nitrox2595

Powerwashed a house for a repeat customer. My guys are trained not to get close up to doors and windows. There was still a wasp nest in the upper right hand corner when the H/O/lawyer called me to come and look at the door. The house faces west and has a covered porch. he is telling me that the powerwashing made the finish of the door(only the lower 1/3) cloudy, and worn away. Now, I went to the lumber yard and they have a therma tru door on an entry way display, and it is showing almost the EXACT pattern of wear. There are no lap marks from the pressure washing, the brass door knob is pitting, and my other argument is the sun beats on the lower half of the door in the afternoon, and the door is due to be refinished soon. It has not been done in 5 years. What do you guys think i should do? He is looking for me to pay to have the door refinished and i honestly do not think that it is our fault. Anyone have anything like this happen to them before?

Only did 21k in January. Worst month ever. The every other day snowstorms didn't help. We will be back to 40-50k per month really soon. Very excited about the move to North Carolina... Future looks good!! How is everyone else?

Hello Everybody, I was wondering who is from North Carolina from here. I am from NY, and we are in the process of moving to the Raleigh area. How is the business climate down there? I see from the news that it is actually colder than NY, which is crazy. We are moving because it is way too expensive here, and we are being surrounded by a religious "cult". I have a fairly good business(s) here, and i am up on the fence about leaving it in place and running it from NC. I have 1 guy that has been with me for 8 years and he pretty much runs it now, and my sister is the office manager. I have heard that the Raleigh area is not getting as slammed as the rest of the country is. Any truth to this? Thank You for the replies, and i would also be looking for someone to take on some jobs if i get any while i am not down there yet.PM me if you want to keep it private. NY is the most expensive state to live in, and my county pays the 3rd highest taxes in the WHOLE COUNTRY!!!. I will be saving $1,400 a month just by not living here.

greeeeeeeeatt.. I don't know why we chose NC. We went on vacation and fell in love with wake forest.I do not HAVE to powerwash down there, i could keep my business in NY and run it by computer and go back 1x per month. My sister is our office manager. That is just what i have right now where i could start right away. I was offered a job running a demo company, but i can't wrap my head around working for someone else. We were making very good money up here, and i do EVERYTHING, when it comes to washing. So i either work it for another few months and sell it and buy something else in NC, or try to keep it going up here and do something else down there. Thanks for your input.

what stone is that!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am cleaning a bank of this stone.. nothing is working!!!!!!!!!

hey TN, how is Tennessee? My family is ready to leave N.Y and TN, was a place we were going to look at. I am selling my PW biz here, and if i get what i want, i will be able to live for a yr or 2 until i start something down south. How is business down there. what do you get for a hi-ranch? We hate NY and it is only getting worse. Thanx in advance.. love to see some pics !!!!!!!!!!!

2 200+unit condo complexes, 1 large new fleet account, 20 deck restos, 38 houses.........all before april!!!!!!!!!! AND moved back to my house as an office and am saving 4,000 per month on that!! hopefully all the BS will be gone for 2011.

Has anyone had problems with cabot's 9200 series turning very dark and black? I have done several decks last year that have turned black in the floor areas. I called cabot's, and they told me to try problem solver, which I did, and it worked in some areas, but not all. I think i started noticing it when they complied with the EPA VOC laws. My dealer mentioned to try 1oz thinner to 1 gallon of stain. Anyone have any ideas??

yes, we did, that's what i can't understand. It occurred on #1 cedar w/no knots. And other types as well.

ROFLMAO,.....then wait 5 moths to get pd.. no thanks

could you Pm me and say which machines have the most problems? I have 4 aladins

You just have to let them run for a bit and they are clean.

I have about 10,000 feet of all different sizes. I have 2 inch, 5 inch.. all for sale, they were taken out of services for age, but will last you years.. I had them on ebay, but were selling by the pallet. I'll sell individually now if you want.

started with a 96 ford e250, hotsy 1260, and about $1,000.00. 10 years later i have 6 trucks, 2 trailers, and last year we did about $650k. This year I got rid of my office( - $4,500 a month) My waste of time secretary that was surfing the net all the time.(-$650/week) and got rid some poor performers. I hope to break 1mil between all my business this year.. I HOPE... back to basics for me.

well, after 10 years in business, i guess i got comfortable and let it go beyond the point of saving it. When times were good, i was fishing at 2pm, now my phone hasn't rung for days at a time. I feel lost,depressed and lack any motivation to fix things. Its becoming cold in the northeast, and i am getting really worried about what to do when it gets really cold out. i just moved out of my $3,000/month office to my basement that we weren't using, cut every expense possible, and i am looking for some ideas i may have missed on how you guys(and girls) are handling the economy and winter. Please, no wiseass comments. They are not necessary. I know (now) that you can NEVER stop selling,closing,networking. thanks in advance

I think I put my signature in.. You guys are right, and I know that. I was doing $750k plus per year, but my trucking accounts went out, my dealerships dried up, I am offering more and more services, just getting out of the funk is what's tough.

Hey tom, Thank You. Very much, i saw you are from the villages, My sister lives there. I know i will make it, it is just hard to stop feeling like a failure. thanks foe the positive words. godspeed to you as well.

i have not posted in a very long time. Truth is, i started another company (my 4th) and turned my back on the pwing. Huge mistake. At the best times, Spotless was grossing 850k to 1.3 Mil a yr. I really didn't like it, it was like i was embarrassed that i ownes a powerwashing business, i started hating the customers,and all the BS, so i was a big shot and started a demolition company.... so happy. till it became a business.Now i am full bore back trying to get my "flow" back for pwing... don't kill the goose that laid the golden egg... a million dollar house is nice, but when you cant afford it..............not so nice

Nice to see good news once in a while:)

How much did you charge for that job. It looks good!

Is anyone having problems with cabot's clear solutions this year? I have had about 10 customers from last season complain(rightfully so) about the way that their decks look. The decks look like they have not been done in 2 years, (chipping,peeling,black mold, etc) Need some input before I go bonkers:lgtear:

call the awesome customer service at cabots, who will tell you that you put it one wrong, or did not use their cleaners, The whole situation really sucks, and I probably won't do decks next year

We use saferestore for alot of different jobs. We just finished a hospital with glazed brick, and it came out great

He did not do a background check. The killer had a warrant from 2002 for beating his girlfriend. The owner hired him because he was recommended by another longtime empoyee. The fallout is now everyone wants the owner on the job.(impossible for me 12hrs a day doing ests.) And the good part is the county is cracking down on unlicensed contractors. As for illegals, or spanish people, Ive tried aying americans all they want, they felt they were too good to powerwash, I had 25 employees and only 5 are american. Treat them with respect, pay well, find the right ones and thats it.I tell my customers that they do not need to open the door until they call my cell, or my office and speak to my secretary who verifies the situation over nextel.

The guy was powerwashing her deck and the rest of the crew went to lunch, leaving the one guy there. He apparently went to the door and asked the lady to talk to her. He forced his way into the house and raped,strangled and mutilated her. Her sister came over and he was back outside, she asked him a question, which he ignored and started to walk away. Her sister then went inside and found the body. While the guy was murdering the lady, The owner of the company came to the site and probably thought the killer quit, so he finished the deck and took the keys to the van. The killer was caught wearing her husbands clothes about a mile away, 4 hours later. Very Sad story.