Tracy Handl

Keep in mind that we have the pre-mix chart under the Powerhouse section on our website. That Excell spreadsheet will tell you how to vary your mix when using other speced machines, or using your Xjet or downsteam injector. Just reminding you of that as a resource.

As a house wash it is used about 25:1. Don't apply to painted surfaces at less than 15:1. As a brushless gutter cleaner you have to use it dirrectly from the concentrate. Add bleach if needed so that the bleach is used at about 1.5%. Mr. Tracy Handl Sun Brite Supply 877-578-7759

and Happy New Year! Hope everyone has a safe, and happy holiday season!:lgwave:

Got Business cards? Anyone gets within 3 ft of you, give them a business card. One job generated will pay for all those cards. You never now who will pass the card on to whom. At this stage advertise ALL the time. If your passionate about your business, you will be talking about it with folks in the strangest of places. Be ready with that card. A chance encounter with someone you may not think would be a prospect could lead to to very profitable work! Keep your name out there and you'll get found.

Deck restoration can be very profitable. That was all we used to do in the past prior to what we do now and made a good living at it. National average tends to be more at $2.00 to 2.25 per sq ft. for cleaning and sealing. There are many ways to price your work and I encourage you to investigate all and pick what works best for you. Some ways contractors price are by; time and material; sq ft of everything; sq ft of floor, linear ft of rails, how many steps with, or without rails; (is there a "suck" factor? add more for certain situations); etc.... There are many places to get training. Books are available, as are classroom settings. These can be very helpful for start-up businesses. It's easy to do the work; it can be a bit more involved when running the business side. Using the materials offered can leap you ahead of your compitition by being consistante in pricing, knowing how to give specials without diminishing value, bidding, and being efficent at getting the project done, all resulting in profit! Most wood guys I know get into the biz because they like the art of what they do. Just keep in mind that if you are going to make a living at it, it does have to be run like a business. Have fun, and keep asking, your on the right track!

True, many techniques in this industry can remain the same for many years. If it's not broke don't fix it. A line that makes sense. But as manufactures develop new products, and equipment gets new features, old methods can be made more efficent. I have personally had customers in the biz many years tell me I helped turn their business around with products or equipment I introducted to them. The "wheel" can't always be re-invented, but it can be improved upon. Utilize your dealers and manufactures to learn of these improvments, and keep an open mind. Old habits tend to be hard to break, but if a something would make you more money, wouldn't you want that?!

His ad states STARTING at $100. Get the idea?????????????? Some of you caught that. You really think this guy does all that for $100? DOUBT IT! This technique is used in a lot of adds.

Then a sodium hydroxide based product should work to remove it with ease. Apply, let dwell for about 15 to 2o minutes (keep it moist), then power wash off. Should be a lot easier then any other strippers.

Your job looks good but one picture gave a hint of pretty bad fuzzing. A rule of thumb; the longer and stronger you leave a strong cuastic cleaner on the wood, the more lignin (the natural glue in the wood holding the fibers together) is broken down creating the "fuzzies". You willl have to develop a "faith" in your brightening product (nuetralizer) as it will reverse the darkening you get when using a cuastic stripper. When using sodium hydroxide based strippers, you will know you got through the old stain when you see that chocolate-brown color in the wood. Don't strip wood trying to turn it back to that yellowish, "fresh" look. You will be over working if you try to. When your eye see's that the sealer has been pulled out of the wood, and you get that brown color IN the wood, then you have actually done what you started out to do. The britener procces will do it's thing and change that color, and lighten and brighten that wood. Sometimes pigments are left behind, and in most case will cover nicely when sealing. If too much is left in the wood more will have to be done. (sometimes a light bleaching in between stripping and britening can help) Sometimes a second strip will certianly be required. Not to worry. It can be preformed right away or even days later. Always follow up with a nuetralizer. For your first strip job, I'd say you did great!

Usually when doing a two tone only the horizontals get the stain. Everything that can be seen from standing in the front gets "painted"white. But it always comes down to customer preference, and sometimes, just what seems to look the best. With different configureations of rails, there may be times that the set-up will dictate a particular way to do it. There is no real right, or wrong answer.

Depending on your beliefs and business practices this can be viewed in a few ways. When we did service work, once we did a bid, if we made mistakes, we ate it. It was our fault and like stated before, the sting made us better. However, there will be times that something can't be foreseen and in the middle of a job it take a seriously bad turn. When that happens it seems best to speak with your customer and try to find a mutually acceptable resolve. Some customers are very understanding, some not. Wiegh the pros and cons of the individual situation and be creative. What may seem like the only way to do it on the serface, may lend itself to other ways that can be just as effective. Communicating with the customer is always the best way to not get burned. Just when you think they won't budge, they may surprise you.

True you can use a large battery as long as it's 12 volt, but why would you want the extra weight? We used a large marine battery early on, and the employees used to leave the machine behind. When asked why, we were told the unit was too heavy for lifting in and out of the van each day. That's why we offer the current deep cycle-gel filled, small sized battery. It make a big difference to the operator from a weight stand point. And those batteries hold up just as long as a larger one will. Lead acid type batteries can eventually develop a "memory" with the constant discharge-recharge of the battery. I had it happen to me. Only got a 1/2 hour out of a fulled charge one. Then I went to the battery companies and learned some info that lead us to the current battery. We have had great success since. Keep in mind, a lees costly battery will work for a while, but in the long run, you do get what you pay for.

A 20% injector is a 4:1 injector. Please see Pressure Washers and Power Washing Supplies From Sun Brite Supply. and check the injector section. Any that match your specs., and are 20% draw, is what you are looking for.

There is a thread called "a little confused". Check that on about X-Jets and downstream injection. I think you will have good dialog going on that could be helpful to you.

Ken, Please provide me your thought process as to how an injector uses less chem than an X-Jet. If I want 25:1 for my chem, isn't 25:1 the same no matter which way I put it on? Perception may seem like more but geez, I want my ratios to be the same no matter how I apply. I'm interested in your reply becuase I've seen the argument too often. I say 25:1 is 25:1 no matter what. The road to get there just may be a little different. And yes, we sell the X-Jet but this has nothing to do with that. I'm more interested in why everyone says the X-jet uses more chem. Enlighten me, please. Thanks.

Let me know if I can be of any other help at anytime!

Ready Seal has a "Redwood Only" formula to keep the tannins from rising to the surface after application which would destroy your prep-work and result in a muddy or black finish. It really is as easily worked as original formula Ready Seal. Nice pics Rick! If you have any of the "RO" formula left after the job, it can be mixed into regular formula, or used on other woods with no worries. Med Red is typicaly the color used on Redwood wood. Hope this helps!

There are a few main differences between the X-Jet and a downstream injector. Both can be concidered "downstream", as they are both after the pump. They both can meter your soap. An X-jet typically has more ratio range than a downstream does. Downstream injectors usually range between 4:1 and 10:1. X-jets can be from 0.8:1 to 766:1, depending on your flow rate. Most don't ever use all the ratios, but having options is nice. Carrying a wand/hose and a five gal bucket never seemed too tough to me, but if you prefer not to, you can extend the soap hose. Some tie-wrap it to their high-pressure hose and go back to thier trailers. You may need something like a sureflow pump added in the line to give power-assist so your soap stays up to the nozzle when hose length is long. The X-jet works on high pressure draw, where-as a DI works on low pressure draw. Sizing the internal orifice to your machine specs is crucial to get the proper draw on the X-jet. Your dealer can help with the proper sizing. The X-jet also is a long distance nozzle. (typical distance is 30 to 40 ft) It can be used to apply cleaners as well as be used to rinse. A downstream injector requires a nozzle for long distance application of cleaners. When NOT using the Close-Range Nozzle, while working with the X-Jet, pressure comes out at the same rate as the machine you are using it with. Both the original X-Jet and the new M5 X-Jet have a Close-Range Nozzle to lower the pressure while working in close areas where strong pressure may result in damages. I hope this has helped clear up your confussion. If you still have questions please contact me and I'd be happy to assist further.

You'll find what you are looking for at Pressure Washers and Power Washing Supplies From Sun Brite Supply.

Many of the ways listed here are excellent adaptions to specific needs for certain situations. I just wanted to point-out that there is a pail designed for use with the X-jet. It is 5 gals. Has a lid for no spilliage, and once you remove the strainer, the hose attaches to a hose barb - so no more hose coming out of bucket when drawing chems. Sure, you still have to carry a bucket, but 5 gals isn't that hard to deal with. You can fill the bucket with concentrate, use the proportioners, and if chems are left at end of job, put the bucket right in your vehical with no spillage worries. And yes, we do sell it. See it on our web-site, or contact me for more info. Have a Sun brite day!

The use of a X-Jet would keep your chems from going through your guns and equipment. It's all stainless steel so acids and alkalins don't destroy it. It also has great reach so you can reach the top of a semi with ease. Certainly should last longer than the guns you sound like you're going through often.

Hi Chris, As you used to use Extreme, you are familar with how well it worked over water and as a "splinter proofer". Floods' Spa and Deck is an exceptable substitue for maintaining any deck where Extreme was used. Flood has done their homework on Spa and Deck and it holds up way better than the Extreme ever did. It is a two part application, and that is where it makes the difference. The base coat actually goes on damp wood (it is recommmended and prefered). The wood should be left in an alkaline state. The top coat goes on dry and can be maintenanced easly just like we used to maintain Extreme. Floods' Supreme Preformance is not recommended for use where spinters are occuring as it penetrates way more than what Spa and Deck does and isn't as effective at coating the wood fibers. It is a VERY durable finish, but the "coating" is too thin to be though of as a "splinter proof" finish. Spa and Deck is much better for that. Hope all is well. Take care.

There are additives to make chems foam more. There are guns designed to make products foam. Then there are products like our Powerhouse that just seems to foam more naturally. Whatever works best for your job should be great. Your right when you say less chem is used, but one of the biggest advantages I see using a chem that foams is you can see right where you have or have not washed. Plus the added cling is helpful. See what we can offer you at the web site listed below.

Keep in mind that when you add nozzles, you split the flow. Pressure can be achieved with any amount of tips. A two bar used with 4 gpm gives you 2 gpm per nozzle,; a three nozzle unit would split the flow to 1.3333 gpm per nozzle; and so forth. To keep your pressure you just change orifice size, so 19", 30', 85" won't effect the nozzles preformance, just how fast you can walk based on the spinning of the two nozzles. That's why more gpm's will increase your speed. So size really does matter when compared to flow much more than with pressure. Three nozzles could let you move faster because the nozzles have less distance to travel in the revolution before the next nozzle starts it's clean path. You just have to be happy with the flow output of each nozzle, as that plays into the equation as well.

We have 12% for $1.50 / gal. We can ship to commercial or residential if needed. Container price is additional. We're located in Lawrenceville, Ga. if you want to pick-up.