Pams Pressure & Clean

Jay, et al; There is no need to put on airs about the when, what, & where of the comments you address. Just come out and say it. You are questioning the comments at the Atlanta Roundtable. There have been no other such meetings in the recent past, so it is clear which you are referencing. As I was in attendance at this particular meeting, I feel it necessary to clarify the comment that is referenced above. You have your rememberence of the discussion a bit off. Your comments are a distortion of the truth and cause nothing but inflammatory remarks and the spread of hateful comments. I beg you to please be more careful so that we can avoid threads which morph into things that clearly do not promote the professionalism of this industry. It was clearly explained that certain governmental agencies have asked for help in monitoring illegal discharges. All in the room agreed in principal to provide help in this area, yourself included, becasue it breeds a cooperative atmosphere to the AHJ's. At NO time did we say that we would turn in offenders for monetary gain. If the prospect of non-compliance and getting caught makes you uncomfortable, I might suggest taking steps to become compliant. More especially because you were at the meeting and you KNOW the rules. Ignorance of them is not now, nor has it ever been, a valid defense. You can put all the feel good, back slapping, and brotherly hug, koom-by-ah, Big Brother is watching me, spin on it that you want, but Environmental Compliance Enforcement IS here in Metro Atlanta. It IS here to stay. It IS going to continue with or without you. YOU have to decide whether or not your company wants to be a part of the solution or a part of the problem. As far as a right to "Learn as you go" sure.. Everyone needs to take the time to become educated, experienced, and proficient at the art of professional powerwashing. However, I'm not quite certain that AHJ's who may catch you dumping illegally would allow the "I'm just practicing 'till I get good at it", or the "I didn't mean to" defense. Respectfully, Cujo

I'm with James. Access, education, professional acceptance, legitimacy, and belonging.

I cannot see how you can profitably run a professional business and charge only $35.00 per hour. This is only my take, and surely isn't the final word. Perhaps the cost of living, insurance, etc, etc, is much different there, but there is no way we could do that here.

Excellent post/article Rod. All the more reason to promote PWNA, PWNA Wood Certification, and attending an advanced wood care and restoration class by either Pete at Sun Brite or Everett at Deck Restoration Plus. (I hear Ev's is pretty good, but have not been.. Pete's class ROCKS!) Cujo

Atlanta is a major airline hub and pretty cheap to get to from anywhere. There's a bunch of cool stuff here too.. What is wrong with selling booth space? We don't want vendors?

You only get one chance to be dead...Dude is pretty dang lucky.. Scott, sounds like someone forgot to do the daily safety inspection.. lucky thing he's not dead too. Some folks say I look like a doof in all the safety gear.. some folks say I look like a doof without it :)... but no one way rides down for me.. I don't mind telling you, I'm a big time sissy when it comes to falling out and getting dead..

I wish I could take credit, but the best idea I have heard is actually very simple... It would eliminate frivolous lawsuits virtually from the face of the planet, punish the beejeezus out of bad guys, and wouldn't cost a dime to implement. LOSER PAYS...It's all the tort reform we really need. Cujo

PREACH IT BROTHER !! PREACH ON !!!!

Ummm Since we are just guessing here... You guys are teaming up w/ Steve Rowlett. Selling RPC Chems and Wood Tux... Beth & Celeste will dress up in Hooters uniforms and serve wings & cold adult beverages for the meetings. The new organization will be called See RPC Make Dirt Run, Inc. Membership is free and both message boards will merge so we can have single click access.

You two are running off to form a national organization of Powerwashers.. Oh wait.. there's one of those already.. Sorry.. my bad..

Ditto on the inflatables..Gotta have 'em for off road use :) We go one step further and add the green slime to eliminate the puncture issues.

Ken, I see your point and it is well taken. The cleanup one applies more to commercial than residential. IE: You are doing flatwork and the runoff lands in the parking lot. As the power washer, you are doing the flatwork, not the whole parking lot. The "unknown" clause is simply that. How in the world can a power washer be expected to take liability for a previously unknown condition? If a window is framed, sealed, and trimmed properly, it'll take hurricane force rain and wind. If it is half assed then you can spit through it. Who is to know by simply wallking by? Are we to remove trim samples on every wall to make sure it is sealed properly? Are we to physically inspect the wqeather seal on every door to make sure that there is no water intrusion? No, I think not. Offering to take care of anything 'out of the ordinary' right away is problematic and would make any insurance guy or corp. attorney fall over and go into convulsions right there on the spot. What is ordinary? Who decides? Ordinary for whom?

I'm thinking a nicely laid out professional letter type format will be good. All of our large scale bids go out this way and it seems to work well.

Alan, Thanks..

Alan, 1 thru 4 are verbatim to my contract, but number 5 is pretty cool.. Mind if I grab it and add it to my paperwork? Cujo

I applaud the efforts of the all volunteer BOD to try to do what has been asked most recently. They face a tough job, usually one that has no thanks and only complaints from various individuals. One cannot please all of the people all of the time and it is a job for those of strong charachter. Undefinable damage has been done in recent past, there may be no way of ever repairing it totally. At the least, cosmetic repairs seem to have been made while the real structural work seems to be going on behind the scenes. This moment in time appears to be most pivotal for the org., as the membership makes demands, the non members similarly demand, and the leaders are caught somewhere in between. A wrong move now is certain to leave an indelible scar. I am not in agreement with some of the recent decisions, but as a member I am not ready to pull my plug. I still support the worthy goals of the PWNA. I will still volunteer my time and efforts to promote the org, although it is difficult indeed to keep swimming against the current, especially in light of the most recent activities. I can only hope that wisdom & logic can prevail and that emotions are kept securely locked out. Cujo

DeGraffreed, I remember the date we had to do a fair amount of work. I remember we spent a few days discussing the job and arranging our schedules. I remember that you were going to bring your helper and your rig. I remember that you failed to show, failed to call, and did not answer my calls. I remember working very, very, very, late on a Sunday night to make up for it. I am reluctant to renew my offer.

Sun Brite Supply Safe Wash (Percarb) Remove (Standard duty stripper that works most all the time, for almost anything) Severe Strip (Self Explanatory) Wood Brightener (Oxalic) Ready Seal (Stain)

Carlos, I would be interested in comparing my contract with what you have. If you don't mind, could I get a copy as well? pamncujo@earthlink.net

I am no expert on airless rigs, but if I am remembering correctly from what a local airless repair guy told me, the Magnum series sold at HD & Lowe's have plastic gear drives. The true commercial models (that cost twice as much) have steel gears. This apparently is only one of the differing factors, but alludes to why the "contractor" model at the box stores is hundreds of dollars less than what you will find elsewhere.

Dec~Feb is the slowest time of year for the pw business...typically.. That said, we are off to a great start and are booked into the first week of March. You have to work your marketing year round to ensure you have work for the slow times. Wesley, are you still coming to the Roundtable on the 12th? Ryan, there's an invite for you too.... Cujo

Deckster is what we use.. Beth sells a Decker (same rig different name I think). Works great.

Ryan, me too.. Chris, Go deep cycle marine battery.. Any good auto parts store or Wally World.

Carlos, To clean out chems, we flush with water.. no prob.. To clean up after stain (Ready Seal) we can go two ways.. Either leave the system full (this assumes no or very slight color changes for the next job) or we flush with a diluted butyl degreaser and follow with a fresh water rinse, then leave the system full of water. Clean up is really no more than you would find with an airless sprayer..

Henry, I was tounge in cheek when I said you might not want one .. sorry.. Anyway.. We carry a spare battery. As Beth said you don't want to be without at the end of a long day... We have not ever had to use the spare, but it feels much better to have it and not want it, than to want it and not have it.. I have run mine for a whole day on a single charge.. The Decker looks to be a dead copy of a DeckSTer.. (I'm guessing that the DeckSTer is the original..if I have my time line off, plesae correct me) If true, it should be a great unit. Either way you go you will NOT be dissappointed.. I would definitely suggest a Hurricane Brush to go with it. It's pretty cool to be able to stain in the wind :)