Tronman

I do a lot of post-construction home cleaning. Typically it is where someone has bought an older home and then redone the entire interior of the home with all stainless appliances, sinks, etc. as well as new hardwood floors, tile floors, cabinetry, painting, etc. Most of my pricing has been to look first, evaluate time and materials and then quote a price based on each homes condition. I was asked what I charge per sq ft and I guess I just don't think in those blanket terms. What do you guys in different parts of the country charge for this type of work?

I have a contact in Houston that wants me to work in Ft. Worth, Dallas, and Oklahoma. They are looking for a handyman vendor. I do painting, graffiti removal, and other odd jobs for them (like rebuilding an iron bridge...). Contact me if you are interested.

Lots of scrubbing and soap.

For some of the larger businesses out there... What was the one or two things that you did with your business that made it grow from a one/two man show to a multi-crew backlogged business? Heavy marketing (Yellow Pages, etc.)? Taking 1-2 days out of your schedule to phone market and visit with Comm. cust's? Door hangers around each job site? Leaving estimates around each job site? Contacting more Commercial customers to become a vendor?

Thanks as always for the feedback. Sometimes when your up on a two story roof sraying chlorine and the wind is just right you get a big whiff of that 12.5% and you start thinking about where you are and where you are going. Every day I wonder what the next step is for my company that will launch it to the next level. It's been 12 months since we started and I want to make our second year stronger and progressive. I would love to be able to have enough business comming in that I could just bounce from crew to crew monitoring what they are doing and have time for real commercial chain marketing. We won't need any more equipment for a while and I have enough different chemicals to choke a horse. I just organized my chemical and equipment inventory and took my year end physical inventory for taxes. I have every ad company from the Yellow Pages to Home & Ranch magazine trying to sell me ad space. I don't want to spend money that has no return but I don't want to miss that GOLDEN marketing campagn that pushed me to the next level either... Ka sara sara, What ever will be will be. Doris Day Not that I am a fatalist, I belive you make your own destiny, but you can only do what you can do, then you have to let the chips land where they may and go from there..

This was a beautiful touch-up job that the cust. did and now he wants me to fix it.... You should see the white brick below this eve. It looks like it was raining rust.

1. What is the best method of cleaning windows without leaving smears and streaks? 2. What is the best method of rejuvinating, and sealing saltillo tile?

Well I finally figured it out. I spoke with a commercial window cleaner. He said to use water and a little soap for the window scrubber. You have to dry off the squeegee blade after each pull and wipe up any runs etc. with a very dry cotton cloth. The better the quality of cotton cloth (bath towel) the better. I just completed a 2 story 4,000 sq ft home inside and out without any smears , streaks, etc. The window guy also said to rinse off the windows with a garden hose to cool them of on hot days. Hot glass is no fun.

Send me an E-Mail and I will send you my materials checklist and a few other forms. Lately that seems to be all that we are doing. It starts as a Post-construction lead and then I turn it into (pressure washing, window cleaning, deck restoration, floor work, janitorial house clean, roof cleaning, brick restoration, etc) = $1,500+ each lead.

Who purified it? A catholic preist, a baptist preacher, or a budist monk? Different secular purifications can cause rust in unclean pressure washers.

From what I saw in Scotland and Ireland and some in London, I think you would have a great market for stone restoration. There are many historical homes and buildings made of granite, limestone, and other natural stone surfaces that have turned black or dark. You should get in touch with Diedrich technologies. I know they have done some work in England. As stated before, the finess in our business is in the form of proper chemicals in specific applications. This is where some of the larger PW Co's have made thier killings. I watched a couple of guys in Brussells restoring a cobblestone street about 6 mo ago. When they were done they PW'd the street and the sidewalk with nothing but high pressure water and nearly destroyed the sidewalk. Someone with specific chemical and hot water knowledge could point out these issues and build a decent business. Good luck.

How many times have you gone to bid on a job and wound up doing work that had absolutely nothing to do with pressure washing? Ex. I went to bid on a roof cleaning and wound up brooming 10 years of leaves, dirt and mud from 7 aluminum roofs. Ex. I went to bid on a roof cleaning and driveway pressure washing and wound up doing that as well as removing a huge wooden play set, Full move-out house clean, windows inside and out, and touching up all the walls in the 5,000 sq ft home.

The way i look at it, Pressure washing and commercial janitorial contracts are my mainstay, BUT and that is a big BUTT, If I have an open schedule and someone is out there willing to part with a thousand dollars, I owe it to my business and family to do that work to get that money. As far as being a jack of all trades, there are some things that require special knowledge that I do not have and I am not too proud to say "Sorry I am not equiped for that type of work". The confidence in a jack of all trades contractor comes from your conversation with the customer. Once you have transfered credibility and you are not afraid to look them in the eye without blinking, they will trust in you, and in my experience they will not even entertain a second bid. It's all about credibility, and that is earned by your salesmanship, and confidence in yourself within the first few minutes with the prospect. People only buy from people they like and trust. They also buy from people that are "like me" i.e. mirroring, neurolinguistic programing, tone, inflection, simple but buisness dress, no flashy jewelry, no facial hair, etc. All that salesman stuff. Don't get me going down that path, I could lecture for hours...

The high ticket comes more from focusing on the upper middle to upper income. The last two house cleanings I did were $300,000+ homes. The "Post-construction clean" job leads are usually after major home remodels or move-outs. Once they see my profile on Service Magic or I get a chance to talk to them the add-ons take off. When they see my expertise in floor care, window cleaning, roof cleaning, siding cleaning, concrete/brick/stone chemical cleaning, deck restoration, etc. they ALWAYS say "Thank God..." One contractor for everything. I usually itemize a walk-through and then give a 10% discount if ALL the work is done. These $6 leads avg. $1400-2,000 in revenue on a one day clean. I use some of my building cleaners or some of my friends landscaper guys for day labor. They are more responsible and have a history of janitorial work and they always appreciate the added hours. I usually pay them $6.00/hr compared to the $5.50 or so they get for night cleaning.

So far I have found that the janitorial and pressure washing go hand in hand to make each ticket average higher. I can usually turn a house cleaning into a roof/drive/patio pressure washing as well as house cleaning. I have had many people tell me they are so happy to find a knowledgable one-stop-shop. People do not want to waist time with multiple contractors. For me it always fun to stretch and learn new trades. So far It has not interfeared with the pressure washing scheduling. I have not run into too many customers that have to have pressure washing immediatly except my commercial customers. Most of the commercial guys accept 1-2 week scheduling. I was more curious about the SPECIFIC odd ball tasks that some of you guys have been led into...

Uhh... How many of thier membership lists are distributed free of charge to commercial businesses?, home owners?, non-members? When is the last time you needed a contractor and picked up the phone to call the BBB? Most of my customers use the internet at work or the yellow pages to find venders. Personnally, I cant see spending $400 to get a BBB emblem on my business cards or yellow page ad. If a customer wants arbitration or wants to complain to the BBB all you have to do is resolve the issue with the customer once notified and you have a good standing again... 2 cents...

I'm going to try several chems. DelcoAC22, Ecochem(Glory truck wash), and APCO(Vinylclean Plus). I'll let you know how it turns out.

I will be stripping a wrap-around deck on the front and back of a house. The deck has been painted multiple times. Do you guys capture the stripped paint or let it hit the pre-soaked ground and then rinse away? Suggestions on stripper? I will post pics of the deck later today.

Can you elaborate on the use of the Osborne brushes and the variable speed buffers?

I just found out that my cousin in Austin had an almost lethal dose of arsenic after trying to clean her pressure treated deck with chlorine while bare foot. She soon after started having hallucinations and began loosing weight rapidly. It wasn't until weeks later that she found out what it was. She is gaining weight now but they said it would have to slowly leave her body naturally. Close call... I'm heading to Austin tomorrow to see how she is recovering.

Thanks, She is gaining weight and feeling much better. She said the bottoms of her feet turned green for a while from the reaction... bad stuff...

Equipment costs are considered capital expenditures that are depreciated over time. Equipment is considered part of your start-up costs. Recouping your equipment cost is usually done straight from your bottom line profit. If you spend $1,000.00 on equipment you are not really making any profit until you make the $1,000.00. When bidding Janitorial contracts we usually include $100 for home office space & 6% of your total labor cost for depreciation and maintenance of equipment. Bottom line... Stay busy, charge what the market will bare, always give the customer something they were not expecting for free, and let your customers bend your ear talking about themselves a little. You won't have to worry too much about equipment cost or maintenance bills - you will be too busy trying to figure out who you can get to take all of the checks to the bank for you.

You can usually find it in automotive parts places. AutoZone, etc.

Cougar paw shoes worked great! Most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. They grip really well with the soft sole. The sole is replaceable - velcro.

How many gallons of stain did you wind up using?