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douseahouse

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Posts posted by douseahouse

  1. Posted · Report reply

    since i do not do alot of wood work i am going to ask how you would price this job. it's a wooden deck with 400 sq foot. bench seats built in and a touch of lattace. there is a hint of a previous stain and no hint of a sealant. pretty easy to get to also. homeowner wants me to pressure wash and maybe do the staining. the homeowner will pick out and purchase the sealant theirself. do you guys have a general rule of thumb on pricing that i can go by?

    thanks,

    rando

  3. Posted · Report reply

    this was copied from the roof reviver website:

    Application Instructions: Apply to shingles evenly. Light repeated coats work better than 1 heavy coat. As a precaution, rinse any over-spray off of plants, gutters, siding etc. Do not rinse the product off of the roof! Use annually for best results.

    the reason they say to rinse it off of the gutters is because it is a sodium hydroxide based cleaner that can and will remove paint from painted surfaces. i know, i have done it before and ended up repainting the gutters. i would say that you are lucky that you caught and removed it immediately. i wasn't so lucky.

    rando

  4. Posted · Report reply

    This is really not about an opinion, it would either remove it 100% or not, if it didn't it wouldn't be considered to work. And yes, I've done tests with it for about a month now, and on spots that I know were there for a few years, (previous customers). Works every time for me and I hope others can make it work for them, some will do it and others won't.

    Jeff

    if you need another tester jeff then i will donate my services. hope you like chicken.

    rando

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Just be proactive. Dont just advertise in a few spots and sit home and wait for the phone to ring. Get out there and knock on doors if you have to. Offer a free house wash in a neighborhood that looks promising in terms of demographic criteria you are after. Have signs up while ur washing. Hang door hangers at all the neighbors when you are done. Offer a referral fee to any existing customers you do have to get you more biz.

    this is a good one that has worked for me. it works great if you do it on a saturday when the neighbors are home and can see you. when they ride or walk by be sure to smile, speak and wave to them. show them that you are both professional and courteous. dress professional and have business cards ready to be distributed. in return for your free or discounted house wash work out a deal with the homeowner to place your classy sign in the front yard for a week or two. it's funny how the neighbors try to keep up with each other so this can be a very successful venture.

    good luck,

    rando

  11. Posted · Report reply

    Believe it or not the agent recommends (as in this case) and tells the homeowner to wash the house before they put the home on market, the customers are very uneducated at this point and will often ask the agent if they can refer someone to wash the home.

    Most agents do this countless times and are very aware of what a fair price is.

    It don't matter if you are on the selling end or receiving end, when someone is overpriced, if you are on the selling end you know you are high and if you are on the receiving end, you might not catch it when you pay but they will find out quickly when you tell the first person about their so called good deal.

    This will tell you if you get a referral out of it.

    hope i'm not getting too far off the subject but does anyone ever wash a house for a real estate company and then wait for the closing before you get your money? i can see good and bad on this one as you may be able to land more jobs this way and also get top dollar for your work since the homeowner is working with his equity and not his pocket money. but of course on the bad side what is the home never closes? will you get paid for your work? i suppose that in your contract you could work out the fine print on this but i was just curious if anyone has tried this and how it turned out.

    thanks gang,

    rando

  12. Posted · Report reply

    i like your style. you appear to be very concerned about your customers. i am thinking that the guy who bid 1k probably did not want to do the job anyway. the only time i bid extremely high is when i really am not too concerned whether i get the job or not. funny thing is that a few times i have been awarded the job that i knew i was too high on or at least i thought i was. the current gas prices have me thinking about raising my prices a little to compensate for the added expense to going to the jobs and running my equipment. i know the lawn care people have already raised their prices.

    good luck,

    rando

  13. Posted · Report reply

    i am attaching a couple of pics of awnings that i want to clean this weekend. this is one of my commercial accounts (ok, it's my only commercial account) that i do their sidewalks and trash area. they pay me well...gift certificates for the best seafood around. the owner has not mentioned the awnings to me so i want to surprise him with some clean ones. i'm ready for a peck of steamed oysters so if you guys have any advice on cleaning this then i owe you one. i don't really time to order any products so it will have to be sometime i can get over the counter or check my stock.

    thanks in advance,

    rando

  16. Posted · Report reply

    i have a local competitor using this stuff and was wondering if anyone had any hands on experience with this product. we both bid on a house and his price was twice as much as mine. he gave the homeowner a nice presentation about his product and told them that a house cleaned with chloromax would stay cleaner twice as long. naturally the homeowner told him that at his price she could get it cleaned twice as much and still be ahead. so if you have any real experience with this stuff then let me know your thoughts. i'm not thinking of changing from 12.5% but i would like to know what i am competing against. please don't send me any links as i have already searched this product. i'm just looking for someone that has actually used it.

    rando

  18. Posted · Report reply

    i'm a little curious as to what percentage of bleach is actually hitting the house. what is your ratio of bleach to water? my percentage of shc (bleach) is below 1% making it safe on outdoor carpet, awnings, and my clothes. this percentage combined with a few other goodies has always performed well for me. i also heat my water up a little help the process. the times i get my clothes bleached is when i may be mixing and get a splash. i prefer the white dickies from walmart.

    good luck,

    rando

  22. Posted · Report reply

    i was cleaning up the van and found some 2lb. bags of percarb that i had purchased from rowlett in the past. i cannot remember what would be a standard mix ratio (downstreaming or pumpup) on cleaning a deck but do remember that this stuff has a short life span. need your input on this one gang. rod? beth? ken? kevin? where are my woodies? also, educate me on this stuff if you feel like it.

    thanks,

    rando

  23. Posted · Report reply

    as squirt mentined bob and russ are your two best and most trusted vendors that i know of. i realize that you're not bashing bob but just concerned about your shipping costs. if the shipping costs are a bit high i'm sure that there is a logical explanation. the more you deal with bob and russ you'll find out just how valuable they are to your business.

    good luck,

    rando

  25. Posted · Report reply

    i bought the 24ft telescopic from lowes (i think) and put a brush on the end. i use an oil change bucket to hold my green stuff or whatever i'm using at the time and then dip my brush in and apply to the gutters. i rinse with the 0030 or xjet and watch them shine. here's a pic of one i did using the telescopic. yes, it was a pita but it paid well. i just added a pic of the pail i use for the gutter cleaner. i like the spout so i can pour the unused gutter cleaner into a container.

    rando

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