Barry M

You all know as well as I do, that there are others who are storing or have stored chems in the house or have not had MSDS on hand. This thread has reminded me of the seriousness of the storage of chems, I knew when Jon jumped down my throat that I was going to be taking one for the team. I doubt anyone else will admit to the mis-storage of chems now, but that's alright. Ken has posted a great safety link that really shows the seriousness of this matter. I just hope by showing my ignorance, that some others realize how much care should be taken when storing chems.

Thanks guys, I've been pricing some pre built 16x20 barn style sheds and they really aren't that bad. There is a company out of PA that will deliver me one assemblied to IN on a truck for $3200. Of course I'd have to insulate and run electric to it, but I could do that myself to keep cost down. But then again I could probably build the shed myself for even cheaper, if I had the time.

If I don't want to mess with paypal, do you take checks via snail mail?

Hey Matt, I hope you get it. Call me if you need help, I'm slooooow. Biggest job I did was 4 two story apartment buildings this summer (1st year full time) I made good money, and it took 3 days by myself, did all the walkways too. Nothing the size of the job you bid, but I do have a bid out to wash buildings and clean out gutters of 36 two story apartments and 26 detached garages. Biggest ones are 14 units, smallest is 8 units. Huge, huge job for me. But I don't know if I got it yet, but I'm hopeful. The money involved in a job this size is mind blowing when your not used to it.

Jon, thanks for giving it to me straight, it doesn't bother me. I don't have 12% in the house right now, sorry for making it sound like I did. But I have in the past, but won't anymore. What I do have in the basement is different brands and colors of sealer and a 55 gallon drum of citra cleen...lol. That one ain't coming out till it's gone. In the shed I have a drum of 12%, all my deck resto chems, gutter shock, and some other misc chems. But it's not just so much chems its all the buckets, tarps, equipment I don't need on every job and such. My trailer is small so I only take what I need to each job. Then I got regular shed stuff, bikes, yard crap, lawn mower, blah blah. I just need more room. I am leaning towards buying another shed just for my stuff. Just wandered what others did.

Started up in spring of '05 part time, I washed 12 houses most of them were people I knew. I love seeing some of the high numbers posted so far, it gets me pumped up. Adrian what's up, How do you pick up H.O.A.'s or how do you target them? I landed a job with one this year for 4 apartments but they found me in the book. I can't seem to find anymore associations similiar.

And yet another rookie downstreaming adventurer guided in the right direction, I just love happy endings.

The pep talk is nice, especially during slow times for some of us. I have 2 commercial bids out but you know how long those things take to develope. The only calls I'm getting lately are people wanting to sell me an old PWer or dudes looking for a job.

Thanks Jeff, for the supportive post and for all your help with everything. Thanks Beth and Rod for a great BB too, don't know where I'd be without it. Thanks to all for posting and sharing info with me, I am truely grateful.

Yeah, what he said. Bob is the man! Give him a call Chris, he will help you out. http://www.pressuretek.com/

I don't understand this concept either. The whole point of downstreaming for me, is so I can leave all my sh*t on the trailer. Just my .02 cents

Why do you suggest shortening the hose? Please explain. For me that's not always an option, my unit stays on the trailer and how ever much hose I need to get the job done is how much hose I use. When I'm on the front of the house or a close side, I'll use one 100' section of hose, as I get around back or the far side, I'll slap on another 100' section. Sometimes that's not enough and I use another 50' section. Even at 250' of hose I don't think it's that big of deal to wait for the line to clear out.

Another year or two of sun and rain would work better than Wolmans.

Hey Chris, I have a 4gpm machine and just recently went to downstreaming for houses. I use a 4040 for close chem application and a 0030 for long distance. It takes about 10 seconds for the line to clear of chems, I always leave just a little bit of the house unsoaped, then stop spraying chems, switch from my soap tip to my rinse tip, and then finish applying chems on the house as my line is clearing out so there is no wasted chems. Wasted chems is wasted money, it takes a little getting used to but you'll get the hang of it. I also recommend calling Bob at Pressure Tek if you need any downstreaming advice and or a good injector and an assortment of tips, he knows his stuff.

John, I know where you're at man, I've been there since late March and still plugging away. Call me anytime if you need to chat.

I'm glad things are working out for you Jeff, you deserve it. Thanks for your help the past couple of days, I really appreciate it.

Had a guy in the town next to me call and ask if I was interested in buying an old Landa cold water unit, 4gpm, 2500psi, 11hp Wisconsin engine, belt driven, pull start. He said his dad used to be in the biz and got to old and gave the PW to him awhile back. He said it starts on the first pull almost every time. He heard it might be worth $700 or so but he isn't sure, my guess is he needs the money. Also mentioned the pump had been rebuilt at some point. Obviously I would take a look at her first, but I just wandered if it was worth my time. What do you all think, for a backup machine or a second machine on big jobs?

Maybe the guy will take $400, thanks for your help.

I read the article on house washing in The Cleaner Times. Henry Bochman, whom I don't have a problem with and have respect for, said you want to use 130 F hot water to clean houses. He goes on to say that it will increase the speed, and help your detergents to work better. Would the increase in speed be enough to off set the price of fuel to run your burner? Is it cost effective to clean house with hot water? How many of you use hot water on houses?

I think your right Howard, it's all about what works for you. Hot water is faster and may or may not be cost effective for some. With cold water the same results can be achieved but it takes longer, so again it's whatever you find to be more cost effective for you, in your demographic area. It also sounds like some hot water units don't cost as much to run as others, so that would also be a factor. This is a good thread, I've learned a lot.

Jeff, I can't help much but I'm with you. I just did my first complex a few weeks ago, 4 two story buildings, 4 units each, small compared to what you do, but a nice job for me. Anyway I would of never reached the right people on this one with my letters to PM's or faxes or anything like that. It was the treasurer of the co-owners association or HOA that found me in the yellow pages, he is who I did the property evaluation for and had a meeting with. He liked what he saw and ran it by the president of the association and then called me back and said it was a done deal. There was no PM involved at all. Once I did the job and had the check in hand which had the official name on it of the association, I wanted to see if I could find them online or in the yellow pages or something so it would lead me to more HOA's. I searched and searched and couldn't find anything. It's like they don't exist other than the fact they called me. The only way I could of gotten a hold of them, would of been to ask someone living there if there was a HOA and ask for the presidents or treasurers name. Maybe this is what is happening in your area, maybe there is no PM involved only an association. P.S. The nice thing was, they cut me a check upon completion.

Wow, you really have to do that with hot water? That would suck, and cost a lot of valuable time.

Here's a new product as an alternative to PT wood, but this stuff is stainable. It isn't very popular yet, as they are still setting up distributors around the country. http://www.timbersil.com/

Just for the record, I don't have hot water right now. Thanks for the insight John and Jeff.

Good for you Jeff, do I smell one of your long, inspiring posts a brewin? I sure hope so, it's been awhile. I would of had the 4th off but the rain kept me from doing a roof job today, so I did a big drive and patio instead and will do the roof tomorrow hopefully. I've had lots of days off anyway so I'll live. Enjoy the holiday and your time off.