douseahouse

tanks willem, im gona quit usin speel check to. now i can undarstand watt sum people are sayin. rando

doesn't anyone use spell check anymore? i need a translator to read some of these threads. rando

hey john, how have you been? i pulled one of your stunts and broke an ankle last month but i'm healing well thank you. i have been wanting to try the brixx wash from northern. i have been using oxalic but wanted to know more about the brixx. what is the normal dilution rate for the brixx or is there one? i've also added the monster wash to my last wash and was impressed with the results. northern does have some good chems if you don't mind paying the price. take care john, rando

similar thing once but it was the door locks. homeowner could not turn the key in the front and rear door on a house that i had washed earlier that day. the homeowners were a couple of nice elderly ladies so they called me that night. luckily i was close by and stopped by and gave each door a shot of wd-40. problem solved. i now tape the key holes with blue painter's tape. final answer, rando

i always ask my customers how they found me and the majority do say thru the internet. godaddy is my website hoster and my monthly fee is only 4.99. they can make you a site (for a fee) or you can use the templates and make your own. to me it's a win-win situation to have one. good luck, rando

wassup jim? i have no answer for your questions since i don't have either. i haven't seen you around in awhile and was getting a little worried. the last time we talked you were thinking about getting out of the business and joining the chippendales dancers. is that where you have been? glad to see you back, rando

i have a 16" be that i bought used on ebay. and, as a matter of fact i just looked and there is one for sale for 169 with free shipping right now. it paid for itself immediately. i recently sent it to russ johnson over at southside equipment and he rebuilt the swivel for me at a reasonable cost. i bought a new 20" be before xmas again on ebay and have been very happy with this one too. the 20" is now my main and the 16" is my backup. good luck, rando

i agree. kudos to him. i think he is probably the originator of the low pressure roof cleaning procedure and my hat is off. but let's back up to " All of the soft wash bleach jockys out there have tried to mirror the Mallard Systems performance." personally, i am a soft washer jockey myself and i find this comment to be a little snippy. i am not trying to mirror anyone's performance except my own. rando

i like proportioners. but, somehow i have lost my favorite ones. i know alot of you guys don't like 'em, have 'em, and don't use 'em. if you want to get rid of yours then i would like to have them. i will gladly refund your shipping expenses and if you want a nominal fee for them then we can discuss that too. if you can help then please send me a pm and we will work out the details. thanks in advance, rando

i think that it is lucky for you that the sale fell through. if you are only looking at doing residential then you have to consider the driveways, sidewalks, and concrete patios that will need to be cleaned. if you are wanting to do a professional job then you must buy a surface cleaner. the larger your gpm then the larger the surface cleaner you can use. try looking for a unit with at least 4gpm or more. you won't regret it. good luck, rando

i used a trailer earlier in my business and it was a 5x8. i was very limited as to what i could carry on it so if you are talking about a 4x6 then you are extremely limited. if you have a truck maybe you don't need more room but i've got a feeling you will be happier with a bigger one. good luck, rando

if you ask 10 guys what is the best and each has a different unit then you may get 10 answers. i personally have a couple of BE's and have been satisfied with them. i preferred the whisper wash because of the good reviews i have read but i picked up both of mine on ebay and luckily got a great deal on each. as far as parts are concerned you can contact russ johnson at southside equipment and he can assist you. i actually sent my lower unit to him once and he rebuilt the swivel for me. good luck, rando

you have actually already answered both of your questions. bob has so many different setups to offer and i am sure you will find one to fit your budget. if you have problems then he is always a phone call away. now wasn't that easy? rando

there is no question that a 4gpm/4kpsi will clean concrete. the question is what is the largest size surface cleaner can you run? what size are you using jc? i had a unit that size once and used a 12" steel eagle because i got a good deal on it when i was looking for a 16". it cleaned the concrete great but 12" at a time took longer than i wanted. thanks jc, rando

i'm not sure how new you are to this business but everyone here will tell you that a higher gpm machine is better than a higher psi unit. if you are planning on doing flatwork (driveways, etc) then you will need a surface cleaner. to use the bigger surface cleaners and cut down on your time you will need the higher gpm machines. i believe the rule of thumb there is 4 inches of surface cleaner per gpm. someone correct me if i am wrong. as far as the dewalt is concerned i have a 3k psi/3gpm machine that i use as a backup or if i have a house with a steep driveway that i cannot access then i will use it there. it has served me well. so i will give you the thumbs up on the dewalt from my experience. i recommend that you visit bob and pressuretek or russ at southside equipment for any equipment questions because these guys are good. good luck, rando

call russ johnson at southside equipment. he can tell you everything that you need to check and he may be able to tell you exactly what your problem is. the white smoke sounds like a mixture of fuel/heat problem and right now i have a similar problem. as far as the breaker is concerned i can tell you a little from my experience. on my unit the fan and igniter get the 12vdc at the same time. my fuel pump which runs off of the fan motor was dragging and putting a load on the motor. this tripped my breaker. the coupling between the motor and the fuel pump should turn freely so check that. i bought a new pump from russ and the problem was solved. as a matter of fact, i have bought a new fan motor, igniter coil, coupling, heater coil, thermostat, pressure pump for the washer, and power switch from russ so that lets you know that he has everything that you need to get this thing running right. good luck, rando

good info on the safety guys. i was going to mix up some house wash and needed a container. i had a little bit of ox in a 5'er so i poured it out and started to add my shc. apparently there was a little bit of ox in the bottom because the shc immediately came bubbling out of the top and the fumes were extremely strong. i hacked most of the day and definitely learned a lesson there that ox and shc do not like to share the same container. my bad, rando

i'm pretty much a simple cherry junkie but i wanted to give the citrakleen a try. where do we get it now and how does it compare to the sunbrite product? rando

thanks john, i also pay attention to the cost of my products as i have to pass it on to my customers as well. the sunbrite product is also a little pricy compared to simple cherry. i wonder if sunbrite has a sample pack? rando

your knees again john? i've had both of mine fixed (torn lateral meniscus) but luckily it was covered by workman's comp. hope you are doing ok. back to the deck tool...i used one on my deck 3 years ago. it came as a kit with a power sprayer. mine worked great. you fill up the reservoir with stain and twist the handle to let it out. the little brushes worked well in covering between the boards. in my case i used a solid water bourne stain from sherwinn williams. deck still looks great. no complaints from me on this one. rando

i used the sherwinn williams deck scapes on my own deck and have been very satisfied with the results. this was 3 years ago and it's still going strong. the only thing i would do different on a solid deck is to go with a darker color than what i did. i used "cypress moss" which is a light grey. a light color deck shows all the dirt, especially my dog's foot prints after he comes out of the creek. good luck, rando

please don't make the mistake i made and use your pressure washer to blow out the gutters with too much pressure. i got the dirt out of the bottom but it went behind the gutter and got trapped next to the facial board. it took some time to fix this mess. i find the best thing to use is a gloved hand and low pressure. i do not see how anyone can clean one from the ground without actually looking inside the gutter to see what is in there. i have found golf balls, tennis balls, dead squirrels and birds. to me it is not a fun job so i price accordingly. rando

i have a hot water machine by hydrotek and have talked to the service center in my area when i have a problem. i have also talked to russ johnson when i have a problem. no comparison when it comes to price and service. russ has saved me so much money and has walked me through so many repairs. this guy really knows his stuff. i had a similar problem with my machine. i have a 12vdc beckett burner. the breaker on my machine goes to the ignitor and motor which come on at the same time. the motor has a coupling on it that drives the fuel pump. my fuel pump was binding and putting a load on the motor which in turned tripped the circuit breaker. i'm not sure if this is related to your problem but i thought i would offer my experience. call russ tomrrow, rando

i was starting to clean a very nasty driveway when my #1 surface cleaner blew a gasket. i hooked up my spare and got a decent cleaning but left alot of stripes on the concrete. after rinsing off the dirt i m5'ed 12.5% straight with no proportioner which gave me around 4% cleaning power. the stripes disappeared in a short time and the driveway looked great. it cost me a little more to do it this way by having to use more chemicals but the final results were well worth it as the customer was impressed. rando

i did a search on this topic but i really did not find the answer i was looking for. i washed my neighbor's light blue vinyl siding house this weekend and after removing the dirt and mildew i discovered that there is quite a bit of oxidation on the sunny side of the house. if you run your hand across the vinyl then you will find a white chalky residue. i would love to know what anyone has used successfully to remove this problem. thanks in advance, rando