kenfitz

No, James. I'm not in the band.Billy Moore, the Lead Singer, is a Fence & Deck Builder. Once I hooked up with him, I basicly stain all of his work. We are alot alike, as I sing and DJ and we've done several Charity Events together. The Band will play and I'll fill the breaks with dance music and sometimes Karaoke. If you vote, I'll provide a link to my appearance on American Idol Season 3. Well, here it is now, but just promise me you'll vote. :) www.myspace.com/kenfitz By the way that was like 5 years ago, I was still selling cars then... that was before I went full time PW. Thanks Diamond Jim.

Thanks for your votes, if you vote make sure you send a quick reply so I know who to thank. Music makes the day go by so much faster. The Grimescene Rocks. -ken

Hi Friends and Fellow PW Contractors... Ken Fitzgerald here, PowerWashers by Day and Rockstars by night... Life is Good :) My dear friend and business partner's band, "The Crocodiles," has made it to the Final 2 bands (out of hundreds) in Greg Kihn's KFOX 98.5 "Last Band Standing 2008" battle of the bands competition. Please help me help him win. TODAY is the Final Vote for THE CROCODILES...... Nov 19th from 10AM until 8pm PST.....Voting is for 10 hours only!!!! VOTE for The Crocodiles: 985 KFOX - the classic rock experience (Register there if you haven't yet) Finally, we need all the help we can get, if you would please forward this in an email to your entire contact list to get as many votes as possible. The Crocodiles were On-Air this morning with our 2-song set. The 3 judges called us a "well oiled machine" and then scored us with two 9.5's and one 9.0 (out of ten) the other band got three 8.0's. Your vote accounts for 70% of the decision. We need your vote in order to win. Last Year's winner won by just 12 votes. Special thanks goes out to everyone who voted for us. None of this would be possible without our family, friends and fan base. Thank you so much, in advance for your vote. Love and Thanks to All, Ken Fitzgerald, Billy Moore, and "The Crocodiles" http.//www.thecrocodiles.com

Hello all, I'm trying to get more organized with my chems this year. I'm looking for a shelf system that holds containers of mixed chems. Right now I've been using the empty 5ers from stain as my chemical buckets. These stay on the trailer and feed into my downstreamer. What I need is a shelf system that can stack 6 different square 5gal containers in a 2x3 fashion. Has anybody seen something like this or can recommend a shelf system? I'm not locked in to 5ers Square 10 gal containers with metal shelf might work as well. Thanks

Hello All, Im coming to the Convention this year trying to get together a group to share the cost of housing. Here is what I found. We will rent a house for that week. I will be getting there on 26th Monday and leaving on Friday night. This sleeps up to 14 people. the Cost is around 750 for the 5 nights (incl cleaning fee) so that means if we have 10 people the cost is like $16 a night each!!! And we have a place to cook our own food in the moring. It is less than 3 miles away from the Hilton. I think this would be fun and save all of us a ton of cash. Check it out. I might even bring the Karaoke. :) http://moviehouse.photosite.com/Album1/?slideshow=true&photo=1 4 Bedrooms 2.5 Bathrooms Loft Den Sleeps 14 TV/DVD/VCR in Every Room Home Theater Room w/ 65" Plasma THX Sound HD Programming 100's of Movie Titles. 8 Foot Pool Table w/ Seperate Plasma HDTV. 800 Thread Count Sheets Linens Towels Etc. Laundry Room Hi speed Wireless Internet/Fax Machine Parking Private Community Park Fully Stocked Kitchen w/ Dishwasher Outdoor BBQ Anyone interested in coming please post and call me 408.712.7950 Ken Fitzgerald

I have heard of somepeople using a seed hopper to broadcast the flakes, does anyone know if that would work? Also, most of these kits like Rustolium and H&C just come with a cleaner/ degreaser or mild acid like citric. It seems that the coatings for more industrial applications require the use an hydrocloric or Muriadic acid to etch before the coating goes down or even shot blasting. (What is shot blasting?) Does a residential garage need this type of treatment? Ken

Hello all, Does anyone coat the garage floors with Epoxy? I hear the Home Depot is charging 2700 for a two car garage, and would like to know if this would be a valuable business addition. Here are some of the questions I have. What product would you recommend? Rustoleum What are the potential drawbacks? What is the average sqft price/ cost? Can this stuff be removed? Are most customers happy afterward? Any horror stories? Thanks all, KenFitz 408.712.7950

I started window cleaning when I was 15 in the neighborhood (12 years ago) it was great for me and I always had money in my pocket. I would consider getting a tucker water-fed pole and going to a Deionized water set up. That will allow you to clean the windows on the exterior from the ground. up to 50 ft up. Get both the 45ft tucker and the tucker junior as it is much better for first story and is much lighter. Don't use garden hoses to feed the pole but get 250 ft of air hose on a reel with quick connects and water shut off. I don't use a soap dispenser anymore because the DI water has cleaned so well for me. I power wash the screens that is much faster then brushing them and gets all the dirt off of them. You'll have to use squeegees on the inside but as you probably know be careful of drips. (Use a drop towel) Also I really like the micro fiber cloths to wipe your squeegee blade. I have enjoyed learning the super swirl. Also a bucket on a belt helps a lot. But if I were you I would focus on deck and fence staining. Before I added that into my business the most I ever would make in a day is around 400-500 with staining I have had many days that were twice that in my first year. I would highly recommend giving that a shot. Ken

Thanks Mark, I haven't done so much house washing because it has scared me. I had a bad experience with failing deep blue paint on wood siding that was highly oxidized. Looking back I don't think I would take this kind of job again. This was my second house wash and I feel I made every mistake possible. My client was not very happy with me. I did the best I could to make everything right. I think that my initial impression was that most people on this board make is sound pretty easy but house washing is difficult to get right. I'm not unhappy with the all purpose powder by any means. The reason for my post is to figure out down streaming and to improve my techniques :) I have been very happy with your service Mark and you are the closest supplier to me. It seems that there are a few cleaners that are very popular here and I see a few recipes to add to them (i.e. bleach, tsp). I have a lot of XL300 left so I would like to experiment with that and come up with my own recipe. What would be a good average house wash ratio going through my Down streamer? And if I Mjet it with no partitioner? Do you think bleach would help my cleaning process? By the way I do have a dema injector that I use with a Tucker Pole for awning cleaning but I didn't know I could use it with my PW equipment, How would I hook that into my machine? I may need to get a few more quick connect tips from you for the down streaming what would you recommend for my 4gpm/3750 psi machine? Thanks for your help Mark, Ken

But in regards to downstreaming it. If the downstreamer says 12:1 do I have to mix the chems 12 times stronger or does the directions already take that into consideration. I have had success with it through my x jet with no partitioner at 3 cups in a 5er, but was wondering if a more specialized cleaner for housewashing would be more suited. I have only tried the XL300 so I don't know what to expect from it and how it relates to other cleaners. I just have the feeling that I am mixing it way too strong. The numbers on my Downstreamer from MTM is: 2.1 3-5 Gpm I have an EPPS unit 4GPM at 3750 PSI I would really like to get this Downstreaming thing down. Also can I mix bleach with XL300? Ken

I am really new to house washing. I am much better at a Deck Restore. :) Has anyone ever used the XL 300 all purpose cleaner from easy clean systems? I have been using it as my house wash chem and I am thinking of switching. Has anyone used this? I can't say I have been unhappy with it but I don't think it is working as well as it should. I really don't know how much of the powder to use. The directions say to mix .5 cup per gallon. 2.5 cups in of it in a 5er and filled the rest with water. My downstreamer is 12:1 water to chem?? so I should mix the powder 12times stronger? I just put 10 cups of powder in it and this seems way to strong. I couldn't get it to draw thing is that it seporates and leaves a powder at the bottom of my bucket. I think my downstreamer has clogged from the powder. Anybody know how much I should use in my house wash. I can't think to put 30 cups of this stuff in a 5er solution. I am thinking of starting over with Citraclean or simple cherry and also starting to use bleach. I can't wait to start downstreaming but am still playing around with the ratios and have had trouble getting it to work right for me. What would you recommend? Thanks, Ken

San Jose, Califorina

Mr Fenner aka KF1, I was thinking of leaving my PWer in a Van, but everybody says that a van setup is hard to work with because of the heat issue. I was thinking that I could lift the PWer out of the van everytime I need it.Hence the fact I would like it to be lite. What I am trying to do is find the best system for wood restoration in a van. As well as keep the cost very low. So when I add a crew it doesn't have to cost so much. Ken Fitzgerald aka KF2

The whole idea for me is to have it in a van. Everybody that I talk to says a van is a bad idea espescially that I am carrying around oil stain. But I am trying to get away from a trailer unit because of the liability of backing it up. A van could be closed, locked, a rolling advertisment and great for storage. I think it would be a definiate must have for when I have workers. If a small unit was just set outside of the van that would solve my problems. Has anyone successfully used a van setup? I just worry about catching on fire. ken... KF2

I tired the new Woodrich out last week and I have to say I really like it. I was just wondering if it has less chance of catching fire then products with linseed oil? Ken