baffled

[jordan 14]

Hey everybody

I have recently been considering opening a pressure washing buis and have been doin alot of research through reading forums, and websites. For the past three days that's pretty much all i've been doing lol but there is still alot i need to know. I thought with your expertise and knowledge you guys would be able to help me out.

I am planning on hitting residentual areas cleaning driveways, and gutters, but would like to work my way up into doing roofs, decks, siding, and who knows what from there. First off my biggest concern is if it worth trying to get this going with the economy the way it is. Having your home cleaned from head to toe is an extra. And i kinda figure people will want to be eliminating alot of extras right now.

My next concern is chemical based. What i have been blown away by, is how many chemicals, dillution rates, proportions, and percautionaries you need to take, and know before you just get out there and start spraying everything in site. Plus what types of chemicals you can/can't use on certain surfaces. I can imagine you can do alot of damage to somebodies property if you don't know what you're doing.

I would really appreciate it if somebody would be able to take the time out of there busy lives to help put me on the right track

Thanks in advance

Jordan Ganshorn

[PressurePros 249]

You are on the right track if you realize that there is some science to this. With that being said, its not that difficult. Many of the distributors have premixed chems. You simple follow their directions. Everything else, for better or worse, is on this forum.

If you are a business oriented guy that can focus and read about marketing and selling you can be successful at anything, anywhere, in any economy. Be sure if you decide to go into business that you keep a day job and allot a good amount of money to advertising.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Jordan,

Going into business in itself is a huge risk as you may have considered. I for one will never go back to being employed again.

Your first step here in asking questions is a good step in the right direction although it sounds by your post that you don't possess a natural inclination towards cleaning in general but that can be learned if you apply yourself.

I would start by focusing on the individual surfaces you would like to clean and learn about them from the point of not just knowing what it is but how it came to be.

I know this sounds like a lot to do but you don't have to learn how to construct it but understand that process. Concrete for instance; you need to understand what it is comprised of, the chemical reactive spectrum both positive and negative and what forms the substrate.

The reason for this is learning what type of beast you are working on and how to deal with the pollutants that are commonly found on it that you will be asked to try and remove and give an expectation of how it will look once you are done.

Can you use an acid? Depends on the type of acid. Certain acids will react violently with the lime in the concrete and break down the top layer called the cream and reveal the aggregate beneath creating a condition called spaulding. This is hard to repair and can create a cost for replacement as it is officially damaged at this point.

Other acids meanwhile will work on concrete and only cause an etching of the surface cream allowing a sealer to effectively be applied and have a decent duration. These certain acids found in proprietary formulations are designed to clean a variety of surfaces and remove certain pollutants in their chemically reactive range. ie out of that range, they have little or no effect on them thus requiring another chemical possibly alkaline to handle the pollutants present.

Pressure PSI and gallons per minute GPM come into play as well in order to get the best results without causing damage on newer or otherwise susceptible surfaces, you will need to know how to manipulate your pressure according to the substrate.

This is all just to give you an insight into why you need to know about the surface as well as what it takes to clean it.

There are some manufacturers that have sites whose information on their products provides a great deal of insight to help you understand their products uses and what they work best on.

I would suggest EacoChem as one, V'Seal as another as these two specifically deal with cementatious surfaces in addition to brick. Take some time to do a search and park yourself on a site that has a bunch of information like this to get an overview that will help you on your way towards learning about what you are trying to focus on.

Sorry for the long post but in this case particularly, you have some research to do still.

Rod!~

[jordan 14]

Thank you

I do realize there is still alot of research I need to take care of. I will definitly be putting in my dirt. I really just took an interest to the industry less than a week ago, and have been more enthused about it's potential each day. The thought of being self-employed is definitly alot more appealing then working for someones company the rest of my life. I think i've just found my niche!

Thanks for the advise guys! Oh and keep the long posts coming, I enjoy reading them. Every bit of advise I get is helping me move forward with this.

Back to the books!

Jordan

[kcpowerclean 14]

Hi Jordan,

I don't have much advise for you because I am new to the biz myself and many would say that in life I am still green behind the ears because I'm only 23.

But what I can offer you is encouragement. My business has been the one of the greatest things to ever happen in my short life. It's been something that I've been extremely passionate about, and being an all-or-nothing type of guy, it has been a great place to put my abundant amount of energy.

I wish you success and hope you go for it.

The best thing that I've done in my short-time is I have talked to as many people as I can who are doing what I wanted to do. This is a great place to find these people. I am really a window cleaner, and only about 15% of my receipts are from pressure washing, but this definitely seems like the place to learn.

Michael Gerber, author of the E-Myth Revisited, said in his foreword: "Contrary to popular belief, my experience has shown me that the people who are exceptionally good in business aren't so because of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more."

[jordan 14]

tochea, tochea