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The Cleaner

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Posts posted by The Cleaner

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Hey folks, I need to hear from you. It never hurts to get a little extra FREE publicity for your business, and here is your chance. I'm working on another article for Cleaner Times magazine, and I need your help. If you would be interested in being interviewed, well here's your shot! Post away!

    What is the biggest challenge to your business right now?

    The slow down of this economy, and companies cutting back on service.

    What can you do or did you do to overcome that challenge?

    Trying to work close with existing P/M companies, and asking for work. Got rid of some dead weight that was dragging their feet on paying.

    Was your effort successful and why or why not?

    To early to tell, and P/M are calling but seems as if everyone is cutting back, our S/C went from 4 times a year to 1 or 2 times a year.

    If the challenge is beyond your control what are you doing to try to manage your business in spite of it?

    I hate to keep repeating myself but as far as my business is concerned the economy has had a big effect on us. Honestly i dont think there is anyone who's not feeling it. What i have done was put myself out there again face to face doing Demo's. I have not had to do this in 15 yrs, but it's what always worked for me.

    Where is your business right now compared to where you thought it might be at the beginning of the year?

    I am off by 30% but that is my doing, i dropped a large account after 12 yrs of service because i just could not keep going backwards in price for them everytime there was a contract due.

    Where do you see your business in the next 12 months based upon your specific area?

    Here in FL it will be tough to recoupe but all you can do is move forward, my business has brought me to multiple states thru-out the east coast of the U.S. from Mass to FL and out to Miss, I tried to keep it local the last few years, but if things dont change i may have to move closer to the work up north or Retire and Play Poker!!

    Beth :cup:

    Hope that helps out, we have been doing this alot of years but never seen it this bad.

  4. Posted · Report reply

    same here, i have a half page ad in the yellow book. I wont do that again, it cost me $650.00 per month to be in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.I have got a bad response with very little calls.Most of my calls were from other small companies looking for pricing so they can under cut me !!I do well in the homeowners associations monthly newsletter for $50.00 a month GO Fiqure!!We do alot of commercial accounts on a regular basis, i tried it out to see what kind of response i would get, well it did not work for me..

  5. Posted · Report reply

    A little too strict I think. Submit testing samples of the reclaimed water? Seriously.

    10-4 to that!! They have some unreal expectations.I was looking thru all the paperwork and they said that they would give me a 48 hour notice before they came to my place of buisness and looked thru my books, I dont think soooo!!!

  6. Posted · Report reply

    We have had our share of cold weather lately.We do 80% of our clients at night.I think we had it down in the low 30's with a 15 to 20 mile an hour wind.

    Thats cold for florida, i know that you guy's up north have it bad and i dont miss it, the best thing about florida is that these cold spurts only last a few days, then back to sunny and warm..

  7. Posted · Report reply

    LOL Jeff. Thats funny. I dont feel bad, it just irritated me in the moment.

    I would never refer anyone, unless i have seen his work, or he has done work for me in the past.And depending on the refferal there would be some compensation for me.

    just my 2 cents..

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Heres one that got me alot of work !!

    Attn:Property managers:

    Clean your filthy complexs, are you a bunch of animals or what !! If i have to look at that $hit on your roof another season i will have to report you to the PWNA and they will come out here and make you wish you had hired me.

    Being the kind of company we are, I will let you off easy with a warning this time, and only charge you a small fine on top of the cleaning price.We suggest you contact all the managers in this area and fill them in on this problem.

    Thank you and dont worry about calling us, we will come see you..

    Regards

    Vinnie Goombats

  9. Posted · Report reply

    This is a good topic. I get approched every single night i am out, soon as i turn on the geneator and my lights kick on.All of a sudden they come out of the woods or out from under a rock.

    I got so sick of it that i went and got myself, and trained a great dog.This was the best success i have found, no one will come any where near us.Most of the time these people are harmless hobo's or just strung out drunk's.

    But i have run in to a few that will not take no for an answer, and this is where it can get real ugly.We do alot of work in some undesireable locations and although i am leagally armed to protect my workers and myself, sometimes you dont hear them approach or even see them because of the engines running and the blarring lights.

    So with DUKE on guard ther is no more problems.

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  10. Posted · Report reply

    All you need to do is work with us.!! We are the best in the business.!!

    I dont think there is one company out there that does anything the same way.Knowlege in this business comes in time, we have been at it for 15 years.We have done everything from a 4 story prison to a 1 car driveway,and still there is more to learn.

    I think that you would do well with any one of the vet's on this board, and in time you will fall into your own grove of doing things.As time goes on you will learn all the do's and dont's and most important ,keeping a high degree of integrity in any and all job's you put your name on..

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  14. Posted · Report reply

    I love my crimson trace laser sights !! on my small light hammerless S&W

    357 magnum !! Once you zero this laser in , it is dead on.I highly recommend them especially if you do alot of night work as we do.Just putting that dot on someones chest is all that is needed in most cases,almost like racking a shell into a 12 gauge pump !!! We work in some pretty $hitty areas around Tampa Florida.We were actually right in the middle of a take down at a Lakeland florida walgreens we were cleaning.Some escapees were at the 24 hour location in a stolen car when all hell broke loose.So yea $hit happens when you least expect it.So i always say ,better be prepared to defend yourself and your workers at all times.LAL (Lock and Load)!!!

  15. Posted · Report reply

    A great first defence is a well trained dog. Most people wont even come near me or my guys when Duke is on the job.Second is my 357 revolver with laser sight's..I have a consealed pistol permit here in florida,and thanks to Jeb Bush its getting easier to shoot the bad guys without alot of Bull$hit involved..

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  16. Posted · Report reply

    The only thing i can remember that was done by one of my guy's, was not making sure the hose reel was locked.Well you know where this is going!! It was about 4am on 75 north in florida.I kept looking behind me and seeing sparks and cars way back flashing there lights.it was late so it didnt register for a while,until the 200 ft of high pressure hose got a hold of a road sign and ripped the reel off the back of the trailer !!!

    I never forget to do a walk around before leaving every location since that fiasco.Like they say you learn through your mistakes and just hope no one gets hurt along the way..that was 9 years ago and i have been very lucky since then.

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  19. Posted · Report reply

    Dan, once you get those pavers clean make sure they stay dry for 48-72 hours. Infact it's not the pavers that are the concern as much as the sand. Sand retains water very well and that moisture will continue to rise to the top for days. Mix those sealers with the moisture and you'll give the client a pretty, hazy design I'm sure they won't be happy with.

    Turn sprinklers off, and if it rains your ' T minus ' countdown is reset.

    Don't forget to blow off any surface dirt with a leafblower before sealing and keep vehicles off freshly sealed surface for atleast 48 hours. (foot traffic is acceptable once sealer is dry to the touch)

    Good luck and take pictures.

    What works best to remove the tire tracks from the pavers??

  20. Posted · Report reply

    My ultimate goal after making Restore-A-Deck a household name, after franchising PressurePros in at least 30 markets, after selling off any other business interests and property is to tour the country and give speeches for $10,000 a pop and consult for Fortune1000 companies. I'm sure a book will fit in there somewhere. I can dream, right?

    Don, I'm not sure if there are ways of tracking that. I'm sure the numbers are just reflective of corporate dissolvement and companies no longer paying taxes. But, if you look at it from a business perspective, a guy that sells his business and moves on has still failed. You can't sell your garden variety pressure washing business for any real money because it has almost nothing tangible. I know some may argue with that but based upon my models and what I would pay for a company you better have been showing $250k in revenue for quite a few years before I would consider it worth anything.

    Ditto !!

  21. Posted · Report reply

    I also don't have time to do a signed proposal. I don't even wait to meet the homeowners. I do the estimate alot of times in between jobs or on the way home. If there home then I meet them if not I do the estimate and leave it for them either in the door or there mailbox. I'll call them on my cell to let them know where the estimate is.

    As for Commercial I always get them to signed the work orders if I have them or have them signed one of my estimate sheets where it says they agreed for the contracted work to be performed by Clean County Powerwashing.

    As for Estimates over the phone if there the typical Vinyl house I give them the estimate right there over the phone. Then I refer them to my website and give them a fast sales pitch about myself...I usually nail these type jobs a big percentage of the time because there basic jobs. Time for me is $$$$ so I deal with it accordingly. This is what works for me and 11 yrs of doing this business you learn what works best for yourself.

    The days of driving a 1/2 hour to look at a Vinyl house are at most times a thing of the past for me.

    DITTO !!

  22. Posted · Report reply

    We just got job in Deep Creek Lake with a roof pitch of 12 deg. there is no way we are walking it! It is just this one side( I will attach pic)We are thinking about using a boomlift to get the right angle. Would any of you do this differently?

    And what would you have charged?[ATTACH]5419[/ATTACH]

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    [ATTACH]5421[/ATTACH]

    We have done many like this in the past.this is where you make the big buck's.Trust me they already had a few people turn down the job because of the pitch.

    We get on it with climbing gear and clean it.When you do them you will get everyone else in the area.For a pitch like that i would charge no less than .20cents a sq ft.

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  23. Posted · Report reply

    HI all I just got my pressure washer 10:45 pm this very evening matter of fact! it's a 16 hp vanguard 5 gpm a min machine cold water .

    My trailer is a 6x12 enclosed single axle, I have a 250 gallon water tank that is going in in there also my question is what is the best way to set this up in regards to location of tank and PW?

    Also this machine has a general pump ts2021 that according to the info I can find is rated at 4.5 to 5.6 gpm how can I verify how many gpm I'm getting and how would you adjust it ?

    I know that they make gauges to test psi just not sure on how to judge gpm

    Thanks in advance

    Lyn

    The TS2021 is a very common pump which puts out 4.5 gpm.You should mount your unloader on a block in a very accesible area.If you are pulling water from a tank you will eventually have problems with your unloader.

    U can mount the unloader on a block with a swivel type fitting which makes it easy to remove and service.Put your tank over your axle and make sure you use a good mounting strap for the tank.Also make sure that your exhaust has a means of escape out a side door or even vent it thru the roof.The best tip orifice size for that pump is a 5.0,and if you want your pump to last a good long time make sure you run a line back to the tank off your unloader which will keep your pump flowing with cool water when the pump is running and your not working !!Just my 2cent's

  24. Posted · Report reply

    Hot Shot,

    I'm with God (and you). It's a comfort to KNOW Christ will sort it (and us) all out in the end.

    Well im happy for you.I will pass that on to my friend who's son was raped and molested buy a priest calling himself a man of GOD..I am sure there is a God but it's everyone's interpitation of God that is the problem..I am done with this topic....

  25. Posted · Report reply

    Instead of calling you an ************, which I will not do, I figure that I will just further your education with some facts my friend.

    Let me start by saying that much of Islam has been spread by the edge of the sword. That isn't because Muslim advacates were particularly violent. It's because their religion actually advocates this kind of thing. The difference between that and Christianity is that when Christianity was spread by the sword it was done so in contradistinction to the actual teachings of the faith. But for your sake of argument, I will include the numbers of these (not so) Christians.

    Religious Kills: Salem Witchcraft Trials. 35 people in 1692. In Europe Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft in 1431. Over a peiod of 300 years from 1484 ro 1782, the Christian church put to death 300 thousand. About 1000/year. The sources are World Encyclopedia and Encyclopedia Americana. Also Newsweek, Aug 31, 1992.

    There were 2 inquisitions. 1st one around 1017 and the Spanish Inquisition followed in the 14th century. About 2000 executions altogether.

    7 Different Crusades and tens of thousands died in them over a couple hundred years.

    If you want to include...3000 innocent people on Sept 11, 2001.

    _______________________________________________________________________

    Atheistic kills: China under Mao Tse Tung, 26.3 million Chinease. According to the Walker Report, 63.7 million over the whole period of time of the Communist revolution in China. Soviet Union put to death 66.7 million people. 1/3 of the 8 million Cambodian died under Kampuchea. The Chinese at 2 different times in medieval history, somewhere in the vicinity of 35-40 million people.

    These deaths were result of organizations or points of view or ideologies that had left God out of the equation. None of these involve religion, and all but the very last actually assert atheism.

    Yeah, lets imagine if there was no religion....If you werent a part of the "master" race you'd be dead!!! It's a good thing that Christians see other people as precious to God and we're all the same in His eyes. We all came from 1 man and 1 women named Adam and Eve. Good thing we're not slime that evolved from the ocean, into a monkey and now human. Life acutally has meaning and worth, you're not just another animal trying to survive....

    Everyone else can have a say, but i mention religion and i am the enemy.Sorry if i offended any one but that is how i feel,this is america !! I think you got to much time on your hands.***edited***

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