Adrian

Several good points Ryan, I have to respond by saying that she has my price for the project that I left with her. But my point is simply that she kept leading me on that I would do the job for her each follow up that I did and has only just today said that these boys are doing it for free if they would ever get around to it. So, why can't she just say that up front instead of waisting my time for 3 follow ups? I am waiting on the go ahead from another bid (similar situation) for some flatwork. But this lady said right up front that she wants 3 bids. I have no problem with that at all. I followed up on that one yesterday and she said that she is waiting for 1 more bid. Simple as that. If I get it ... great. If not... well at least she has been up front all along. This particular lady ( who said it is a fair and affordable bid) has continuously said come back another time to schedule the start date. Then boom, she says she getting the kids from the church to do it free. I just don't get it sometimes. I would rather someone just come out and say it to me than hold it back and lead me on that way. I am not an important person or anything like that, but I have given this lady alot of my time ( something I will never get back). And that is what bothers me. Although I know it is part of the game, I just do not operate like that in my self government. As far as the tv evangelist go, I agree with you. And about the hottie wittnessing to me in the airport, i'm sure I would be distracted from the topic for the very reason that she is hot. lol. Thanks for letting me vent, and like I said, I will not be doing a 4th follow up with her but just move onto the next bid. It was nice to meet you the other day as well. Thanks for your time.

Black and Decker makes whats called a mouse sander and they are great. they do fit in one hand but do not rotate, they vibrate, but very effective. I have one and it is very lightweight. It is great for hard to reach areas. The only down side is that it is very small, about the size of your hand. But I like it. Some may disagree with me that I think everyone should have one since you can't always get a belt sander in tight corners and such.

That would make a great hat band or could even be big enough for a wallet or belt.

I cleaned a customers house and RV on friday. Very good job considering that the whole house and RV were green due to mold and such. They are white again now like they should be. Sorry no pics this time. The customer inquired about cleaning his 16x20 deck and about 15 ft of wood fence in his back yard. Well the deck was black, not green, and I have not seen this before. I mean black. I was thinking that straight 6% or even stronger 12% may get it cleaned and he will restain the deck on his own. Am I on the right track or should I consider a deck cleaning solution. I will back off the psi on my unit to around 600-800 psi. I have cleaned decks this way before with much success. This one worries me though as I do not want to put alot into deck cleaning materials. I bid very low for him to clean it, since he is having me back to ultimately give me more money, which I really need. I want to do a good job and have plenty of 6% bleach that I can use straight or get some 12% from Pete at Sun Brite and cut down a bit. I don't want to use a massive amount of psi to avoid damaging the wood. I just want to know if this will get the black off as I bid so low that a purchase of deck cleaning solution will decrease my profitability. I will be cleaning it on Mon. or tues. if hurricane Dennis hasn't made it up this far by then. Thanks in advance to anyone who responds. Adrian

I will speak with Pete on mon am and get some efc-38 ( i trust your input). I don't think the homeowner really cares too much about it honestly, except that now he has a really beautiful house again and just wants the black off the deck. I really didn't mean to come off as sounding so cheap with the cleaning materials, it's just that I do have the bleach and thought maybe this would be an avenue to use. I explained to him that some furring could and might occur since the "black" seems so heavily caked in. The only previous info he could give me about the finish was that the deck was pressure treated wood ( which I think is the case with most decks and fences). The deck does have a little bit of common green mold on it, but 75% of it is black. Another concern is I don't know when he plans on staining it himself. So, when and after I clean it, there is no telling how long it will be exposed to the upcoming elements, i.e. rain and hurricane season. But I guess that is really none of my business. I just want him to have them same joy he had after I cleaned his home and RV. That's really important to me. Plus potential referrals in his neighborhood. Plus keeping cost to a minimum of course. It should take less than a gallon of whatever cleaning material I use to cover the entire deck. Thanks again for the help, you guys rock!!!!!

In our area, articulated all terrain lifts that size go for around $390.00 a day and a little higher for bucket trucks, to answer one of your original questions. I had a project that required some of the same specs you mentioned. Had to scale across the lawn around 45' to get 35' to the top of building. I have not had too many jobs like this but if you go this route, be sure to give yourself plenty of lead on you pw hose and secure it to the lift in case the tossleing causes you to drop the wand. Hope this helps a little. Good luck. Adrian

I would like to put a ball valve on the end of my hose for quick change from wand to hydra scrubber. I know that a ball valve has a psi rating. I need to get a b.v. that is compatible with my pw unit. Here's some simple specs on pw unit. 9hp honda 3200 psi 3gpm. I have seen only b.v's as high as 600 psi. I'm thinking that will be sufficient for my "big rig". Tell me if i'm wrong, please. But I am pretty sure I don't need a b.v. that has equal psi rating as my pw unit. I am not a mathematician either so a simple yes or no or suggestion works for me, as I could easily become confused with all of the comparative formulas some of you "Wizards of Old" may throw my way. I have not seen a psi rating over 600 for any ball valves used in this type of application. Thanks in advance for any help. Adrian

Sweet b.v. setup Alan. I failed to mention the reason I inquired to begin with is because my surface cleaner does have it's own trigger setup. So I thought it might be a time saver to have a b.v. on the end of hose before the trigger for a quick change to surface cleaner. Now, I am thinking about doing away with the trigger on the surface cleaner and just adding q.c. It makes good sense and I am sure there is an adapter that will fit where the trigger was!!!! I could just set it up where my gun just plugs into the q.c. on the surface cleaner, and q.c. on all the lances. It may look like a Frankenstein by the time I am through. Thanks for everyones advice and suggestions. Now I have more info to process to make a better mouse trap!!!! Back to the lab.

I am one man op. Last year had to take a forced vacation (she made me) and any calls I recieved from vox mail I still followed up on ( most of you probably would too, vacation or not). I had a fellow pw firm who was not on vacation cover my leads and I kept a small % since I supplied the lead & he did the work while I was gone. It worked great. He made $ and got some work and I made $ and didn't work. Kind of like subbing it out but still make a few dollars. I didn't worry about damages or anything like that since it was on his company's time and his insurance. Although for my regular auto and truck acctounts I explained to them that there would be a gap in service and I could refer them to this guy if they were interested. They declined and waited for my return. Felt good that they just wanted me to do the account and not risk possible poor service from another pw firm that they were not familiar with.

Hello all, Ryan, great and informative thread you started here. I have been really curious about saftey ropes and harnesses and this thread has been very helpful. Plus I guess I was all wrong in thinking that my golf shoes on a roof were sufficiant enough to keep me planted.... kidding ( that one was for Phillip...lol) I did a funeral home last year that I got creative with for advertising in a pic. It was alot more roof area than what the picture actually shows. It was an intersting job and took two days to do, since there where 3 hurricanes that blew as far up into Marietta last year so one day got cut short in a hurry. That is when I actually thought that I wasted all of my 6% in a large section of the roof. That's when I found the benefit of Nature's rinse cycle. Woo Hoo. I did have to double up on chems on a few sections of the roof due to crematory smoke stack spewing human burnage fallout on the roof over the years. See the pic if I attached it correctly. Now if someone's company has a real long name to it, I wouldn't suggest this method. It worked out really cool for me though. Thought I would share with the forum. I have done a few hotel roofs as well but the bleach (6% does work well). I guess I would like to say as well just don't use the highest pressure to clean as it can weaken the shingle and fill the gutters with all the pesky minute sized gravel that the shingles are compiled of. I have not yet had the chance to clean any other type of roof yet but am eager to learn. I can't wait until the day of the Jetson's comes to pass as we will only need a jetpack to elevate ourselves and just squirt chems and rinse. Until then I will have to just rely on the old ben Hogan golf shoes!!!!! Great day to all.

I don't have a respirator of professional quality yet. But I plan on getting one asap. But until I do get one, I have been using a lightweight face sheild which I really like ( flip it up, flip it down) and using the mouth and nose barrier that you can get a pack of 25 for about 10.00 bucks Maybe less... at any hardware store. I too, feel you have to take every precaution when it comes to overspray of chems to protect our airways and eyes. I also wear long sleeves no matter what the temp is to protect myself from the overspray. Although I have had respiritory issues from pw houses in the past I am not truely convinced that it was from the chems. I feel that the algaes and mold were the issue. But one can never be to safe. It helps if the gear is at least comfortable as well, then maybe others wouldn't just blow off the use of the gear because it is so cumbersome. But for now a simple few dollars investment keeps me up and runnin for the most part. I am firm of at least having minimal protection because I generally don't have alot of success at dodging the bullet. Great Day to all!! Adrian

cool.... thanks Mike. That's what I needed. Look me up if you ever need help. I don't mind the drive, Georgia's not really that big as far as this Texas boy is concerned. I'm in Marietta. Always greatful for the help. Adrian

My 2 cents= I was a medic in the field for 6 years in Texas (some serious heat) and on several occasions such as , racetrack, rodeo's, concerts have treated heat exhaustion. The one thing I didn't notice on the article was any type of field treatment while waiting for medical help. I have seen people that do nothing until help arrives. Wrong wrong wrong. You do not have to be a medic or even have much knowledge in this area. It's very simple....... you already know the signs to look for to determine and evaluate the situation. Too Hot!!!!!! cool them down in just about any means possible. But here are a few vital steps you can take while waiting for help to arrive for (let's say ) your employee, : 1. undo clothing to promote ventilation 2. put wet towels under the armpits and groin areas, around the neck (don't choke them though) and forehead.This will help reduce the body's core temp. because that is where the major arteries are. Once organs are cooked..... well the patient might be stuck with some permanant damage. Cool cool cool the head. 3. Fan the patient 4. shade the patient 5. if available, get the patient indoors or in an auto or truck with air conditioning. 6. If the patient has fainted and is still breathing, keep them supine (on their back) and make sure airway is not blocked off by tilting head back far enough where the chin is almost pointing straight up. If they are not breathing, it is an entirely different issue. You need to learn CPR 7. reassure the patient that help is on the way and comfort them, because they are probably about ready to freak out at their own condition. 8. be calm as a caregiver, if you let your own nerves show it transfers to the patient and could worsen their condition. Trust me .... you do not want to add phsycogenic shock to the situation. 9. Keep stats on the patient i.e. when instance occurred, what lead up to the cause, signs and symptoms, what meds they are on ,if any, have they eaten lately, have they been hydrated, and let the medics know when they arrive. This really helps the medics. 10. Probably most important, get fluids in them asap. water water water water. hope this helps,but most of all, hope that you never have to deal with it, but be prepared if you do have to deal with it. 11. the worst thing you can do on the patient's behalf is nothing. In most cases medics will arrive anywhere from 7-15 minutes. A person's organs shuts down one organ at a time. It's the bodies defense system. saving the brain and heart for last. But one can't work for very long without the other. So don't just wait on the medics. In alot of heat exhaustion cases I have worked the patient was literally saved or at least corrected to some degree by the witnesses around. It is very very important to act quickly when you see the signs approaching. good luck Adrian

I thought that I was on the right track. I simply thought that having a ball valve on the end of my hose and before the wand would allow me to cut off the flow of h2o so I could switch to hydra scrubber w/o walking back to pw unit and turning it off. Or maybe I have the wrong idea of what a ball valve does. I have not heard of the rinse process with the b.v. some have spoke of in this thread I started. I was just trying to save a few steps and time by adding ball valve. Although I should re emphasize the original ???. Does the b.v. psi rating have to match the p.w. psi rating which is 3200 psi? What would be adequate b.v. setup be for my unit as far as psi? I do thank you all for your input, and I especially enjoy reading about everyone's processes. I also like the thread war I started....... just kidding!!!!! I actually may just stick with the way things are without adding b.v. My unit is portable and I have a tank trailer which I use only to transport h2o when needed. I don't mind creeping around the house with my unit as my volume of work is not that high right now. Plus I only use 50' of pw hose and usu. 100' of h20 hose to pw unit. That usu. gets me around the whole resi. So the walk really isn't that much of a hassle. Now if I had 3 or 4 resi's to do in a day it would really make a difference in time consumption. Really the best time saver I have aquired lately is the portable hose reel ( a reel time saver...lol). I roll all of my hoses in it and just load it in the back of my big rig ranger ( in which I use the air conditioner all the time). Thx again one and all.

The one thing I was trying to say is that I have just stepped up to an xjet from the tips that came with my pw unit. "Step building". I am sure there are even better more convienient methods to getting the top of the house clean. Right now I am not as busy as alot of you guys are and I don't mind toteing the bucket. Just thankful to get the jobs period. I don't do any less of a professional job than most out there and have only had satisfied customers so far. Point I was trying to make is that the guy was just asking the benefits of an xjet verses "The hard way" and I think an x jet is the next step to easier resi cleaning. And $112.00 I thought I would pass it on. I mean, like I initially said it has enabled me to do a 2 story in 2 hours or so verses the 4 hours previously before the xjet. Or at least til I get a helicopter with a fire bucket, 3 minute resi cleans.........lol. Didn't mean to start anything......I know at least it is working GREAT for me and my customers......

Hi FullBlast, I was killing myself on residentials until I got an xjet system. Call Pete at Sunbrite Supply. He will sell you an xjet systems for 112.00 plus shipping. It's the way to go. Get a 5 gal bucket with a lid that you can poke a 3/8 size hole in. Get some 12% S.H. cut 2:1 and you will be able to clean 2 story resi's from the ground in about 2 1/2 hours. (Some of these guys on this site are doing them in about an hour). At any rate, the xjet comes with about 20 feet of 3/8 in. hose with the cut-off valve included as well as proportioner tips and a low pressure screw on tip. Until you get familiar with the system, that's pretty much all you will need to get started. Later on you can get hand carts to pull around larger barrels or buckets. But with the ability to reach heights of 35 feet or so from the ground you will be very pleased with an xjet system. Best thing to do is just get the system and modify as you need. There is also an xjet system that is called an M5 (I think) and has a shorter range by about 5 ft, but you only need to twist the end to get the lo flo app going. I stuck with the original by the advice of others on this site and am very pleased with the results. It used to take me around 4 hours for a 2 story using ladders and giraffes and all kinds of aerial lift devices. The xjet is alot cheaper than renting a scissor lift for 190.00 a day. Hope this helps. Let us know. Adrian

I know that in my area they are getting around 3 bucks a cart. and there have been links posted on this site as well for cart cleaning pods that you stick the cart inside and it is an eclosed washing.

Look no further Phillip, I'm your man. I will call you asap about the apt. job. Plus I will keep my eyes and ears peeled for an employee for you. Adrian

I agree with rinsing the neighbor's house regardless. Can't you even go one step further and tell them since there will be overspray that you are glad to rinse, but, since I am here, could I go ahead and wash your house as well? That's what I would do. Because the chems that get on the other house will have to be rinsed anyways and may be speckled after the rinse, because of the areas the chems didn't reach. I see an extra sale there for you.Plus, I'm really really really money hungry and business hungry right now. Maybe even offer a discount since you are all ready set up and would probably just have to switch faucet's. Unless you transport H2O. That's just my humble opinion and it could go either way. Have a great day! Adrian

It is sad that you have put so much time already into this bid. Not to mention your family's time in the rain. It is not worth them catching a cold due to bad etiquette on the customers part. That would have sent me running. I am hell bent on southern hospitality and proper manners. When you are treated like that it is hard to be humble. I would not be too proud to give her the highest feesable quote possible. You have to recover the cost of your time already involved. At least you would not have to bawk anymore when she declines the bid. Or I would run like Bruce Jenner and move onto the next bid. You are the solution to her problem not a pin cushion because of her problem. No need to take guff from her if she does not recognize your professionalism. My 2 cents......

http://www.servicemagic.com !!!! Has anyone ever used this site to get leads sent to them? I am considering paying their fee and target spending prices. I meet all of their criteria i.e. license # E.I.N.# and insurance requirements. Sounds promising and I have gone as far as to set my firm up with sample leads before I actually pay for the service. they offer10 day trial for free. I would like to know if this has benefitted your firm and decreased advertising headaches and expenses. I don't want to toss another 100.00 bucks out on something that may not bring work. I would rather put that dough on equipment or chems. I tagged 100 houses yesterday with flyers and am trying to exercise all options, including more ( local, regional, newspapers). Still plugging my new start up business, still afloat, trying various forms of advertising. My business is officially 1 year old this week. Really starting to feel it though. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

My problem is that they recently raised the acceptance fee to $11 (from $5). I used to accept every lead, but no longer. Thx, Mr. Orr, that will help with the decision. Maybe I will hold off for a while and continue to hit the bricks. Money is everything right now. But it does sound like they can help keep the ad costs down a little with their process. thx again Adrian

I still owe you a cold one bro!

I bought a combo package from Northern tool with 5 replacement tips and a turbo nozzle (ceremic) for 70.00 bucks. It is great for gum removal and curbs especially. I liked the results so much that I did some research and found a dual turbo nozzle that I use pretty much everytime a curb is involved ( it covers the whole surface from top to bottom, about a 10" spread) without a noticable loss in pressure. I paid 120.00 for that little lifesaver. Plus shipping. I believe it is a Suttner?????? Got it from Northern as well. Used it on the tough spots of a 10,000 s.f. side walk along with hydra scrubber at a shopping center. Plus this place had not been clean in a decade and there was plenty of petrified gum. It will pretty much shoot the gum about 25 feet across the lot. Target practice,.....lol.....not really. hope this helps.