Celeste

Shane, Roger corrected me on the application...it can be sprayed. However, we put the Shark Grip additive in it which would likely ruin any sprayer out there! Yes, the concrete must be dry. He cleaned then etched with muriatic the first day, rolled on the first coat the 2nd day and the last coat went on today.

Kudos go to Roger - he does all the work - I just hang out on the boards :) We used H&C Silicone Acrylic Concrete Sealer - Sherwin Williams carries it. Comes in about 40 colors. It goes on with a roller. We added Shark Grip to this to keep it from being too slippery. 900 sq ft - sealer was just under $200 - about 6.5 manhours - bill was $1075 (she gave him a $25 tip :) so it pays pretty decent. Thanks for the compliments :)

Here's the driveway we did this week - don't think you'd technically call it staining - definitely not compared to the acid staining process.

Happy Birthday to you - Happy birthday to you - Happy birthday to Paul - Happy birthday to you. (You should be really glad you can't hear me singing this!!!) Celeste

This thread & the links posted prompted me to do some looking into the concrete staining thing. The job we're finishing today is a sealer with color: H&C Silicone Acrylic Concrete sealer. So far the homeowner is thrilled with her new driveway and it only has the first coat on. I'll put up the final results later today. The other staining method most commonly seen is an acid based stain - gives a marble type look and someone above was right - it's being done EVERYWHERE! especially inside. Has anyone ventured into the overlay systems? It seems pricey to get into, pricey to sell but the results are something to see.

Now that the topic of discounts has come up and since we're only a year old and are still looking for sound business advise: We are doing all the post construction clean up in one particular development - projected houses in the neighborhood is 1700-1800. As we do these houses, the new homeowners are seeing us around. We want to get annual contracts with these folks (half of the neighborhood at just $150 per house would be $127500 per year - in one 500 acre area). It certainly wouldn't mean that we would compromise our results, but when you factor in trip time, being able to do multiple houses in one day within a block or so from each other or in between jobs for the contractor. Well, it just seemed like a good idea to reward the homeowners by knocking a little off the standard house wash or driveway clean. If someone has more experience in this type plan - please let us know.....don't want to get bitten in the end just because it seemed to be a good idea "at the time". The other "discount" I referred to was, upon completion of a job, we give the happy customer a small stack of business cards with the promise of say, $25.00 off of their next paid job for every paid job we got from their referrals.

We just got in the truck and drove around to the developments, got the names from the houses being built and contacted them from there - you know for certain that they are building.

Speaking of before and after shots for the client - After we do the clean on a new construction home, we do a personalized brochure to the new homeowner's outlining our services and include a little discount coupon for them because they live where they live (trying to build up annual contracts in this one development) But I am drifting...my point is that you can - for about the same amount of money in a "portfolio", do a personalized thank you with the photos on it and maybe offer some future discount for all referrals they give you. Oh, and by the way, don't beat yourself up because of this lost job - your quality workmanship will win out in the end. We'd have probably charged more so you weren't over the top in my opinion. There are always the beer money guys out there - inevitably will make us look better in the end anyway. Celeste

Hey Henry....are they humongous black wasp looking things? I had something like that get into a house I was cleaning yesterday. It chased me into the bathroom...only reason it didn't get in was because it's wingspan was wider than the door. I've never seen anything like these things before!

That elephant poop job is yuck - even if that pic isa joke of some sort - eeeuuwww. I don't think there's enough money in the world to get me to hold a bag under an elephant's butt.

Is this a one day course - I'm assuming that there is hands on training during the class.

We have personally used the Flood Spa N Deck line - it's a bit more expensive since it requires two separate coats (a clearish base coat then the tinted top coat) The finish is quite nice but the best quality is that you apply it IMMEDIATELY after washing the deck - no waiting until the next day or week or month because of weather. Flood sent us about a milliion brochures finally - would be glad to mail if you are interested. Here's a pic of the arbor that we stained with it (PLEASE DISREGARD THE GRASS - YES WE KILLED IT ON PURPOSE)

So Everett, give us the nutshell version of what this boot camp contains and provides :) Celeste

We're staining a driveway this week - will post pics when finished (unless - oh no - we have a total disaster!) Celeste

$1000 is actually a bit less than we billed total for all of that, however, one thing to keep in mind with our contract is that we don't get paid the going rates for all of these houses. We are also getting the interiors/exteriors/re-cleans on 1800 houses in the next 5-7 years. You can do the math on how many that is per week so we are based in part on QUANTITY. These houses range anywhere from 1028 sq ft to 4,000 sq ft., both 1 & 2 story homes. Because of the low end pay, we've leaned to haul A** at this poiint because as we all know, time is money!

Tried their website yesterday......typical government website, real pretty but not user friendly or informative. Maybe I'll just go call from my Mom's house :) Thanks

Two people with a system can clean a gracious plenty in a day - Roger & I can knock out two full interiors, two touch up interiors and wash four exteriors before calling it quits. Makes for $1000 day easy.

There is a nation-wide franchise out there that charges $6.00 / window in our area. We get away with $4-$6 per window in new construction here in NC.

I wanted to see pics of the completed job - the copper roof cleaning.

We give all residential customers at least 5 business cards and write their name on the back. For every job we get from a card that they hand out, we give them $25 off of their next job from us.

I'll have to do some scrounging in my notes but there is a company that sells a sealer for copper, along with some pretty pricey stuff to clean it as well....if your client doesn't want the patina returning. I've read the instructions on Tarnex (we also have a copper bay window to do and we've figured $125 as well and are located not too far from you) Anyway, the way I read the Tarnex instructions, it's gonna be a big pain for something the size of a bay window roof. The Cream of Mushroom soup things sounds interesting.....wonder how it will smell in this 95 degree weather we're having :) Post your results and what you used when you get done please?

Here are ours: Roger 150*158165*1 Celeste 150*18165*1

Why can't I see any pictures?????????

Our best success was actually driving to new developments, contacting the builders directly. We have about over a half dozen builders...one that we signed a 10 year contract with. (Our company is only 7 months old) You'd be surprised how much work you can get being face to face - more importantly, if you someone calls you - BE AVAILABLE OR RETURN THE CALL ASAP. We are consistently complimented for always returning calls promptly...it keeps the biz coming back.

We went to a house today to do some brick cleaning and were approached by the homeowner to clean the black spots off of the house. Cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and no change. We called off the job temporarily until we can get some advise from some posts and do some research. In the meantime, we have found that these little nasty spots are artillary fungus and according to one chemical place, there is nothing that will clean the stuff. Has anyone else run into this and did you find something that will take these spots off?