Henry B.

Carlos does have a point, make sure there's a market for your services in your area. If your expecting a website to get your name out there to possible cleints, your in for a suprise. They can help you close a sale and show pictures of your work and give information about your services and the company but not much more. I use my site for cross marketing, all my ads say see my website for discounts and other services. This way one add can draw leads for other services we provide without having to run an ad for every service we provide.

I believe the going rate for web sites is anywhere between 50-100 dollars a page, it all depends on how much information or text you have to place on them. If someone had to write all that for you it would be more expensive. I've created quite a few websites myself but I've usually done it for non profit groups or for free to a couple buddies. If you have any questions or want some help, let me know. Here are a couple of sites that I've done in the past. www.henryshousework.com www.thegermantowngems.com

I may have to check out the deckster, I've heard a lot about it and the hurricane brush but I guess I'm just an old school pw guy..lol For sprayers, I use one from northern tool it's a yellow backpack sprayer and it holds about 4.5 gallons. I buy new ones every year for about $50 each and they usually last all year long, with minimal maintenance (or none..lol) I'm sure they would last longer if we took better care of them but we use them SO much I just decide to abuse them and trash them when they start having problems.

My opinion is the most important things you can have in order of importance are these: (not inculding equipment and stuff, just for marketing your company) 1 website 2 magnetic business cards 3 client database with regular contact. Take a look at my site if you like, it does pretty well to inform my clients and give examples of our work. I don't agree with the large files though, for photography it makes sense but for power washing, a few pictures are acceptable. Expecially roll overs like I use, it gives that WOW effect. Give me a call if you have any questions or just post them here.

Hey Lou, I'm actually going over to take a look at it on Monday myself to chat with the guy and discuss a few other things. I'll let you know what I think but let me know if you have any questions about it.

Aw man that's a riot. I've got something even crazier though. Theres this event called the polar bear plunge they hold each year in the chesapeake bay to raise money for the special olympics. The dam bay is frozen! they had to get coast guard ice cutters to come in and break up the ice so these fools could jump in the 31 degree water with pieces of ice floating all over the place! But. I got my sweatshirt for doing it! and I raised almost a thousand dollars for the special olympics. Here's a tip for ya, don't do it. LOL I was fine at first because the water was so cold it actually felt like I was on fire instead of being frozen into a power washing popcicle, then the water got chest deep and the water was so cold I couldnt breathe..lol Up until then it was fine When I get the pictures developed I'll post a couple.

If your power washer is pulsating make sure the customer has their spicket inside and outsied turned on all the way, check your inlet screen, it may be clogged up. If that fails check the seals on your pump. Most houses put out 4gpm with no problem around here.

Hey RLS, I bet you sleep well at night!

Honestly, I can't really answer that question, it will clean faster and better than the 3.5 but I've never done a side by side comparison.

I'd planned on ordering it in March also after the convention. I may also pick up some other stuff so if there is anyone else in Maryland or nearby that wants to get in on this also, let me know.

Hey Rod, I can understand your reasoning but I'm suprised at the way he acted also. I've never had a problem with him like that in the past even when I asked him to check my hydrotech rig that I didn't buy from him. He is the guy I mentioned a while back in a post I made about only wanting to buy sealers I can get from more than one source though. Maybe it was a fluke or maybe he's changed his attitude for worse. I've been out to fort Mchenry a few times also testing out some new chems when we ran out of 396. Nice guys and they were quick too. I didn't like their chems as much as the 396 though. I'm planning on buying some of that in bulk this spring so if your still using it maybe we can hook up and get a larger volume at a better price.

Hey Rod, what about gaithersburg pump supply? He's only about 15 minutes away and he usually carries quite a few parts in stock.

Full time year round right? 7 total

I use it on my 8gpm rig, I'm not sure how high up it will go though.

I sent Lou and email this morning that had a unit that would probably work great for him. I haven't heard back from him yet though.

If your company provides these services anywhere in the United States, please contact me. I wrote an article on Ice dams that was published somewhere on the web and now I'm getting requests from all over the north part of the country on how to remove them and requests for contractors that do it. My last two calls were from New Jersey and Framingham Massachusetts. Please contact me at 240 274 0300 if you provide this service, I may be able to refer jobs to you.

Hey Mathew, I thought about that also as an option but how would the stripes get on all sides of the lumber? I'm talking about all four sides, not just the top and bottom.

Check out this picture, no one knows what caused this either. It looks like these boards were used on another deck, but they weren't. Both sides of the lumber have these stripe marks on them too. Anyone have any ideas about it?

Hey Beth, I talked to my collections guy and asked him if he would give a seminar on collections and how to avoid problems collecting money from clients after the job has been done. It wasn't easy but I convinced him, he will show up about 2pm for the roundtable.

Hey Mike thanks for the compliments. I actually wrote quite a few guides on the different services we provide a few years back but lost most of them when my computer crashed. They are still out there on the internet somewhere and when I locate them or re-do them I'll post them for you.

With the price on composite materials and the lawsuits against trex, I don't think it's going to make a huge difference. Besides, would you rip down your deck just to rebuild it with one that costs 2-3 times more? I think we've got another 10-20 years before we have to worry about that and even composite decks need to be cleaned.

Just make sure you do a test patch somewhere first. How is the carpet installed glue, tack strips or staples since that can make a difference in what chemicals you use on it. I also wouldn't hit the carpet too hot or hard with pressure or you may find out when it starts coming loose or bunching up.

I know what you mean, a lot of times the customers just look stunned when I tell them they should be cleaned a minimum of 3 times a year. I usually suggest four times a year if they have lots of trees, expecially pines. The nails keep pulling out because the fascia board they are attached in has rotted away right around the gutter spike. When the downspout gets plugged the water fills up in the gutter and then leaks out around the nails (and overflows). This causes the wood to rot out just enough for the nail to pull loose. In most cases, you can slide the nail back in a different spot in the back of the gutter. (preferably into the rafters) Then just seal the old hole in the back. Make sure the nail goes near the top of the gutter in back, most guys do it half way down inside the gutter. The problem with the screws is, sooner or later the gutters will get full of ice and then try to expand, when they expand with nails, the will usually pull out. The screws can't so they just rip right through the gutters. The screws can work well in areas that don't freeze but around here, I wouldn't reccomend them at all. The guy with the loose gutters probably never cleaned and tightened them properly or his fascia rotted out from not enough roof overhang or drip edge. For those of you that do a lot of gutter cleaning, how many times have you went to clean gutters and only found a few tennis balls or kids toys clogging the downspouts?? It's amazing how people think they don't have to clean gutters, just because they don't have trees hanging over their roof. I've watched leaves and those helicopter things drift up and then fall in the gutters or blow from 3 houses away onto the roof.

They have already changed over, they just don't like it..lol

The new formulae also causes the nails and other fastners to corrode... VERY quickly. A couple of the builders I work with have been seriously complaining about that and other problems the have with the new process.