Shawn F.

I have about 3 general questions that I thought of while washing my home and doing my first actual job on a friends home... 1.) First question is about applying some kind of wax to the vinyl siding of the home. I understand this has somewhat been discussed before but I am still confused as to if I mix it into my cleaning solution or what? Also what are some of the top brands and kinds to use to seal the vinyl after stripping/cleaning? 2.) Second question is cleaning the exterior of the gutters. I could not get the black marks off the white gutters at my friends home. I used Landa cleaner called Road Grime I believe in a 6 gallon bucket. I messed with my mixes and no matter how strong it didn't budge. I even tried some bleach on a rough rag and still no luck along with degreaser (Simple Green to be exact). Is there some kind of cleaner out there that you guys would recommend to clean these black streaks off metal and gutters? 3.) Last question is for my own home. I need to clean the algae from the shingles of my roof and have read up on some cleaners which I have one in mind I will use and also read NOT to use pressure nor much bleach if any at all on a shingle roof. My problem is the pitch and height of the roof. What are you guys doing to clean high and steep pitched roofs? As for my setup currently I am using a 4 gpm 3200psi pressure washer with a 12 foot aluminum wand which I found much better than a heavy telescoping wand and cut my time WAY down compared to climbing a ladder and hand scrubbing and applying the detergents. I understand my pressure washer is a bit small, I will eventually move up to at least a 6 gpm heated skid unit or maybe spend the extra money on a 8 gpm depending on how things go. Anyways, I'd greatly appreciate any information, suggestions and opinions!

Do you guys think that I can get by with a nice belt drive type cold washer unit starting out doing just siding and gutters and later down the road buy a heated skid unit and use this belt drive for backup? I am trying to figure out what to do here and do not plan to do driveways or any commercial work this year until I master siding and gutters along with my window cleaning. Thanks for any info!

Yeah if I had more money I would opt for an 8 gpm heated unit. ;) That can happen later down the road and this will have to work for now to get me started.

Thanks for all the information and help today Russ! I will be ordering my new pressure washer unit from Russ in the next week or so for sure. Great customer service and a nice guy! Too bad he isn't located in NC. :) BTW, I have decided to go with a Pressure Pro cold belt drive unit with 5.5 gpm and 3500 psi. Vanguard 18HP motor, General pump. Seems like that is all I will need since I am only doing residential work and most likely will not need 4000 psi and heat anytime soon. When it's time to step up I will go with a bigger heated skid unit and use this one for a backup.

Neil, I am in the same boat as you. I tried getting a quote from a local place here months ago and still have not heard anything. I called 6 times, nicely, and still no service. Your best bet in my opinion is Pressure Tek and then contact Russ on here about a pressure washer. That is what I am going to do. I get my chemicals and materials from Pressure Tek and will most likely be buying my washer unit from Russ. Good luck with your purchase!

Yes unfortunately they are not getting back to me because a few of the guys there are very nice and know what they are doing. I tried 6 times to get a price quote from them. The first 3 times I just figured they are busy and forgot because the guy who was supposed to get back to me was out of the office a lot for family and stuff. After the 6th try I just gave up... Russ, I will contact you on Monday about a cold washer unit. Thanks.

Bringing this thread back up again... Any recommendation on which cold unit in the 6 GPM range would be best? Vangaurd motor, Honda, etc? I cannot get my local pressure washing company to contact me back with a quote (it's been 2 months) so I am giving up on them now. I've called several times very nicely and they keep promising to get back to me on a quote but no luck at all so I'm done trying with them. Looks like Russ is going to most likely be the one getting my business.

Neil, yes I did see yours. Currently I use a Honda 13HP 4.0 GPM unit (cold) and it works ok. I'd like to go to a 5 GPM cold belt drive unit or similar. The skid units are huge but I have plenty of trucks and a trailer to haul it. My main goal by next year is to have a flatbed truck or even a NPR Isuzu with everything mounted on it and under bed tool boxes for my window cleaning stuff. That way I do not have a trailer to haul around and I can use the flatbed specifically for work only and drive my El Camino for estimates and what not... I'd love a van but it's just not going to happen. They are nice for security, space and act as a billboard but it wont work for me. An NPR box truck would be nice but not sure I want that beast sitting in my driveway with my 5 other cars (hot rods). If I had the space for a NPR box truck with the 4 banger turbo motor then that would be the way to go. My friend has one and is getting 12 MPG with it loaded down heavily for plumbing and can fit a TON of stuff in it. It's a HUGE running billboard too and the cab is separate from the box so no fume smells.

I began pressure washing my parents home today but ran into 2 problems. One being my new Hi/Low Pressure Nozzle only stays on high and the other is a stain along the bottom of the entire house that doesn't seem to come off. I used a mixture of 4.5 gallons of Clorox Outdoor bleach, 16 oz of Simple Cherry and 8 oz of F13 Gutter Grenade. I let this mixture sit for 5 minutes, scrubbed with a brush and no luck... Any ideas what needs to be done here to remove this? It's along pretty much the entire bottom of the home and it has never been pressure washed (house is about 13 years old or more). Thanks a lot in advance!

I am hoping to get some information on these pressure washers or on the brand at least and get some opinions and suggestions on some questions I should ask when looking to buy one... Here is the Craigslist ad I am looking at and plan to call either tomorrow or Friday about it: http://charlotte.craigslist.org/for/2238205991.html The questions I plan to ask so far is how many hours on the unit and pump and if the pump has been rebuilt. He mentions in the ad about separating the unit so I will ask about price on just the unit with hoses, reels and nozzles. I do not need the trailer or surface cleaner unless the surface cleaner is going to be sold for CHEAP. I have a tank and trailer already and plan to purchase a flat bed truck later this year to mount anyways. I just want to make sure this is a good brand along with a good burner for hot water and I am not wasting my time going to look at it. Any information, opinions and suggestions on this unit would be GREATLY appreciated! I was looking at some Landa units which seem to be pretty pricey but well worth that price, but if I can get a nice used unit for a good price I will do that as well. Thanks a lot in advance!

Paint thinner possibly?

Thanks for the info and advice guys! I will just buy new as mentioned here. As for the roundtable, I was going to make plans to make it but I am in the middle of moving right now and it just can't/wont happen unfortunately. I will give Russ a call here sometime in the next few days. I have been putting it off trying to give my local shop a chance but I've tried 4 times with them with no call or email back on a price on their Landa or HydroTek unit. :( They have now lost my business for good unfortunately.

Only thing is that it's not rust. It looks like it though but it's not. Think the F8 will work anyways?

I will look into Iron Out, thanks a lot... Any other suggestions, feel free to post them!

I also found this one as well which looks to be a bit better of a pressure washer since it's a Landa... pressure washer hot

Well guys I'm still on the hunt for a pressure washer and came across this one: SKID MOUNT PRESSURE WASHER I am hoping to get some opinions on this type and what you think on the price and amount of hours. My 3200 PSI 4 GPM Honda pressure washer is on it's way out very soon and I need to get something quick. If I cannot find anything local within the next 2 weeks then I will be giving Russ a call on one. I was going to go with an 8 GPM unit but just cannot afford it right now and I think for residential work (mostly just siding, gutters, small roofs and small walkways) than a 5.5 GPM unit will do fine for now. I'd greatly appreciate anymore help.

Yeah it was kind of crazy. I asked about a truck and/or van. They said neither. What all is involved to put commercial tags on a truck? Guess I need to figure out some other company to purchase from. I just cant see why they cannot give me the MSDS sheets like everything else and go on my way as long as it's strapped down in my truck, El Camino or van... Oh well, it's their rules, nothing I can do. Guess I'm stuck with household bleach.

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but Dave, I called Acme Southern today to order that 15 gallons of SH and they said I need a commercially licensed vehicle to pick it up and not my work or personal truck... How did you go about getting this stuff yourself? Thanks.

Window cleaners use squeegees so I do not see why that would be a problem. A question I do have is do you guys charge extra to wash the windows as far as going up and cleaning them by hand with a window cleaner and squeegee?

Celeste, you dont sound like an infomercial dont worry haha. I plan to join PWNC here in the next few weeks once I get a few more things knocked out of the way (I am in the process of moving so have a lot of things to take care of). I have looked at the site and hopefully I can benefit from it.

Dave, thanks for the info! I will give them a call for sure tomorrow and go pick some up. I am assuming they sell in 55 Gallon drums as well for a cheaper price? I have been charging about $150-$185 on a single story and $200-$250 on a two story depending on how many cut ins it has, brick front, etc etc. Seems that I need to raise my prices a bit...??? When you do a house with brick in the front and vinyl on the back and sides, are you hitting the brick as well even if there is no mold or such on it or just hitting the vinyl. I was thinking about this the other day on a house I was doing and was wondering what the majority of the people are doing. A lot of homes so far have very clean brick and just moldy siding and sometimes a bit of dirt and mold towards the bottom of the brick.

You may be right. I am pretty new to this and still learning and need to figure out how to price things up. I am trying to stick somewhat close to what everyone else is charging but still working out the kinks. I mostly did/do automotive detailing and as for pricing on those kinds of things and paint and body work, I have that down very well but the pressure washing thing is a COMPLETELY different deal so it's like starting all over again. Some people say they charge by the square foot of a home and some are just charging based on the simplicity of the house design and how many floors the home has, etc.

Rod, I got your PM and want to thank you for the information on your solution you use. I need to give it a try because today I used 6% bleach on a home and used Pressure Teks ratio for Simple Cherry (they say 12.5% SH so I used double of 6%) and man did the cost kill me. Until I can find a place locally that sells 12.5% SH for under $2 a gallon I will be paying out the butt on bleach. I probably spent about $65 on materials today on one house, a small 2 car shop and a small work trailer about 10 feet long. If I keep up with spending $60-$75 on materials like I've been then I am going to put myself out of business, I've got to fix this ASAP!

Can you please send me the details on this Round Table at the end of May? Is it where Russ is at or a central location somewhere? I have been wanting to attend one and this may be my best opportunity.

Ok I will take your work on this for sure! I do not mind buying somewhere non local because I will most likely fix the machine myself if something does go wrong. I work on my own vehicles, tools, motorcycles, etc so as far as that goes I am covered... Now having to get replacement parts, that's another story. Only thing is that shipping or freight charges may KILL me if I do not buy local.