Integrity Curb Appeal

My garden hose produces 7.5.

I have a simple business plan worksheet that I update monthly that rolls quarterly. This way you are always following your trends and projecting 90 days out. It is simple and userfriendly if anyone wants to use it as a place to begin. Biz plan.xls

I must admit. That is GREAT!

This is actually what got me into PWing. I modified an inexpensive surface cleaner with a perimeter vacuum attachment to clean tile/grout in my restaurant. I took a 3 man (2 hours each) job and cut it to 1 man (1.5 hour) job and the tile had never looked so good. The difficult part I have found is that restaurants require a system for cleanliness. Cost for frequency at even medium rates are sometimes impossible for operators to budget.

TDWhitaker, Hello, I am Scott and Im just up the road from you. I have some friends in Somerset but know very little about the area. What do you specialize in. I know there a lot of trucks from 75 or do you focus on homes? I would really measure whether the city could support you full time. Ken has a great point on marketing. You will need to have a large gross revenue to afford the contribution margin of full time. One question I have for you is; do you have enough business coming at you now that you need to turn it down because of your current career? Once you have that problem then you should feel more confident.

I must agree with these guys. I am new and a part timer. I have spoken with a seasoned cleaner locally and he is a member of this board as well. I got a call once when I was outta town about a big house from a realtor friend of mine and immedietly called him. The thing is, I read a post on here about if people consider this a true industry or profession. Well I know it is. Why? Were making money. But that statement came from the publics view, which tells me it is an industry that is in its infancy. As we all work together and create consumer awareness we will create a field that every homeowner/business owner/ property manager believes is a necessity. Together we create synergy for this industry. People used to think that they had to cut their own grass, change their own oil, and cook their own dinner. Take a look now. Those are quite easy on the physical work and time to do spectrums. What we do is not simple and fast without having both the expertise and equipment. What person will spend that much time and money to do it correctly specially if someone just wants to maintain their own home. That relationship could likely create opportunities for the both of you. just my .02 Scott

Good question. I am no pro but I have had a similiar thought. Connecting my x-jet to a water bib. I do not have a sureflow but I have a solid brall hose attachment that reaches further than my x-jet. If you could apply chems at the correct height, then I am sure you could rinse with the right hoze nozzle given you had a strong enough water pressure. With the hose nozzle I have connected to a hose at my home I can stand 20 feet in front of my house and spray over my roof and water the plants on my second story deck out back. Get a solid hose nozzle with a 1/4 in. opening and measure your distance. Again I am not yet a pro but I would love to know how it turns out. Scott

Hey Barry, Quit kidden us... I see that you just built him 2 new decks. lol Looks great! Scott

I know this doesnt answer your question but john has a mix for concrete that is giving him good results in another thread. I though you may like it as a reference for dumpster pads, as they typically have irrigation rust stains. http://forums.thegrimescene.com/showthread.php?t=7725 As for your question above; A simple restaurant grade indoor outdoor degreaser like Kay Titan, (ask your Wendy's contact) works quite well with little to no peripheral contamination effects. Its about $8.00 a gallon and made for low perimeter impact because high school kid's are the main users of it. It is an alkaline detergent and I use it often as I am in the restaurant business as well as PW business. 15 minutes dwell at full strength with no evap on entry door pads, dilute 4 to 1 on lightly soiled sidewalks and hit it with a surface cleaner, and follow with oxalic 6-8 oz per gallon to brighten (No more than12 oz per gallon as it will be difficult enough to mix over 8oz.

Well said Anthony...

No way. I grew up in Ashland... lol. That's the old school. I have rental property there. I was just in Sunday. We likely have common aquaintances... Did you go to Blazer? Scott

Hot Shot, After I went to bed I was thinking. I likely would not have gone to that table. I was pretty apathetic concerning things that did not specefically threaten myself back in my aggressive days. I applaude your willingness to stand for what you believe, and for standing up for the surrounding group of frustrated patrons. And as I read this, as it was very late last night, it almost reads as though I am laughing at you. This is not the case. I was laughing at how different we all are. I find it honorable that you stood up for those others that may never have stood up for themselves. I just wanted to clarify.

Mike, Whatever works best for you bro. Good luck. I must admit I can't wait to find the result whatever route you take. Please share with us. It's a shame 3M doesn't make lifesize 8ft X 8ft glue traps like we use for mice.

I appreciate you candor. I must admit I have not had a laugh like this for some time. I find it so funny that my approach likens me to someone whom lacks 'cajones'. That would be a solid statement if you knew me and my lack of courage/aggression was in question. If you only knew me. I had a life changing experience 7 years ago. Before that, I must admit I would probably have beaten you to the table. My business name has the word Integrity. To me that word means. Making the most honorable decision even when you can justify less than honorable behavior. You said it yourself "you're right Scott...if and when I did something like this and my dad found out...oh man, I was dealt with and I never wanted to do that thing again." Maybe you didn’t want to but maybe you did it anyway. That's where the note comes in. If you do it anyway, when you think you're getting away with it... BAM there is the note from DAD! Now you're looking around and wonder just how much DAD sees. Perhaps to you it's lack of cajones, and to me it is tact. Andrew Carnegie once went to two men smoking in a hall of one of his steel mills, and they happen to be standing directly under a NO SMOKING FLAMMABLE MATERIALS sign. He never raised his voice. He handed each a cigar and said " When you enjoy this fine cigar I would appreciate it if you do it outside". Andrew C weak? No way. He made his point and they never smoked inside again. I respect your opinion though. If we both thought exactly the same... one of us would be irrelevant...

I appreciate your honest feedback. What I like about these boards is we are all so different but very similar. You know in the old school. I would have probably just shot em. I live in KY, they don't even ask questions about your firearms here. But in my new school of thought I have learned much. I volunteered for some time working with youth in Los Angelos, and Brooklyn. Most of the time it is the youth that do these things. They feel justified if you challenge or compete. Notice I did not say, ignore or look away. Let them know you are watching. Freak them about a bit at your uncommon recourse. I'm telling you. Leave the cookies and a note. They will NOT be back.

You could be right maybe I am wrong... It could be a her. I bet 95% of all of us on here have done something comparable to this, or LIKELY worse in our young age. God knows I have. It's an annoyance, not a terrorist act. Sure I believe they should be punished. But hey, we all have our ways of dealing with people. I was a volunteer youth worker for over 5 years, and I got great results with subtle techniques. We all have our own opinions. Spin the wheel and see which one produces the desired results. One thing I will never be accused of... being too agreeable.

Mike, I'm with you. If they can't afford gas, then destroying their car will likely drive them to more aggressive crime. Leave them a plate of cookies next to your gas can with a note that reads, "Here are some cookies for you to eat as you load my gas." If this doesn't take them back then I dunno. They can't be angry with you, but they will definitely think you are at least slightly crazy. And I don't mean poison the cookies. Give them some fresh baked, maybe a glass of milk as well. I’ve got 5 bucks that says they don't come back..

Finding Forrester ???

It seems as though I read more and more of people going from x-jetting to downstreaming. Why would that be so? Is it just to keep from toting the chems? Would you not have a lot of wand and hose issues with all of the 12%? Scott

http://www.chemistrystore.com/oxalic_acid.htm This is where I order mine from. Scott

I am thankful I live in this great nation. I am thankful I can share my thoughts and views with everyone on this truly generous forum. I am also thankful that I can experience everyone else’s thoughts and concerns as well. Regardless of whether I agree or disagree. Sometimes we must all agree to disagree agreeably. We will never see eye to eye as we all have different visions, values, missions, roles, & goals. I try to understand everyone’s point well before I try to make one. At the end of the day I am thankful, for I am in my bed in my home with my family and we are fed. My heart just goes out to ANYONE that doesn't have that luxury. Perhaps one day I will not have it. I know that if our country dissolved and the only thing I could do to feed my 4 year old little girl and pregnant wife was to sneak to another country to work, I would. As a man I will do whatever it takes to make that happen. Whenever, wherever, however, as long as it did not cost another human their health. That is why I take the stance I do. No other reason. If that was the only way for your families to survive, I would have a tough time believing any of you honest upstanding entrepreneurs would not do the same thing. Your friendly neighbor, Scott

I hope your daughter is o.k. Kid's being sick really pains me to see. I pay a ton for health insurance as well. However when it comes to sick or hurting people I don't care about money. If I lost my legs tomorrow and could not provide for my family I would be thankful (as I am sure you would) there are caring doctors to see my 4 year old little girl. Just be thankful you are fortunate enough to pay for insurance. At least you can buy medicine when you leave. That's not the case for everyone in the waiting line. But I am thankful that anyone can go to the hospital, even if it drives my payment up. Im not trying to be synical here, please don't take me the wrong way. I am just always trying to put my self in the other persons shoes. At the time if it were my daughter in that situation I may have been near sited as well. I really do hope she is healthy, food allergies are very dangerous. Scott

People say don't hire or do business with illegals or people whom hire them... I have NEVER met anyone that advertises "I hire illegals"! This is an non-merit statement in my opinion. I have 11 Spanish-Americans that report directly to me, as well as Bosnian, German, African, Canadian, American, etc... One thing they all have in common is they're human beings. All with families, & kid's to feed. Just for the fact and not opinion, my by far most ethical & highest achieving performers are of Latin decent. I think many times we fear that. Ethics & performance are not governed by green cards! I'm just glad the American Indians did not have an INS.

1 There is a lot of talf concerning oxalic acid and driveway cleaning. I have found a list of different types (below) what is the safest thereby recommended form of oxalic acid for concrete? What is a safe/effective dillution ratio? Thanks in advance? Oxalic Acid, Anhydrous, Crystal, Reagent CAS #: 144-62-7; Formula: (COOH)2 View MSDS for Oxalic acid anhydrous Chemical Catalog > Alphabetical Listing of Chemicals > O 2Oxalic Acid, Dihydrate, Crystal, Reagent, ACS CAS #: 6153-56-6; Formula: (COOH)2•2H2O View MSDS for Oxalic acid dihydrate Chemical Catalog > Alphabetical Listing of Chemicals > O 3Oxalic Acid, Dihydrate, Crystal, Technical CAS #: 6153-56-6; Formula: (COOH)2•2H2O View MSDS for Oxalic acid dihydrate Chemical Catalog > Organic Chemicals 4Oxalic Acid, 0.1 N Solution View MSDS for Oxalic Acid, 0.1N Chemical Catalog > Standard Solutions 5Oxalic Acid, 7.5% (w/v) Aqueous Solution View MSDS for Oxalic Acid, 7.5% Chemical Catalog > Alphabetical Listing of Chemicals > O 6Oxalic Acid, 5% (w/v) Solution View MSDS for Oxalic Acid, 5% Chemical Catalog > Alphabetical Listing of Chemicals > O 7Oxalic Acid, 10% (w/v) Aqueous Solution View MSDS for Oxalic Acid - 10% Solution Chemical Catalog > Alphabetical Listing of Chemicals > O

Forgive me I am very new, when you write "50/50 to straight chlorine" do you mean 50% liquid chlorine to 50% water? When the term downstream is used does that mean pump through the hose (dillute even more) as opposed to pump sprayer? Thanks for taking the time to help. Scott