FLORIN

By paying a percentage of the job, won't it give the employee the temptation to cut corners so he can get the job done faster so he can get paid more. For instance he might put chemicals on a roof to get the mold and mildew off but it does not completely remove it after the first application and dwell time, he would just be tempted to just crank up the pressure a little bit and go to town instead of having to wait another dwell time and application time. If he causes damage it might not even be noticed until the rainy season but it will still come back to your business insurance.

With that formula does any one know if it is a weaker % to start with does it lose the same percentage per month. Does it lose less percentage per month as it goes down in potency?

Dat ther iz 2 funny.

My bad.

Is an hourly rate an option? Maybe hourly plus chem cost?

You stated that you are spraying on people's homes.From that Im taking that you do residential mostly. Are you getting objections using their water supply? I have not run into one person that cared that I used their water, and water is not to cheap here either. In Newberg Or I was paying $75 a month in water. I just brought it up in their bid and really did not give them any choice.

In my opinion I dont think it would. Ken posted a job lead in Wa stating that the customer had a couple coats of sikken and his prod was not strong enough to do the job and the cust. would have to get a proffesional. I could be wrong about the strength maybe Ken can chime in. I think if the homeowner wanted to do it themselves they would do it themselves with the use of these two brands and if they were not available they would use x brand from home improvement stores. The customers that use proffesionals to do their decks either dont want to waste their time or cannot get strong enough chemicals to do a good job. When Ken started posting about his line I started thinking the same thing " Why would somebody want to use my services when there are these kind of products out there" but later thought that there is plenty customers out there and the ones that want to do it themselves werent going to use me in the first place. Although I might just be trying to convince myself this but hey its what I think.

Very tempting Ken but with my experience level and lack of wood restoration equipmentI would have to pass. It is a little bit out of my way also. It is almost on the Canadian border. I wouldnt mind venturing that far for a good payday but I would not want to put a bad name for my company or yours for reffering me and not being able to do stellar results due to inexperience. Maybe a couple more friend's decks first. Thanks for posting the job lead though, maybe next time.

My wife has been having troubles with her razr phone lately. The battery life doesnt seem to last as long as before. Also the battery life indicator - one second says full life and the next it beeps at you that the battery is dead.

Another thing, on the public recognition portion of your website the bottom two adds of the citizen newspaper are exactly the same except different dates. Did they run the same add twice or is this a mistake on the site?

Also in the photo gallery portion "exterior" is misspelled "exterios"

I say none of them. I would go with a strong bold color. Right now I am driving a pewter Yukon and black trailer and am having to result only in my lettering to be bold. Next truck and trailer will be bold yellow with full body blue lettering. the whole truck and trailer will be one big billboard. Hell it might even be an eyesore but it will definately be noticed. But thats just me.

A 100% of businesses that fear that 96% failure rate rule and never try - fail.

I wonder how those statistics change if a business has access to support systems and ways to discuss what works and what does not like this site and other sources. It was very hard for me to start my business until I found this site. It seems to be a closely guarded secret on how to start your own business. Everything that I implemented for the growth of my business I learned from all of you that have years of experience. So far everything has worked for the betterment of my company. I know that the odds are against me and will do everything in my power to turn those odds in my favor thru constant learning and growing. Both my parents have their own succesful businesses which they grew thru trial and error and sweat and tears. I wonder how much simpler it would have been or how bigger their businesses would have been if they had support.

Congrats Jeff,

Hello all, I'M not trying to be sick or anything but I never came across the answer or thought about it till last weekend. I was washing two houses right next door to each other last weekend one after the other. All of a sudden I had to go to the bathroom badly. Here I was hoses stretched out everywhere, equipment on the ground, plants tarped up, I was all mucked up from all the gdirt and grime that sprayed onto my clothes. What do I do ask the customer if I can use theirs, pack everything up and go to a gas station, unhook the trailer and leave everything there. Well I couldnt hold it any longer so I diconnected the hoses from the washer and threw the more expensive items in the trailer and I drove off and found a gas station. I took a chance that nobody was going to help themselves with the equipment that I left behind. Again I dont want to be prying into such a personal thing but I would like to know what others do in dire emergencies such as this.

Jon, I am originaly from Romania. Came to this great country 20 years ago when I was seven years old. I am now just chasing the American dream. Since we are on the topic of wives, wife is Norwegian daughter is half Mexican son is half German. We are a mutt family. Sorry to change the topic.

I think it would be very beneficial for wife to go on this forum. This business has been my dream since I was 15. I saw an infomercial on how to start a business and they had a guy on there that was stating he got rich within a couple months by doing powerwashing. I know this is not so. My wife from the start has stated that it is your business and dream and do what you need to do and she would support me. I took her along with me on the last couple of jobs and she hates the manual part of the business but she liked doing the bids and going out to get jobs. She is getting pretty excited about the business. I think it would be very beneficial if she participated in this forum for knowledge on the proper way to do things. Having a womens support system would be beneficial also.

too funny

Normally I do my business before I go to the job but this time I ate at a taco stand before I got on the job. Hot sauce gets me every time but I never learn. I was more than just a little dirty, I am still kinda new at this and do not have the finnese yet on washing and get most of the crud off their houses and mud from their foundation on myself. Not to mention I would of stunk up their place badly. I will probably start carying a cofe can in the back of the Yukon from now on for when I get a hot sauce jonesin.

If you can find a person on your own that you want to hire you can then send him to the temp agency and they will discount you because you sent that person to them. Verify with the temp agency that they do this. The temp agency that I deal with does this for a great discount. You get a guy that you have picked out and the temp agency does all the paperwork and payroll.

Most illegal imigrants do not want to be illegal. They came to this country to escape corrupt governments and not being able to provide for their families. They came here for a better life. They are illegal because it is not so easy to come to this country legally anymore. Most are at the point that breaking the law by crossing the border and living in the states without documentation is far better than living in their native land. I agree that they should become legal, but I dont think they should be treated as scum of the earth either.

I feel for ya, To bad it happened to such a nice guy. You have helped me out in the startup of my business and continue to do so. I definately don't have much but if you need anything I will be honored to help where I can. I sure hope they get caught and you get your stuff back. Its not just equipment that was stolen it was your living that you provide for your family.

Hello everybody, Went and did my first residential bid tonight, a two story white vinyl house. It has very little vegetation around the house that I would have to worry about. Just mold and mildew and minimal streaks on gutters. Went to their house with butterflies in my stomach and started ranting off all that I know about washing houses that I learned off this site and they signed my proposal right on the spot. I will be doing the house next week. I am on cloud 9 right now. Thanks for throwing me a bone on this job Larry B. It is a great confidence booster. I hope some day I can return the favor. Thanks to all who post on this site. You guys and gals are who gave me all the knowledge about this industry. I forsee a great future for ALL WASHED UP.

Just wanted to say thanks again. Cleaned the house last friday. It came came out really nice. Customer was really pleased with the work. It took a little longer than I anticipated. I nitpicked every inch. At the base of the vynil siding was a light brown stain that would not come off with my house wash solution. I had to spray straight 6% and brush to remove. My overall house wash mix I made a little too weak and in some areas I had to do a second application. By the time I was done I was losing the light for my after pics. OK'd it with the customer to come back on sunday for the after picks. I got there on Sunday and while I was taking pictures I found two spots on the last side of the house that I washed on friday that I did not rinse good enough and the dirty water dried. I showed this to the customer and told them I will be there on monday to fix it. I rolled in on Monday on my way to another job and fixed it and the customer was more extatic that I came back than the initial reaction of the house being clean. I didn't have it in my budget to get a digital camera at start up so I am doing it the 35mm method and having the photo printer people put it on disk for me. I should have the pics next week. Sorry for the long post but am just excited. this was my first paying job, and full house wash. Everything else I have done is wash my own and friends houses to test chems and techniques. Never did the entire house in one shot just patches.