Phil Rogers

What does precarb, scrap and paint mean? Maybe I am misunderstanding scrap because I assumed precarb was the cleaner and paint is obviously the sealer or stain.

Part Time for me, right now. I love exterior cleaning and I love chasing down the work, but I went full time last year (lost my job) and almost wrecked my family due to having 2 bad months in a row. If you are not established and do not have money set aside for rough times, I wouldn't recommend going Full Time until a foundation has been established. I am working a full time day job again and managed to get Friday's off during the summer, so it's steady money and more time to work on the business, too.

Hi Beth, This home is a duplex with 3 sides, maybe 1,200 sq ft. The customer wanted the house washed, gutters and soffits cleaned, and the deck cleaned. The deck, from memory, as I am on vacation, was approximately 400 sq. ft, not including the railing and steps. From what I have found, most people jump when I quote them on cleaning and sealing a deck. One lady last week asked for a quote, she lived in a townhouse in Columbia, MD, had a 300 sq. foot, 2nd story deck, no steps. She wanted the house washed, gutters cleaned, and the deck cleaned and resealed... I quoted approximately $1,200 for this including materials and threw in a walkway cleaning for free.. She replied and said she was hoping to have everything done for $400 to $500. In MD, have you found that a lot of people just don't understand the amount of work that goes in to properly cleaning and sealing a deck?

The porch in the photo is not the deck I was referring to, that was my parents house that they were nice enough to let me "practice" on! The deck I was referring to was over 400 sq ft.. I am starting to feel like Guy B.... Decks are a ton of work, and they seem to take me forever!

Hey Beth, sorry I didn't see this sooner. He still does pressure washing, but mainly landscaping. I have since heard some horror stories about his work, but he's always been the "go to" guy for people that don't really care if the work is done right, who just want a cheap price. I have since submitted several estimates and have not budged on my pricing. If someone is not willing to pay a fair price, then I am moving on, there is plenty of work out there!

Wooo, Happy Birthday, Tracy!

ha ha ha.. Get a longer wand.. Sounds familiar, DOH! Just kidding. Thank you for the advice.

Every time I get back from a job, I am soaked, usually from head to toe, and full of dirt. Usually I do make a mistake of getting too close to the bottom of whatever I am cleaning and then get a mud bath, but I was just wondering if the pros still come back looking like this? I feel like I should be wearing a rain coat and rain boots whenever I step on to a job!

Thanks, everyone.. I think I will break it down, too.

I have my first wood clean and seal job coming up. When you do your pricing, do you charge a certain price per sq ft and that covers sealer, too? Or, do you charge a price per sq. foot and add the sealer cost to that number? Just curious, thank you.

Ha, wow! Let us know how it turned out, Adrian!

This is my first real month in the business and I have 3 jobs lined up already, wooo wooo. I haven't done any advertising yet, only word of mouth, so this is looking good! Happy Washing to all!

After

Before shots

Thanks a ton, everyone. I did my first house and deck wash today, for my parents... Everything turned out really well and there are definitely things I could improve on. Thanks to this website, I think I was much much much more improved than I would have been. I did have trouble getting some junk of the facia on the 2nd story, but I eventually got it as clean as I could. I will post pictures when I load them on my PC, but ahhh, it feels good!