Jack Kramer

The room block is being released this Sunday February 15, 2015. If you are planning to attend call today to reserve your hotel room for $69.00 per night

Kris, I understand your confusion about how many members the ***** has and no one from that org will give us a straight answer. I see the 37 commercial, 77 contractors by state, 17 distributors, and 42 Residential on there website which is very confusing. Once I took a closer look I found that the commercial and residential count is a duplicate of the 77 contractors by state. So the number that I come up with is 77 members. Just a couple of weeks ago I saw a post stating that they had just added over 30 members from some event. If my math is correct they had only 47 members before that event. If someone from the ***** BOD could help us understand the numbers it would be appreciated.

I have had my deckster for 11 years and have never had a problem. I never clean it out, about 3 times a year i take the filter off when it clogs and clean it. I know you can make one but I would buy another deckster in a minute.

Chris, In New Jersey you can create a LLC online for about $125.00. You also should get a NJ Contractor license number from the state (about $100.00 per year). Your insurance cost will start around $1200.00 per year, that will go up fast if you add a company auto. If you would like to talk about it give me a call.

Allison, Thanks for the great job you did on the 2012 Pressure Washing Seminar in Albany, NY. Hope you can make our event. Welcome

Doug, I run 50' with no problem. Are you going to Albany?

The Albany, New York Seminar is being held March 31st and April 1st. The pre seminar classes will be held March 29th and 30th. You will want to arrive Friday night for a cold beer and some great networking. More information to come soon!

I’m co hosting the seminar in Albany New York with Matt Johnson. We are calling it a “Seminar” as it will be much bigger that a round table and in many ways it will rival a conference. Education classes will be available the two days prior to the seminar. If you would like to be added to our mailing list please email me at JKramer@pwseminar.com. Much more information to follow! John, hope you can make it, I look forward to you trying to dethrone the hose rolling champion.

Tom, I agree a new organization for the power washing industry is needed. Here are some of the basic things I feel a new organization would need to have in place to be successful: 1)The financials should be made public to all Members and maybe even non members 2)No board members can have conflicting business affiliations such as Distributorships, Manufactures, Education, Franchises … 3)All members are welcome 4)Create programs for establisher businesses 5)Annual Conference 6)A Logo with ideas to help sell the benefit to customers 7)Some type of accreditation for various aspects of power Washing The purpose of this is to start the ball rolling. Please continue this list and fell free to comment in a positive way with any disagreements.

Most chemicals don’t work as well in cold weather especially gutter cleaners and bleach.

Dave, I'm also from NJ. I have sealed pavers for the last 2 years and it is very profitable. I have used products from V-Seal. Call me if you would like more information.

QuickBooks Pro will do a great job for estimating, invoicing and payments. Contact Manager is used for follow up with customers which is very important. If you have any questions please feel free to call me.

Ken, I have a deckster on wheels that is used when 2 people are on site. I also have an extra deckster pump mounted on the truck wall that I use if working by myself. I disconnect the pressure washing hose from the pressure washer and connect it to the deckster pump. This way I only use one hose to apply chemicals and wash. Once the chemical application is complete I disconnect the pressure washing hose from the deckster and reconnect it to the pressure washer. At the end of the job there is only one hose to rollup (excluding water hose). I don't use this method to apply sealer as cleanup would be difficult.

If you are going to do residential work with an 8 GPM machine you may run into a problem with supply water. If they are hooked into city water you should be ok. If they have a well you could run into a problem.

Does anyone know if the PWNA is in financial trouble? The reason I ask this question is why would the PWNA raise the membership fees from $195.00 to $350.00 per year. That is an 80% increase. Then they effectively cancelled there annual PWNA Conference and invited all to the NADRA (North American Deck and Railing Association) conference. At the ACR round table I spoke with Michael Beaudry (Executive Officer, PWNA BOD) and he stated that changes needed to be made or the organization was in trouble. Does anyone else have the same feelings?

John, Thanks for your post, I will call on Monday.

Jeff, Let’s say instead of paying your mortgage an extra $300.00 per month you invested the $300.00 in a mutual fund. If the mutual fund averages an annual return of 6.75% it should be a wash as to which way is more beneficial. If the mutual fund does better than 6.75% there is more money in your pocket. On the other side if it doesn’t return 6.75% it is money out of your pocket. Now let’s say 9 years from now some unforeseen financial situation happens to you. Your mortgage company will still want their payments on time. They don’t care that you prepaid your loan for 9 years. You could use the money invested it the mutual fund to make your payments. As the years go on your mutual fund will grow and will eventually exceed your principal amount owed. At this time you can pay off the mortgage or use the money in the mutual fund to make your monthly payments. Just a different way to look at your situation

Mike, Do you have a signed disclaimer? I require every customer to sign a term and condition waver before I start work. The clause for damage follows: 1) Damages – A Brilliant Solution LLC is not responsible for damages due to improperly installed siding, loose shingles or siding, broken or opened windows, improperly sealed windows, wood rot, defective construction, improperly secured wires, loose or improperly installed gutters and leaders, and improper caulking. In every aluminum siding case, and in some cases in vinyl siding, the sun and weather will bleach the color or cause it to fade. Power washing, which entails removal of chalky, gritty of failing surface materials, may cause the faded aspects of the vinyl or aluminum to stand out. A Brilliant Solution LLC will not be responsible for such conditions. Even with the disclaimer you have to do the right thing. You have a tough decision ahead of you. I don’t think you are responsible.

Don, If the person has filed chapter 13 bankruptcy the home is included in the bankruptcy. If they find a buyer for the house and the sales amount will cover all mortgages, tax liens, back taxes, liens; the court can be partitioned to release the house from bankruptcy. Good luck! Sounds like a good deal.

Extend-A-Wand - Buyer Beware Has anyone ever tried to deal with Extend-A-Wand on a warranty issue? Last year I bought both the 18’ and 24’ extend-a-wand. I use them all the time to wash houses and also on some second story decks. The 18’ Extend-A-Wand has not locking in place properly since the day I bought it. It is the center extension that will not stay locked in place, it collapses when the pressure is on and the wand is lifted to wash a house. The dealer who sold the wand to me has replaced the locking pins and has contacted Extend-A-Wand several times to get this resolved. They have said they will send some replacements parts (inner tube) but it has been one year and the problem has not been resolved. Has anyone else encountered the same problems I am having? This is not how I run my business and is certainly not acceptable from a manufacturer of power washing equipment.

I don’t understand why anyone using Ready Seal would not put on 2 coats on a single trip. I have never had a problem doing this. Several years ago we were sealing a new (3 months old) pressure treated pine deck when a big black cloud came over the roof on the house. The deck was just completed 2 minutes before the skies opened up. The rain was very heave. That night the home owner called me explaining his deck looked like a leopard. I called a fellow PW who has been using RS for years and he advised me mix RS and paint thinner 50 / 50 and reapply to the deck. He also advised me the deck would not look any better for several hours. After applying as advised the deck didn’t look any better then when I arrived. That night the home owner called me to thank me for fixing his deck. I did stop back several days later just to make sure everything looked good .

Ken, I didn't get an email but I did get a fax. They are willing to pay $125 per store. The stores are very spread out, you could spend hours driving.

When I sell a deck job I tell the customer they should get 2 years. If the deck shows wear after 1 year I would offer to redo the floor at a prorated price of 50%. Since we use Ready Seal it is just a quick clean then reapply to just the floor.

I use Emulsifier Plus and chlorine for my house wash mix and have been very pleased with the results. The box of Emulsifier Plus can be mixed with 55 gal of water to create a concentrate. When apply using a X-Jet mix 1 gal of concentrate with 4 gal of water. If bleach is needed replace 1 gal of water with bleach. If you don’t want to mix a 55 gal drum you can make a 5 gal bucket of concentrate by adding 2 cups of Emulsifier Plus to 5 gal of water. Hope this helps.

DeGraffreed, I have found that a second power washer does not speed up the job much with 2 people. The first problem that I encounter is the customers water supply can’t keep up with my demands (5.5 gpm & 4.0 gpm). Usually the 4.0 gpm works fine but the tank for second PW does not keep pace with the demand. The second problem is with 2 washers running there is no one around to brush the gutters, pull the hose and move the chemicals. I know with only one PW the second person has some idle time but it sure makes the job easer and faster with a helper. For large homes with a good water supply I have found sending a 3 man crew works well. The helper can brush the gutters, siding as needed, and pull the hoses for both machines. With 2 units washing the job time can be cut in half.