John Orr

'76 Buick Skyhawk. Rusted through the frame in 3 years, the outer door skins flapped in the breeze. Didn't even get 100,000 miles...but I loved it. My favorite is a '67 Chevelle...that I could have Foosed!

As a VERY satisfied Service Magic contractor (4 years) I must say that if I had to pay for ALL leads, I too would think poorly of SM. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The above statement represents the personal opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of TGS, it's owners or affiliates, family or pets.

Jeff, I'm sure there are those that will disagree, but Olympic Maximum Honey Gold is great stuff. It is very light in color, but, in my experience, lasts. It is the stain I use for customers that don't think they want a stain. Though it is not a "professional" stain, it works. Very easy to apply (Spray, brush, roll) no drip marks, no lap marks. Available at Lowes.

Mi T, With 20hp, why not upgrade the pump? I have used an 18" Whirl-a-way and a 20 Landa Water Jet with a 4000/4gpm cold and hot machines with good results. I have also used a 20" General "floater" with OK results. My 24" Steel Eagle was too big for the 4000/4 machine, but works great with my 3000/8pm. Heat always helps. My personal opinion is that floaters are a pain - literally. I have had "issues" with my shoulder and trying to manhandle the floater was too tiring. I like wheels, and the bigger the better. The smaller wheels tend to get filled with debris and stick too often. Just my 2 cents

Yes, normally. If there are a lot of them, up high, I will charge an extra 10%. I have tried many gutter cleaners, and, for my money, Simple Green - undiluted - applied with a soft brush on an extension pole, works best and costs the least. One gallon will last for quite a few houses and costs about $8.

Matt, I have to be honest, its really hard to tell the difference between your before and after pics. On this pressure treated deck, in its current condition, it should look like new after cleaning. Use a 40100 tip and the right chemical (I prefer Roof Magic from RPC) followed by neutralizing. This cleaning should also remove most of the wax (and any other) stains. Please do not seal this deck until it has been properly prep'd. I'm not trying to be rude, but since this is your first deck, now is the time to learn. I'm sure there are plenty of us on this bbs (myself included) that would be willing to have you go for a "ride-a-long" to get some hands-on experience.

OK, here is my 2 cents... I think you may have used too little psi! 500 psi, from a distance (there is a formula to calculate psi drop over distance sprayed, but I don't know it) is, for me too little. The gray I see in the pics indicate the old graying is still there. Just a little more psi should do it. (I generally use a 10 tip.) It would also appear that the SH was too weak, I have no experience with percarb, so I can't even guess what happened to that section. If I am not stripping a fence/deck,I will downstream SH (I use RPC Roof Magic)and I apply the oxalic with a backpack sprayer.

My season starts at the end of Feb/beginning of March. For the last 3 weeks, we have been washing 2 to 3 houses per day. The calls keep coming, and usually don't slow down till the end of July/August, then pick back up from September till Christmas. I now have a small ad in the Yellow Book and a very small ad in the local Community Phone Book. Each book has a coupon for a free driveway cleaning with housewash. Both books generate lots of calls, and since I give my web address in the ad, most callers have already seen it and know why they should call me! lol Most of my business (now in my 7th year) is repeats and referrals. I offer discounts to repeat customers and promise not to embarrass them with any referrals they may send. To generate business in Jan/Feb, I mail Christmas cards to as many customers as I can (usually 3 - 500) timing them to reach them as close to Christmas as possible.

That will work...or a larger diameter tip, or possibly the gun/wand has an accumulation of "gunk" that is creating a little backpressure. In general, 200' is about the practical limit for downstreaming.

Jeff, I recently added a 5.5/3000 gear drive pump to my trusty old (now a spare) direct drive machine. I get the flow and about 2600 psi. There is a big (positive) difference using the 20" surface cleaner. Just a thought. P.S. I paid $300 or $350 (eBay) for the pump (Comet) with the gear drive and had to use a shoehorn to get it on. P.P.S I just checked and they are offering the same pump for a "Buy-itnow" of $299. Item number: 7600128742

15 gal drums are nice. Not too heavy to lift - as long as you've had your Wheaties.

IMHO, DR-60 is a fine cleaner, but the price is ridiculous, the shipping is worse and to get good results, you have to use too much. Dr-60 is not a very good degreaser, but it does brighten the concrete. So...I use a good, inexpensive degreaser for drives-thrus and follow with a dose of oxalic acid to brighten.

My guess is that there will be spigots scattered around the course that are tied into their sprinkler system. Every green is watered, so if there are no spigots, at least there is water and they could add a few spigots.

These wires/boxes are rained on all the time without shorting out. They are made for outdoor use, though I never spray them more than needed.

I had that happen to me (well, to my rig) once and it turned out to be the low-pressure side of the pump.

Direct drive pumps don't draw well from tanks due to the speed at which they turn (3400 rpm) as opposed to belt drives at 1750 rpm. If you are getting your supply directly from a spigot, you should have no problems...as long as you are getting at least 4 gpm - which happens sometimes, usually from wells.

$28 is per LINEAR foot, not SQUARE foot. I've never measured the linear feet around a customer's house, so I can't compare. Also, linear feet does not take into consideration a second story. Steve, no, my price does not include the roof. This year (fell off a roof last year and have had numerous operations since!) I have started subbing-out (most) roofs. For an average house, they run about $400.

Frankly, I don't want to wash a house where the homeowner is considering using someone that advertises prices like this. There are too many people willing to pay a reasonable amount.

Get some larger tips, you'll see that they will give you plenty of oomph (at least as much as you can get with 3 gpm). After washing off the loose stuff, use a pump-up sprayer to apply a 3% solution (sometimes you can use less - you'll just have to experiment) of bleach to all discolored brick/joints. Work you way around the house, and by the time you get back to where you started, all the discoloration should be gone. Re-apply if needed. No need to rinse if you are applying to brick. This is the secret to cleaning brick without beating it - or you - up.

$35/hr is certainly a good rate...as long as he works at a decent pace. At $35/hr, most pressure washers would go broke; figuring expenses, not just the price of Budweiser. On the other hand, you may have been the 23rd student from the pressure washing class you took, asking him the same questions, and he was having some fun with you. For me, how much I charge does not depend on what others charge. When I started 6 years ago, I thought $40 to 50/hr was great. As I have become faster/better/more efficient, $100/hr is more like it. A typical 2300 sq ft vinyl-sided house - excluding drive and deck - takes me about an hour to an hour and a half to clean - including brushing the outsides of the gutters and I charge $200 to $225 - or about .10 sq ft. Wash your and some friends/neighbors houses, take before and after pics, put them in a binder, and show them to prospects. Most people will want a set price for your services, so by being honest with your pricing, you may take some of the established company's business.

It all depends on a) you're abilities, b) your time and c) you're money. The last pump I had rebuilt cost about $130, half of which was labor.

If you have a hot water machine, you may want to consider adding a "lid" so that water does not get in. My first trailer has a vertical burner and it rusted-out at the base and almost fell through. I now have a pie plate (painted black) that flips up when the burner starts. I will be creating one for my new two-man rig soon. I also had a vinyl cover made for when the burner has cooled.

Yikes!! Do you know what type of brick that is? Its called "sand-faced" brick. It is actually red brick with a coating of white. (If you look closely, you will see that you did remove some of the coating.) I have seen entire houses that were "cleaned" and had the coating removed from the foundation all the way around the house. There is no way to fix it once the damage is done. (The customer wound-up removing the coating from the entire house to "fix" it.) With this type of brick, use much less pressure and for areas with embedded mold, spray a solution of bleach or chlorine to clean. In order to change the pressure, use larger tips, do not adjust the unloader. If you normally use a 25040 tip, try a 25120 tip to reduce the pressure to about 500 psi without reducing the flow. Hot water really helps too. Also, you really need to use a sodium hydroxide-based cleaner for the fence, followed by a light application of (I prefer) oxalic acid to neutralize the cleaner and brighten the wood. I like to use a 25100 tip for fences and decks.

Without getting into specifics on how much money I make, working with my new two-man rig allows me, with one employee, to work twice as fast. Most of my work is residential, so while I am washing the house, he is washing the driveway and maybe starting on the deck. An average 2300 sq ft house takes about 1 1/2 hours to clean and an average driveway take about 45 minutes. When not washing, my employee is pulling hose, spraying for rust, putting away equipment. If we are only washing the house, I wash, he rinses. When working alone, I would wash one, maybe two houses per day. With two men and a two-man machine, we can easily was two, maybe three houses per day. My trailer is self-contained. 300 gal tank (which I usually keep about 100 gallons as a buffer against low-flow spigots) two hp reels with 200' each and, of course, heat.

Yep, I'm the one. I still use it, though it doesn't get too much use. The convenience, for me, is worth it. Having a quick jump available for either the van or the rig is nice.