Celeste

Ken, we have used the Flood Spa & Deck product on our hammock arbor....the finish is beautiful. Can send pics of both arbor & a deck we did if you like. We are considering doing deck furniture to sell in the winter time using that product. (Neighbor across street builds Adirondack style that we'll use) Celeste

Here's a thought.....anyone ever checked into used ambulances? Figure this: Seriously heavy duty Very well maintained Bins already installed inside as well as lighting Generator on board Electricity for laptop on built in desk area Side access door probably more than I've listed here..... They're on EBay all the time, both the van style and box type.....just paint, load & go :) Celeste

Let me toss another angle into this......owning your own successful company is a goal - meeting goals takes hard work and compromise. If you have the luxury of funding the opening of an instantly successful business (my definition of successful is being in the black and in demand), very good for you. This is not generally the case. I'm willing to bet that most all of us that started in this business were undercapitalized. I'll put that one right next to being able to afford to have a baby. There's never a right time, just maybe a better one. It's all relative. You do what you can to make your business work. If at some point, offering a discounted price to get a job that will reap you benefits in the long run, the pros outweigh the cons - SO LONG AS YOU DO NOT LOSE MONEY OR DROP THE QUALITY OF YOUR WORK. Further, when that client sees the job that you have done, the next time they will understand why the price increased if you need it to and probably hire you despite it. Celeste

C'mon folks.......share some more cookies!

Now that's a bad day......LOL

Our builders are so retarded!!!!!!!!!! This guy was so determined to have a house washed the other day, Roger wet it and it was instantly frozen....turned the driveway into an ice skating rink. We had to refuse to finish in order not to damage the brick. I don't think they are ever going to understand that WE are the knowledgeable ones about spraying water in 21 degree weather! Interior cleaners - what is your heating method of choice??? Celeste

I will not bore everyone with the urban legend of this recipe....just try them and enjoy. This recipe may be halved, but I wouldn't advise it, they're just too yummy! 2 cups butter 1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated) **Refrigerate chocolate for easier grating* 24 oz chocolate chips 5 cups blended oatmeal 4 cups flour 4 eggs 2 cups brown sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. Bicarb soda 2 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. salt 3 cups chopped nuts (your choice - I omit!) 2 cups sugar Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder & Bicarb soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar, and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. The above quantities makes 112 cookies (maybe). Sounds like a lot of work but definitely worth it!!!!

Jon - feel free to call.....did you get your stuff from Sherwin Williams? If so, take more pics, drag the guy out there and show him before you try to clean it off. It's just on top of the stain anyway so it will wash off. They'll blame the trees, a creek, anything they can, but mildew is mildew and that stuff is supposed to have mildewcide in it - period. It also looks better in your customer's eyes if you bring the product people out there...keep yourself looking like the professional that you are and that it was the product not you.

These are actually real....really? That is hilarious!

That is so true :) Celeste

We're full time now but started last year as part time although not a 9-5 "day job". Roger worked at GE 2nd shift....had 12 years in, benefits like none you've ever seen and walked away to go full time after only being in business for 6 months. We've been bustin' loose ever since. It was a huge decision to make - we have a really big mortgage, one in college and three still at home. With the Grace of God and lots of hard work, doing things the right way - paying attention to advice on the boards , we're still standing with what's looking like a pretty bright future. Best of luck to you :) Celeste :lgangel:

HOLD UP ON STRIPPING!!!!!!!!!! We had the same experience this past summer....same product, same color, same nasty chicken pox looking stuff everywhere. We had the Sherwin Williams rep come out....they said the product failed!!!!!!! Next step, after you pick up replacement stain (yes, the same stuff you used) and some more mildewcide to put down. We washed the deck with (ACK!) bleach, let dwell a few minutes, scrubbed with a brush where it was tough (the woman had let this go on for 3 months before she called us back). We sprayed the mildewcide on and left. After the standard drying time, one coat of stain was applied (to which we added some more mildew additive). Bottom line is that I think that Deckscapes had some bad mildewcide and there is a failure problem. The Sherwin Williams rep also told us that the deck was going to be prone because of the trees & water behind the house (the reason for all the mildewcide). Sorry this got so wordy - if you have any questions, give us a call but YOU DON"T NEED TO STRIP THE DECK! Celeste See other thread with this issue: http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2390

This is hilarious - we have three companies in North Carolina - Get these names: "Scooperman" "Charlotte Poop van Scoop" "ScooperDude" Can you actually imagine picking up sh*t all day. Gross. If you blast dog poop from your back yard with an extension wand and zero degree tip, you might be a Pressure Washer......errrr, or would that be Pooper Washer???

Guilty here as well, as I indicated above. Sometimes the end result justifies the decrease, in which case, how can you possibly consider that low-balling? Maybe keeping the business running by doing a discount job (which by the way, I personally have decided to call it when you are a legitimate business person) will advance your company anyway. At that point, it's not "lowballing", it's advertisement. Celeste

I think this is where the pain begins....when you have someone who is not full time but is a quality part-timer....they don't have to support their family with the pressure washing therefore, they can do good work, carry their insurance, use the proper stuff, yet do the occasional housewash for $75.00 and be tickled with the check. So, I guess there is actually a dual definition of low-baller: 1) The useless intentional one (no insurance, splash & dash, for beer bucks kind) {Which incidentally causes business for us "serious" ones 'cause they leave a mess!} 2) The part timer unintentional ones that have no clue that they are eating into the supporting full timers market..... Well, I guess the third kind may be what this post was actually getting at: 3) The newbie who will take anything to get their name out and gain experience on other's folks' property :) Celeste

We've been in business for just over a year now - the bbs were going strong when we started up and we researched on them prior to formally going into business. I think that Tony has a valid question with "what exactly is a lowballer". Roger & I have been very fortunate in that we walked into this business with clients. Roger quickly gained a reputation for knowing his business and getting the job done right (whether it be the first time or, as in our deck fiasco last summer - fixing the mfg failure). We always return phone calls, we never miss appointments, we don't overbook ourselves so that we have to decrease the level of service in order to complete everything. BUT - we have reduced our price once or twice to get a job. Not to the point that we lose money but been down there - however, we take into consideration the other "perks" of getting that job, ie, exposure on main roads, word of mouth, long term contracts. Our prices for those jobs may get us lumped in with the "lowballers" because we didn't make $1.65/sq ft for a deck stain. A lowballer to me is one who does a $50 splash & dash housewash with dish soap & bleach, no insurance and if he sees the customer's number on his phone 2 days later, won't answer the call. Is a lowballer one who doesn't feel like he can charge top dollar for a deck strip because he personally knows that he may not be up to par with the big boys because he's only done 2 decks in his whole career? Maybe before we try to determine if everyone has been or needs to be a lowballer, we should clarify exactly what a lowballer is :) Good question Tony, Celeste

That is hilarious! Celeste

$2M GCL, $1M for each vehicle, and Worker's comp

Graham, North Carolina

Does anyone know the actual law regarding transporting bleach and acid on the same trailer/truck? Our trailer has two 25 gallon tanks on the rear - one clearly marked ACID and the other, approximately 18 inches away is our housewash mix, which contains bleach. We were told by a guy who works for a chemical supply house that it is illegal for us to carry both at the same time. If this is so, it poses a pretty nasty problem for us since we do an awful lot of houses that are 3 sides of red Carolina mud covered and brick faced on the front (all new construction by the way). Would this be a question for our state DOT? I hate to start calling around and sending up red flags. Thanks for any help:dunno: Celeste

Let me add something to my post on sending gift certificates to our contractors - The clientele I am referring to are builders, resi clients and such......it is a BAAAAAAAD idea to send any type of "gratuity" to certain customers/managers, ie, Lowe's, Walmart, large restaurant chain types. I am sure that the veterans of the business know that this can cause you to lose your contract (Thanks Ron) but with so many new guys starting up and this being their first Christmas, I thought it would be worth mentioning. Be very very careful who you send gifts to! And if you're not sure, not sending is probably the erring on the better side of caution. Celeste

We use EacoChem products exclusively - their products have a better diversity, better results for us and lower cost as well. Celeste

We're sending cards to our favorite clients over the past year - some of our bigger contracts will receive small gift $25.00 certificates to Applebee's (we do monthly sidewalks for them in exchange for these - it works very well, no taxable income for us, no dollars out of their budget, only takes one hour per month) We're doing the DIY cards this year as well - putting a pic of the whole family next to our trucks with a little Happy SOMETHING from the family of Carolina ProWash on the front. We appreciate your business on the inside. Celeste

Artificial trees are looking more and more like the real thing these days. We bought ours three years ago - I know I prefer spending the $75+ on stuff for the kids to go UNDER the tree rather than having dried up pine needles under there. (Mind you, growing up I SWORE I would never have a "fake" tree!)