Jump to content

Henry B.

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    690

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Posts posted by Henry B.

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Mathew said "I am confused.... Then why does the PWNA go through the motions of requiring License and Insurance for membership requirements.... this seems to be a huge mixed message"

    Personally I believe the PWNA does this to have some type of requirement for membership. It shows that members have taken the right steps in business. (being legal) I also believe it's done to promote the professionalism of it's members and the industry. The biggest reason I think is, The PWNA is the leader of the industry, it's members should have these requirements at least if the org is to set an example on power washing standards and training.

    For the PWNA or any other org to say a company is legitament or more legitamit than another would open it to liability. It would also be implying that non members aren't legitament which is not the case, they have just chosen not to take advantage of the org's benefits and marketing.

    This is just my personal opinion of course.

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Herny and others. Henry after talking with you on another BBS, sometime ago, Ive started targeting and pushing gutter cleaning for all the property managers Ivedone work for. I have some very nice size gutter cleaning contracts now. Thanks

    I have some questions. I quite often use an electrians fish to go down. down spouts to check if they are clogged, works real good

    Question, I have run into several clogged downspouts and at times I have to dismantle them to get debris out. Is that the best way?

    Use a running garden hose and push it down the spout from the top. Usually stuff will break loose and float up until it all finally just drops. If that fails, you can try a plumbers snake, heavy gauge wire or, just take it apart.

    Question. I also run into underground tubing that runs off down spout. That also is clogged solid and there is nothing I can do or use to get through these under ground pipes. What if anything can I do. Other than digging them up??

    You may be able to use a snake on a few of them but be very careful, a majority of them will be made from lightweight black plastic and a snake will cut right through them.

    I bought a hydrojet system that I can run off of my rig and this has been the best thing for cleaning long underground downspout extensions and you can clear floor drains with them also for basement step drains.. These are cleaned as a seperate charge at 75-250 each.

    Question. These gutters & downspout are of course bigger than residential gutters. Where can I purchase replacement parts, such as elbows or the black tubing the fits over the end of downspouts. Lowes & HD dont carry them and I called a local company, that does seemleess gutters and he wouldnt helpme. Any place you know of were I can purchase some of the things I would need commonly.

    Just look for a local supply company or gutter installer that carries gutters and all, you should be able to find one somewhere close by.

    The other guy that would'nt sell parts to you is a fool. Does he have any idea how many gutter installs and repairs you could refer to him? If not, I'd suggest bringing it up to him!

    Anything else you can think of to help make it easier or how to market gutter cleaning would be great!!

    I don't remember what I told you the last time we talked..lol Give me a call.

    Thanks again , these gutter contracts are some of the best repeat biz I have

    No problem let me know if there is anything else I can help you out with.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Yes, you need a water meter from WSSC in our area and you can only use green and white hydrants. The meter is 75 for the rental and a 75 deposit. I'm not sure about needing a permit for different areas though, they never said anything about it to us when we get it every 6 months.

    I use a hydro-tech surface cleaner, the one with the water broom and gum buster built into it.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    We used to use swivels and bent wands on all of our guns to ease the back pain.

    However, when you use a gun in the manner DON'T EVER use it one handed.

    The freakin thing takes off like it had a life of it's own and I couldn't grab ahold of it fast enough. Unfortuanetly the wand and I started to spin around in circles as we fought for control. I finally gained a two hand grip on it after if flew into the back of my buddies head.

    No stitches or major injuries but now his nickname is lumpy..lol

  11. Posted · Report reply

    I actually mentioned something similiar to this at the last MD chapter meeting. I was going to post a list of clients that I wanted to "give away". I didn't go into details or negative comments I just said I could not work for them any longer. I think that's the best way to do this. Giving away clients, if we say anything negative about them at all we could have legal problems.

    But, let's face it, they have the right to use or not use our services and we have the same right. To work for them or not work for them, it's our choice as long as we don't state why.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    Hey Jeff, does that guy live in Maryland by any chance? I've had a few guys like that before. I also run into a lot of people that ask for us to "fix that real quick while your here" We will usually do something small for free but some people try to take advantage of it and ask for more and more. Then I just start saying, "sure, I can give you a price on that" This usually stops the problem..lol

    Another thing to remember.. when this guy tells everyone how expensive you are ect.. They probably know how difficult he is and aren't suprised by his comments since he probably says the same stuff about everyone!

    If I run across a client I don't want to work for I give them my normal pricing (some guys raise the price really high) and when they call to book the job I just tell them that were scheduling about three months out. I don't kick up the price because I don't want them saying were being unfair and telling everyone they know. Also, they won't live there forever and I want a the job when they move! In this area, the average is 5-7 years before people move.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Yep, I've had them make racial comments about one of my guys. The funny thing is he was born here and only speaks english. Unfortuanetly there are still people out there that judge people by their looks instead of their knowledge. This guy has more training and experience as most contractors I know on power washing. I also will not under any circumstances let this happen, when it's a racial issue I simply won't work for them at all.

    Mistakes on the other hand happen and sometimes time schedules get tossed and we deal with it. If a client is abusive or insulting I just don't deal with them at all. If we make a mistake we fix it but if someone just kicks up an attitude for no reason at all.. Were packing up and moving on. I've got too many clients that would love to jump ahead on our schedule to deal with that kind of stuff and in most cases, you just have a feeling that nothing will satisfy them. I'd rather work for clients that don't mind paying our fees and are estatic about our work.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Post a pic on the roof so we can take a look at it..

    I prefer powders for most of my stuff except of course Bleach for house washing. I've used quite a few powdered strippers now and Tom Vogel has a good one called 760. I've also tried the F18 Max and of course HD-80.

    I'd have to say HD 80 is probably the stongest out of all the one's I've tried so far and being a powder it's lighter to carry than liquid products. But, Sunbrites Remove and Severe Deck Strippers can also kick some serious butt if your into liquid strippers... I'm not sure of the price difference since I only had a sample but, I'm thinking about switching over to them and Hd-80 in the next season after I use up the other stuff I've got.

    I've been spending more time lately checking into the products that are out there on the market and trying to find the products with the best result and costs. I think Powders might be a bit cheaper because of the dry weight factor but it depends on how strong the product is before mixed that matters the most.. Some things are just to hazerdous to use dry, bleach for example! Measuring is another issue.. I don't want to carry a triple beam scale to measure out what I'm using! Sun Brite has these cool little bottles that are pre measured to add to your buckets.. They are also labled and easy to use if your sending out crews to do the jobs and safety is always a concern when you have employees..

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Hey Ben,

    Degraffreed is right, the new Wood Tux wet formula should solve your problem. Give Russell a call or you can call or visit Sun Brite supply on the web at SunBriteSupply

    They also carry it in stock and can answer your questions on it. Russell is a stand up guy but, I know a lot of contractors would rather talk to people that have tested the products or use them themselves instead of trusting the usual salesman.

    You can trust Russell and the guys on this board and at Sun Brite though, to give you the strait out truth.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    The BBS will be the same for the time being it's just being moved to a new server. There has been some discussion about the BBS and quite a few other things that the PWNA wants to do and expand on in the future.

    In the last year the PWNA has made some wonderful advances and changes to the organization and it just keeps getting better all the time!

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Hey Rich,

    When you had those call backs on Ready Seal, were the decks dry enough when you sealed them? I've heard that if they aren't dry enough this can happen. Ready Seal and similiar sealers should be applied until the wood won't take in anymore product. Using just a light surface coat will often cause problems like this also. It's the same for products like ABR, you want to fill the woods open fibers.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    Hey Jon,

    I agree Carlos would make a wonderful addition to the PWNA and the West coast companies would also.

    Since I've gotten on the BOD at PWNA I've learned a lot about how the org works and how much time people put into their BOD positions. I know this has been said before but until you see it in action, you really "don't know". The PWNA has made quite a few changes in the last six months and I can see the just how much potential is there that I never thought about before.

    These contract opportunities will be a growing trend and so will the PWNA's exposure in the national spotlight. Programs like CAA will also continue to grow and get more attention each year. The new website will get better rankings, more exposure and work for it's members. The classes at the conventions will teach us more ways to market our companies, different techniques to run our companies and help us all MAKE MORE MONEY!

    I'm syched and I'm glad to be a part of the PWNA's future.

×