Eric B

Good post. I've been doing Wood restoration for 5 years. For the last 2 i've thought of getting out of that side of the biz for a couple of reasons. When I first started 6 years ago it was just me and a helper. I've grown alot since then, employees, time, weather. These are my problems with doing wood. I am not able to be at all jobs any longer, some weeks I don't get out at all. Doing 10 estimates a day, managing 8 employees, paper work etc. Wood is a art, and to find employees that can master that art I have not. They don't and never will care as much as you. Time, When you have 6 wash jobs scheduled everyday, 1-2 commercial washes scheduled at night, every night there is no room for error. then you have a deck scheduled and it rains, reschedule, wash/strip prep wood ready to seal,Rains, reschedule, sunny days, you meter the wood good to go ,schedule, get a 6hr shower, reschedule. You get the point. Some decks we get involved with take weeks due to weather and if it's not weather it's time. I love doing decks, looking at that before pic and then after pic, sense of pride to me, looking at the customers face when it is done and hearing those comments of how well it looks, the money , cann't beat it, but for me it is all about time. This year I've hired a Manager to oversee my company, trying to free me up alittle more, so maybe I can get back out there and do what I love to do, work with my hands, sweat and get oily.

Have a 2000 extended cab gas dually flat bed, 2009 E-350 16' gas, E-350 10' gas, 2004 2500 deisel, deisel is the best. We were working in Conneticut, Filled up the deisel, hauling a 7000lb trailer hot rig and did not have to stop until we got home PA, 5hrs from around Milford

If you want Gutter Zap go to sunbrite supply.com. I soap the gutters with power house soap, gentle scrub, clean most of the time. If not good enough for my liking, I have a bucket of Zap near by. Dip my brush, gentle scrub, CLEAN. That simple.

You can do 1 fan, one side in 1min. Keep the fans running, easier to do the louvers, won't hurt the motor, just don't hit it directly, We do hundreds of these a year, We charge 250 for a chicken house that has 12 fans, inside and out. Some are 24", 48", 36", aldepends. We clean (this year 2 dozen chicken and 20 swine houses this year alone. We do the swine houses every 18 wks all year around. Goood money. Yes dirty smelly but good money. Full Blast knows what he is talking about also. Theres only a few of us in PA that do this , But we also Spray pesticides in these barns aswell. Thats how I get the contracts for the washing.

I have a very good pressure washing biz, but I also have a good Pesticide biz as well. We use in the pesticide biz, alot of chemicals that can be fatal if not properly handeled, and my guys are not properly trained. I had to take test, I have BU number, Cert numbers, require 2million insurance policies,go to classes every couple of years to keep up my certs on and on. This goes in hand with what henry and others said. We handel chems in wood restoration, concrete on and on. Alot of these chems burn and even put a whole in your skin. Why not make some regs in the industry? Theres alot of guys that are on the up and up, then you have the other guy out there. Somebody mentioned it earlier, get the "other guy"out. I vote YES

Nice post Ken. I totally agree. Some things I do is, every month I send out Designed Thank-you cards to all my customers that I did work for that month. Inside the card I give them a Company Biz card Magnet. Most people that get magnets hang them on the frig. Everytime they open the frig they see your name. At least thats how I hope it works. Another thing I do is, Alot of the time I'm not on the job site. So that same night, I'll call the customers the jobs were done for that day and ask them 1. Are they happy with the job,2. Any problems or Concerns. That right there shows the customer that I care. GOOOOOes along way. Also send out news letters in the middle of the winter. Good communication, Knowing what your talking about when speaking to a potential customer,Alot of customers want to know your process to do the job, Explain that in detail, puts there mind at ease, Fullfilling the task you promised, And doing an good job, better than your competitors. This is what keeps them coming back and getting referrals for me. And beleive me, Price is only half the battle. I've gotten lots of jobs, Even though I've been under bid I still got the job, because of some of the above Mentioned. Thanks