Henry B.
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Posts posted by Henry B.
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I power wash everything from 4 story buildings down to the inside of pools... I have pw empty ponds, driveways and probably the strangest things would be a parking garage and the inside of a grocery store. I've even quoted power washing at Regan National airport but I decided I didn't want the job so i just priced it high. Occasionally I run across someone that I really don't want to work for becouse the job will tie me up too much or the customer is just not someone I like so I refer them to other companies. I usually refer all my stripping jobs to see dirt run actually.. LOL I know Rod and Beth make good money on them and they like the extra work I just hate spending the time on stripping. Power washing has very few limits its all about experiance and learning to try new things. I'm a VERY good salesman so that's one of my biggest advantages. I don't try to sell the customer on the best most expensive products I just look at the home and figure out what it is that they are looking for then I convince them its their idea to hire me since "I" can make their home the best it can be. I don't bother with lowballing things or trying to get the highest price I can. I think that's where most companies make mistakes. As far as I know beth and rod charge about the same as I do depending on the sealer being used. Sure I might have been able to get another 25 bucks for doing the job but I would rather give a lower price for doing the house then add in other things like the walks, patios and other items. Plus, I have a two gun unit so I can get the job done twice as fast as anyone around here so even if I am a little cheaper on some things the speed in which I can do it makes up for that easily. I also have 3 small pull arounds if I need them.
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I thought that this year was awesome. Of course I have had a hard time sealing decks as quickly as I would like to but every other company in the area has the same problems. I have been in business for 15 years now and this has probably been one of the best year I have ever had. The constant rain is causing houses to mildew all over the place so I just started concentrating on house washing more than usual. Of course I just rigged up this real sweet double gun trailer unit with a couple x jets and my own modifications and it just kicks butt.
Here is a link to my equipment. http://www.henryshousework.com/html/power_washing_equipment.html
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I have to admit I really do like the slogan and from what I've heard Beth raive about it I have to wonder if it might really be some good stuff.
My biggest concern is how well has this product been tested?
From everything I have read on here and online this product just came out within the last 6 months or so. That tends to make me a bit nervous about selling it to customers that I want to keep.
Ive been using ABR X100 for a few years for my high grade sealer and Olympic for my price shopping clients that want the name recognition of the product. Wood tux sounds great in name but is there anyone out there that has stained with it for the past few years?? I know different weather conditions and weathering conditions can make the same sealer act completly different so I'm REAL concerned about trying out a new product that has not been long term tested on someone elses property. I applied the ABR to the fence in my yard a year before I first sold it to a client just to see how well it held up and how long it lasted. It's been 5 years and the fence is just barely starting to fade. Can Wood tux offer the same guarrantee? More importantly, will wood tux back up their guarrantee? I'm not trying to badmouth anyones product, god knows how many of us feel about olympic and the smell of x100 but can anyone give us some history on this product?
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My Distributer gave me one of those comparable x jet tips and I used to drag around a bucket with it then I started hooking up my downstreamer at the machine and just stick on the fake x jet tip. It still pulls the chemical at the same rate and I dont have to carry any damn buckets now..lol Then when I'm done putting on my chem I just switch tips and rinse. I have also made my own chem tip out of two male qd's and I just plug that into my gun and it shoots about 35' and pulls chemical. It is also excellent for rinsing things off really quickly.
Henry
I asked Espec if I could mix as I needed and they said of course,
just divide the proportions up, if 35LBS of dry makes a 55 gal drum
then I think 10 OZ should make up a 5 gal pail ? I use it like that and premix
24 hours ahead of time, I find the Emuls plus needs a while to all disentegrate, otherwise you will still have powder in your bucket,
I got my downstreamer from Delco, and I have a 5.5 GPM machine,
and it drains that bucket of chems in 5 minutes, that should be plenty
to wash with, I also find using a 0040 tip gets farther distance than the Xjet
and I dont have to carry another hose and a bucket of chems with me
to wash a house with, I tried both ways and didnt see any difference
in cleaning results using the xjet,
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Looks like you got it down to A science Henry. Sounds like a pretty good technique. How long would a 1.5 gallon container of cleaner last You?
One tank like this would last me for a couple of houses usually. I think my cost averaged out to $3 in materials for each house, after I bought the startup equipment. Once you get the scrubber pad wet, you just have to keep it damp. I used the hammer holder to hang my squeeges in so I could keep my hands free.
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I used to do window cleaning when I first started out in business about 13 years ago. Here is what I found to be the fastest and easiest way.
Buy yourself a garden sprayer 1.5 gallon or so pump up sprayer.
Buy some ammonia and mix about 20% ammonia 60% water 15% vinegar and a couple drops of dish soap. Mix this up and dump it into the sprayer.
Get yourself a hammer holder for your belt. and an industrial sized razor blade scraper with long handle and 4" blade.
Buy about 4 different sized squeeges. one 18", one 9" and one 6" or whatever size most moulion windows are in your area.
Your also going to want one of those rug like covered scrubby things. These can be found in most commercial cleaning supply stores.
Okay, here is how I used to do it. I would take my sprayer and soak down the inside of the windows (paint covered window) let it sit for about 15 seconds then take your scraper on edge, and cut along the window edge to seperate paint on window frame from paint on glass. Then just slide your razor blade about scooping up the rest of the soft paint.
Then I would use 1 towel and run one finger down the side of the window and the top. (finger in towel) Then I would start squeeqing from the top left acrossed working my way down each sweep acrossed. Then with finger in towel again, I would run around all the edges of the window and wipe my towel acrossed the sill. That's it. I used to be able to do a window in about 35 seconds. <G> My fastest recorded speed for a window inside, outside and both sides of the storm windows, take apart and re-install was 3 minutes and 25 seconds. <G> Yeh, I'm bragging!!
Henry
:p
Curbs/Gutters
in Residential Pressure Washing
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For cleaning those curbs you can get double headed turbo wands from northern tool. Or just make your own. They easily double the speed of what you can wash. I use them on basement steps and stuff also with a 6' extension wand so I don't get covered in mud..