Jump to content

detailbarn

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    65

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by detailbarn

  1. Posted · Report reply

    For anyone looking to get in to mold remedation. Please look into it very through. There is alot of particualrs that need to be meet to do this properly and legally. My father owns a Mold Remediation company and I've worked with him enough to know there is alot to know beofer jumping into this business. The insurance alone would shock most of us. As for using bleach on mold here is a link to some information about that. This is my fathers site so I hope it's ok to post.

    http://www.absolutemoldtechnologies.com/howto.html

  2. Posted · Report reply

    I've only had one call this week so I feel your pain. The best advise I can or anyone can give is stick with it. Advertising and marketing are a continual process, you must stick with it even when you think its not working cause it is working just slowing. I too have gotten very scared but I have been reading a book called Guerilla Marketing and it pretty much helped me get over my initial fear and keep working on my marketing plan. I highly reccomend you get a copy and read it a few times, it really explains things well.

  3. Posted · Report reply

    The great thing about being self-employed with children is that if things get really slow you can buy a bag of charcoal and go into the diamond business. :o

    OK, old and bad joke, but you guys can relate.

    Whenever I think that it would be safest for my family for me to jump back into the corporate world with some 'security' I have to remember that the reason I left that was because there was no security AT ALL.Your job is always just a pen stroke away from being gone. Mergers, acquisitions, and "Exciting New Pay Plans" are always looming over the horizon.

    I spent 50-60 hours a week in an office doing a job that I hated and when I did come home I doubt that my family was very happy about it because I was so stressed out and irritable.

    I just have to remind myself to put faith and family first and work hard and things will be great.

    Amen to that , I couldn't agree more!

  4. Posted · Report reply

    I have a set of Summit hose reels with a stacker kit and I love them. Different colors is an option so I got them in white , get dirty but I like it. The power coating is lasting very well only one little chip. As for the pressure rating these reels are rated for 3000psi but that only do to the swivel , so I swaped out a 5000psi super swivel and all is well. I also helped Summit design a more user friendly lock and it works much better with it. I will post pictures of the reels tommorow.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    PWkid thanks for the heads up. I got excited for a minute the cheapest I can get a famly plan in NJ is around $1000 a month so $175 was like a gift from God. It kills me that these scams even exisit. Whith the cost of health care what it is I don't need to get my hopes up like this , the people who do this should be fined or arrested.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks everyone for the responses , glad to see I'm not the only one washing in the rain. I had a customer come out in the rain yesterday and ask me to stop because of the rain. When I told her I was almost done she said there was no way I could have done a good job in the rain. Well needless to say after I finished and walk the house with her she was amazed that I had removed all the mold in the rain!

    I do need to find some new rain gear mine still let me get soaked in the hard er rain. Any suggestions on some good rain gear that is light weight?

    Thanks Again.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    thanks for all the reply guys.

    As for current contracts I have all the sub work from my fathers cleaning business which is about 200 houses a year. From there I just picked up about 100 new customers from my first flyer run. And on the commercial side I working on getting 2 banks , 3 resturants , 4 store fronts and two condo complexes. So I have quite a bit to start out with but I would like to fire up a second rig before the end of the year. Oh and I also decieded to continue with deck restoration as well so I have six decks lined up in there some where.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    So I've been lurking here for some time so I figured it's about time I introduce myself and get invloved on the board.

    My name is Doug Lucas II and I am owner of The Detail Barn located in Waterford Works , NJ.

    Here's alittle history about me and how I came to be a part of the powerwashing industry.

    I started working for my parents cleaning compant at the age of 15 , which I didn't like too much so at 17 I started detailing cars which I loved but was in a bad car accident at 18 so I had to call that quits. Back to the cleaing company I went , at that time my father started picking up some powerwashing jobs besides the regular house cleaning. So he bought a small 4000psi unit , (read huge unit) and loaded it in the back of my Ford Ranger and I started powerwashing as well as the regular janitorial work. I hated powerwashing at that time having to load and unload that huge machine and all the hoses it was crap. So I quit for a while and went back to detailing but couldn't get alot of my old work back so I had to stay working nights for my father. In 2000 I got married and stated working more in the detailing again but kept working nights for my father. That summer he mentioned having alot of powerwashing again and that he needed me to do the work. Well my first thought was no! but I needed the money for the house I was building for my wife and I , so I agreed but said I would need to set-up the powerwashing unit this time so it would be efficent and wouldn't hurt my back inquiry. So I bought a small 40"x48" trailer from Northern mounted the new 3500 psi BE washer my dad bought and two steel eagle hose reels. It all (just) fit. I ran that for a year and decieded it was much better but kept running into low GPM problems with the houses I was washing so i decieded I needed a small water tank , so I upgraded the trailer to a Pepboys open 4'x6' with the BE washer and a 35 gallon tank and two new Rapid Reel hose reels. This was much better and I got the work done faster.

    Then I decieded to go to school to pursue a career as a Insurance adjuster but was let down by the job market quickly after being promised job after job but never recieving one. I was still washing at the time but only part time , then I got my year end earnings and boy was I suprised I had made part time washing what I was hoping to make full time in a few years as an adjuster. So right then I decieded to make this a full time gig , get my own rigs together and make a go at it.

    So here I am 2006 my first year as a full time pressure washer and owner of The Detail Barn. I have now bought all my fathers old pressure washers from him and set up my first full fledged "professional" rig. A 5'x10' enclosed carmate trailer with a brand new Pressure-Pro 4000 PSI , 5.5 GPM washer with a 200 gallon tank and two summit hose reels. Well there's my story hope it wasn't too long , but thanks for reading and I look forward to learing more from this board and becoming a valued member. I will post pictures of the evolution of my rigs later this week.

×