Barry M

Hey Celeste, did your builder seal his own decks before you came up with the present arrangement? If so how did you confront him and how did he react initially?

http://store.yahoo.com/sunbrite/wore.html Good luck.

Welcome Doug and thanks for introducing yourself, you sound like you've got pretty good knowledge of the industry and some good equipment to start fulltime. How many powerwashing customers do you have already?

Hey guys, I'm looking for a 6510 surface cleaner tip (1/4" Male threaded) where can I find one online to order? I checked Higher Power Supply but came up empty, same results at Water Cannon please help, thank you.

Okay, thanks for asking Pete. It's just now getting in the 60's here and I have a few good paying jobs lined up and things are starting to roll. I've been doing some remodeling work for a friend that's keeping the bills paid for now.

Did I miss the brightening process in the video?

I have two decks to recoat that I did last year. I told the customer I would do them for free because last year I told him they should look good for two years. Originally it was a strip job on two different decks followed by a bath of citralic. They don't look terrible, but they should still look better than they do. In WTW's defense, the 10 gallons I used was part of that "bad batch" that was going around last year. It was super thick and very hard to apply, but it was my first two decks ever so I had no idea. Russell has since sent me a free 5er of some good WTW. I'm glad this thread came up because I wasn't sure about doing a maintenance coat, thanks. P.S. Hey Russell I might need another 5er to finish both of these decks, how about another freeby to help me out? LOL...

When I got laid off!! Long story that I'm in the middle of right now. But tell us more about your work situation and more about your PW biz.

Go into it thinking, they have a problem and you have the solution. Show them you care and you want to help and show them what you have to offer. Don't worry about your competitor.

Yes, you can change one piece of siding if you need to, I hung siding for a couple of years when I was younger, get a zip tool and it makes it easier. New vinyl won't match perfectly with old vinyl even if it's the same color, due to sun fading.

Nice job Mike, how did you apply the sealer?

Take a spray bottle of stripper with you and do a test spot, that's the only true way to know. If it's strippable then measure up the sq footage of the floor and the footage of railing and steps. Then apply your price, every area is different, I can get $2 a sq ft to do a strip job and reseal. But that may be a little high in your area, espically if your measuring ALL the wood. From the pic I would guess between $700-$900.

Does anybody use this for keeping 12v batteries charged in the field? How well does it work. I was thinking of using it on my 2 marine batteries I use on my shurflo roof cleaning setup. http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200140124_200140124&issearch=167985

I never thought of that Mike, great idea. I have the north side roofs of 12 different office buildings to wash, totaling 32,000 ft. They are all on the same property and can only be done on weekends, when they are not occupied. So I'll be putting in some long Saturdays and Sundays and I need enough battery to run the shurflo constantly. I would hate to run it off the truck battery and have the truck running with gas this expensive. Is there an alternative? How long will a 1.8 shurflo run on a typical marine battery?

Just starting to do estimates here. I will start a couple jobs next week, it's been getting in the 50's and some 60's lately so it's time. I have had some butterflies in my stomach, I think I'm just overly anxious and more than ready to hit it.

:lgtear: Had to burst my bubble didn't you. Really though, thank you that's some good info.

Hey all right, that's the Jeff I know! The same Jeff that told me over the phone to hold my head up high and get out there and wash some sh*t! Remember dude, life is good. Thanks again.

Now your thinking outside the box Jon, very interesting idea, and people would also see you are a giving and caring person and that can be a very profitable identity to have in business.

The customer wants it in a color. So I'm using H&C acrylic sealer. It says to apply their brand of etching solution before sealing, which is basically phosphoric acid. I was told to use muriatic instead. Not that I don't believe you, when you say I don't need to etch it at all. I'm really in the dark about the whole thing.

Well, I got laid off from the full time job yesterday for at least a month. Unfortunate circumstances caused us to loose a big job and my intelligent boss had all his eggs in one basket. Most likely I won't get called back, the company is pretty much washed up. Now I'm torn between finding another full time job or trying to live off of power washing. My wife is freaking out over the whole thing and isn't being very supportive right now. I only have 1 part time season of power washing under my belt. I feel like it's too early to try and survive on PWing right now. On the other hand it might be difficult to schedule PWing jobs with having a new fulltime job and not knowing what they will expect of me. Maybe I should send out 5000 postcards and see how far it takes me and then get a new job once things slow down. I'm just confused on what to do right now and to be honest I'm pretty scared. I guess I'm just looking for some encouraging words, but please be honest and tell me what you think. Thanks.

If you don't see the advantage I will tell you in my opinion. Traditional marketing says close the sale do the job and your work is done, on to the next new customer. If you want to increase your bottom line, then you need to meet your customers and start to build a relationship with them. If your best interests are meeting people, building relationships with them, and offering a solution to their problems your business will soar. By building trust and confidence with your clients your biz will evenually live off of repeat and referral business, your advertising costs will decrease, and your profits will increase. If your best interest is making money from people you really don't need to meet or even see then your only shooting yourself in the foot. You will always have to search for new customers and your advertising costs will always be high. I try to never do an estimate without meeting the prospect. I want to start building that relationship ASAP. I always listen to what they have to say, I get to know them. By the time I am finished with the job I should know quite a bit about them. This is NOT the end of the job, it's the beginning of a relationship. I will keep in touch with them in person, by phone, or usually by mail at least 4-5 times a year, starting with a thank you card and asking them for referrals. Send them a promotional item with your logo on it, send a newsletter, latter in the year send them a postcard offering a discount only available to repeat customers, I try to learn their birth date by sending them a questionaire once I find that out I send them a b-day card when it's their b-day, x-mas cards, anything I just try to keep in contact with them. People like to feel important, not like their trying to be sold. Make them feel like you care and in return they will refer you without even thinking about it. I might get 1-3 referral jobs from 1 customer. Those referrals give referrals and so on and so on. Lets say we both can only advertise one time. We both land one job each. You go do your job and briefly meet the people for the first time while collecting your check. Now what, you can only advertise once remember, you MIGHT get a referral if you do quality work but probably not since the people really don't know you. So your done! Now I go do my job and build a relationship with my client, and collect my check. I send the customer a thank you card and nicely ask for referrals. After awhile I land another job from someone my first customer knows, without doing anymore advertising. I do that job in the same manner and land a few more referrals, it snowballs from there and I work all summer while you've been sitting at home living off your one check. That's the advantage!! Just my .02 cents

Man, you guys should all be motivational speakers. I can't begin to tell you all how thankful I am for the overwhelming response and all the encouraging posts. I have also recieved emails and had the pleasure of talking to a few of you on the phone...thank you so much. The past few months I have done nothing but think about my business. I think about it at work, on the hour drive to and from work, at home, in bed, everywhere. I network and research online almost everyday, I am on my third marketing book this winter, I listen to a marketing teleconference almost every Saturday, my website is almost finished, I have a toll free number now, I'll be in the yellow pages for the first time this spring, I have a trailer I'm putting together for roof cleaning, I just got my yard signs, I have some funds to mail a few postcards, and I already have a few paying jobs lined up......what the hell am I scared for? Who am I kidding, this is what I wanted. I can do it, I will make it work, failure is not an option. Thanks again guys for all your help.

Reading all of your encouraging posts made me tear up a bit, man what was that all about. Thank you so much for your input, you guys are the best. I couldn't of made it this far without you. I know things happen for a reason. I do have faith in God and that helps to calm some of my fears. I do pray most everyday and ask for help. But you all know how it is if you get caught up in the minute, you can really get yourself worked up. Maybe it is my time........thanks again.

Those of you using sheets, do you pretty much throw the sheets out after one use?

Educate them.