of course, but dont be so quick to pull the trigger on someone you feel is your competitor because you want yourself to look better. Help the guy out, he has a family to feed as well.

It's a nice looking site, but I think with the amount of graphics on the page, it someone had a slower connection like dialup it would take a while to load.

Good Luck with the new business! Alot of information can be found in the threads here, and dont be afraid to ask questions if you have them. Beth has set up an awesome FAQ area which can be found here: http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/faq.php?

When you are replying to a message, or creating a new one just look down :) Under the submit reply & preview post button you well see an Additional Options Window. In that window you can click on Manage Attachments (under attach files) just click on that button and you can add up to 3 files per post. Another neat thing you can do if you keep scrolling down below that, you can see previous post on the thread you are replying to also, making it easier to go back, read someones comments and reply to them. have fun, any more questions just ask! :D

Best Trilogy Ever. Thanks for not pulling a "George Lucas" and making us all wait years to see the next part of the trilogy and forget about the last one you saw. I heard the same production crew will be re-doing the Hobbit. Coming Soon I guess.. I am a big movie junkie and cant wait to see it.

Hey Chris, what I did was bought an extension pole. I then got a brush head for exterior gutter cleaning and a scooper for interior gutter cleaning (so I can reach far down the gutters instead of moving the ladder every 3 feet.) They both screw and unscrew on and off with ease. As far as the brush head, soft bristles are they way to go. You dont want anything to stiff as it might scratch the gutters. It really doesnt take much effort at all when using PP (or any other butyl degreaser) , you just brush it on softly, and rinse it off with clean water. In this photo, the top half was cleaned, the bottem half was left dirty to show the difference.

Hey Barry, glad to see things are coming along with you up there. Theres nothing wrong with discounting to your family in order to get more practice and get comfortable with what your doing. I clean an elder family members gutters at no charge because I know they cant climb a ladder, even though I usally get some cash shoved in my pocket by the time I'm leaving. That being said.... what you dont want to do is get in a habit of doing it alot. What will happen is EVERYONE will expect the same deal you gave the other guy and that makes it hard to make a living. I would say to go ahead and discount your first couple practice jobs, but let them know that you are discounting the price for a reason and not to expect the same price in the future. Dont get caught in the "hey can you do me a favor" trap. Afterall, you do have bills to pay. You know how to reach me if you have any questions :) Good Luck!

barry I get it from a supply store for 3.49 a gallon, but I think you can get it from the Wal-mart automotive aread for 3.85 a gallon which is a little cheaper then your napa price. You can see a before / afer photo in the "My Mind is in the Gutter" thread here in this forum.

I really dont let it dwell long at all. I use a 2:1 Water:PP mixture, brush it on (like tony said you see the black streaks just melts off the gutters) I will do about 6 feet of gutter, then turn around and rinse it right off. I had an old gutter laying around and sprayed PP on it and let it dwell, it eventually started to eat into the paint. So be careful on your dwell time.

Today I am dropping my truck off to get some work done to it to assure it keeps me moving this year. I know alot of attention is paid to equipment maintenance, but do any of you have a maintenance plan for your vehicle as well? I would have to say we put our vehicles under alot more stress then a vehicle used for normal everyday use. You have more drive time, more stess when pulling equipment, more wear from running all the time. it just seems the maintenance plan that comes with a vehicle would not be enough when using it was a work vehicle. Whats your plan to counter act this early wear and tear?

I've read various post on here about companys having problems buying chemicals at a reasonable price. It seems in order to get a good deal and save on shipping cost the best way to buy is in bulk, but who has a loading dock or storage building in thier back yard? I would say not alot of us probably. I also saw comments about networking, which is ALWAYS a good idea it seems. I was wondering if there are some of you out there that have got together with other companys (whether its a pool company, a hardware company or another PW company) and worked out some kind of deal so you can buy your chemicals together and save money together as well. What are the Pros and Cons of this?