speed of wasin a house

[gutterdog 14]

ok, i over bid a house in va. for the time it would have took fair bid. another company came in there n washed the house in 1 hour. wtf?? i now roll with 100 ft of hose. set press washer 1 time instead of 4 or so. that a time saver, i think im addin too much soap to my mix. takes a while to rinse n i get a beter job done with 2 hits on the gutters n caps... im thinkin to use less power house n more bleach.... just a feelin??? am i right???

[offduty 25]

? Didn't follow all of your posts. You need a minimum of 250' to be able to park on the street and reach around most houses. I don't understand about setting your washer once instead of 4 times, you mean your throttle or position?

[John Orr 206]

My general rule of thumb is 1 hour per 1000 sq ft. A typical 2500 sq ft house will take about 2 1/2 hours - including drive/walks and brushing gutters.

[gutterdog 14]

? Didn't follow all of your posts. You need a minimum of 250' to be able to park on the street and reach around most houses. I don't understand about setting your washer once instead of 4 times, you mean your throttle or position?

I get as close the the houe as possable and set in 1 corner n can get all around the house with the x jet. thats not an issue any more. the mix that guy used and he washed the house in 1 hour! He was a sub for a big franchise. i couldnt stay n watch. thought that would be rude, lol!!!i got a neighbor to call me when he finished, hehehe!!! the washer i have is that dewalt 4gpm. im not up in hot washing yet n neither was he. my washer was same power as his. The mix... he used less soap than me obviously. watched him half way the back and had to leave. i mix power house n 12% bleach with water. heard in here the soap make the bleach stick to the house. washin the truck today i realized the same thing??? the bleach has to stick to the side of the house long enuf to do the job. or there could be streaks right??? next house wash im gonna adjust mix by 1/4th a gallon. less power house n more bleach.

[gutterdog 14]

My general rule of thumb is 1 hour per 1000 sq ft. A typical 2500 sq ft house will take about 2 1/2 hours - including drive/walks and brushing gutters.

That is one thing im behind on.... eyeballing square footage. each story is 10, aprox, and im gonna move forward with bein able to eye ball that. and yea i always throw in somethin for free!!!sidewalk or somethin...

[Adrian 155]

That is one thing im behind on.... eyeballing square footage. each story is 10, aprox, and im gonna move forward with bein able to eye ball that. and yea i always throw in somethin for free!!!sidewalk or somethin...

No one can eyeball the sq. footage. They can come close. BUt there are websites all over with resi info.

www.zillow.com

here's one

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

That is one thing im behind on.... eyeballing square footage. each story is 10, aprox, and im gonna move forward with bein able to eye ball that. and yea i always throw in somethin for free!!!sidewalk or somethin...

Buy a measuring tool....wheel, laser, whatever...much more accurate.

Beth

[gutterdog 14]

thanks Beth i cary 2 100 ft tape measures n 2 24 ft. 2 of everything just in case. Glad i found this site! with some time i should be able to eyeball like the pros. no work tomorow so gonna play with that n some other stuff! thanx! - Mike

[TNRoofCleaner 16]

One thing to remember is that Bleach DOES NOT clean. It kills! More bleach will probably give you more issues. You might want to try Limonene or Simple Cherry.

[Paul Kassander 26]

One thing to remember is that Bleach DOES NOT clean. It kills! More bleach will probably give you more issues.

Absolutely, too much bleach will kill plants grass...be careful.

[Adrian 155]

thanks Beth i cary 2 100 ft tape measures n 2 24 ft. 2 of everything just in case. Glad i found this site! with some time i should be able to eyeball like the pros. no work tomorow so gonna play with that n some other stuff! thanx! - Mike

Get a roller wheel to measure or you can get info on a resi online, like I already mentioned.

The pros don't "eyeball", they measure. That's one of the componants that make them a pro. Exact measurments and the proper techniques.

Follow the advice of the vets on this board and you will be heading in a more profitable direction. Don't create your own understanding, because it will set you back. It already has.

The advice you have been given so far, are proven methods that work and make the difference between a pro and a wannabe.

Your process of " direct wand" approach is going to come back and haunt you and cost you in the end. One "bad" word from a customer carry's a long way.

We all want you to succeed, but you have to take the professional advice given by the pros here in order to get on the road to success. After all you came here to ask questions and get answers. Your responses sound as if you are trying to find an acceptable way around that advice and do it your own way.

You cannot use a high pressure and a wand to do deck restoration.

I have a toothbrush but that does not make me an oral surgeon.

Best of luck.

[Celeste 341]

I have a toothbrush but that does not make me an oral surgeon.

THAT IS PRICELESS!!!:dance:

[gutterdog 14]

Get a roller wheel to measure or you can get info on a resi online, like I already mentioned.

The pros don't "eyeball", they measure. That's one of the componants that make them a pro. Exact measurments and the proper techniques.

Follow the advice of the vets on this board and you will be heading in a more profitable direction. Don't create your own understanding, because it will set you back. It already has.

The advice you have been given so far, are proven methods that work and make the difference between a pro and a wannabe.

Your process of " direct wand" approach is going to come back and haunt you and cost you in the end. One "bad" word from a customer carry's a long way.

We all want you to succeed, but you have to take the professional advice given by the pros here in order to get on the road to success. After all you came here to ask questions and get answers. Your responses sound as if you are trying to find an acceptable way around that advice and do it your own way.

You cannot use a high pressure and a wand to do deck restoration.

I have a toothbrush but that does not make me an oral surgeon.

Best of luck.

how are companies advertisin $99 deck washing?? its a reputable company and is probably in here also??? They sub it all out!!! im really confused? i just dont get it? alot of my customers are lookin for the lowest price, and they go with that. if i explained all the stuff bout high pressure low pressure, they would still go with the cheap guy. i want to learn i do the xjet now and have it down except the mix. when i first used it i went with the mix i was told by someone doin this long time, and it was too much soap, after i do another house taking the advice from here think ill have it right. i stay with the house till im happy sometimes hittin the gutters n caps 2 times.i rinse till i see no more soap. im quality oriented. dont think im not pleeeease!!! im not stubborn or hard headed, just cautious. and i have looked round reckon im not done lookin im sure. every day i come here n look for your answers and the faq. i do want to learn the right way n get paid where i do make some money on it too. i had to match a competitors lowball price to do the last deck, just to get the job. shes happy!!! and i made not much money on it. $175 to wash, included 2 other mini decks, and $100 to seal n she buys whatever she wants to seal it with. and she lived an hour n a lil away. bottom of calvert co. i would not have gotten the job if i didnt match his price. would you have walked away from this job because of the price? i cant walk away from nuthin right now. times is hard my friend. and i do want to learn man. please dont knock me or make fun of me. you were here once too. when i wash a house n see screen thats been hit with high pressure, i remember once i used high pressure n never hit a screen like what ive seen, lol. i keep screen on the truck to upsell these, lol!!!

beforeafterclear sealed

Edited August 4, 2009 by gutterdog

[Celeste 341]

By matching the lowballer price "just to get the job" - you damaged the profession. Think about it.

[gutterdog 14]

By matching the lowballer price "just to get the job" - you damaged the profession. Think about it.

i know i know. learned that at *****. someone with an electric pressure washer think they can do the same thing lol so what do ya do man?? id like to learn low pressure washin decks, went to faq and was confused. and id like to get atleast 4-500 heck i got bills to pay. today im sittin at home. how is that big franchise advertisin decks at 99? how do they price washin houses with out seein it?$219. and they sub it ALLL out???? this i know, cause i witnessed it? lost work because of it. how do they stay in business generate money to have all the google ads everywhere ya look??? i did a sponsored ad for a while n it was a waste of money and it was ALOT of money!

Edited August 4, 2009 by gutterdog

[Adrian 155]

1. you let the customer "lead" you to close the sale of the matched price of your competitor.

2. you let the customer govern the product you sealed the deck with.

3. You didn't sell quality and experience and expertise sp?? You simply matched the lower rate to land the business.

4. Sell "upper tier" service. Practice practice practice.

Your pics do not enlarge so it is really hard to see the improvement on the deck.

But if you sold that deck "wash" and "seal" for $175.00, then you will not be around this time next year. Just saying.

Keep at it, though, as determination and practice and the right rate structure is what's going to get you through the season.

You are the pro, not the customer. But that doesn't mean the customer is stupid. Just not as educated as you are about to be. Some reside to the fact that they have a percieved price for our services, which is just not true ( but handy to the lowballer).

Sell an expert service and think about what Celeste just said. You will go far in that mindset.

[Adrian 155]

i know i know. learned that at *****. someone with an electric pressure washer think they can do the same thing lol so what do ya do man?? id like to learn low pressure washin decks, went to faq and was confused. and id like to get atleast 4-500 heck i got bills to pay. today im sittin at home. how is that big franchise advertisin decks at 99? how do they price washin houses with out seein it?$219. and they sub it ALLL out???? this i know, cause i witnessed it? lost work because of it. how do they stay in business generate money to have all the google ads everywhere ya look??? i did a sponsored ad for a while n it was a waste of money and it was ALOT of money!

If they are subbing out decks at 99.00, then their contractors are only making, maybe 45.00 per wash. Which translates to "blow and Go", damaged wood and a really crappy way to do business. But some people go for the 99.00 special.

IMO the days of the 99.00 "anything" are gone. But some operate on the 99.00 mentality just for the customers that don't demand quality.

[gutterdog 14]

1. you let the customer "lead" you to close the sale of the matched price of your competitor.

2. you let the customer govern the product you sealed the deck with.

3. You didn't sell quality and experience and expertise sp?? You simply matched the lower rate to land the business.

4. Sell "upper tier" service. Practice practice practice.

Your pics do not enlarge so it is really hard to see the improvement on the deck.

But if you sold that deck "wash" and "seal" for $175.00, then you will not be around this time next year. Just saying.

Keep at it, though, as determination and practice and the right rate structure is what's going to get you through the season.

You are the pro, not the customer. But that doesn't mean the customer is stupid. Just not as educated as you are about to be. Some reside to the fact that they have a percieved price for our services, which is just not true ( but handy to the lowballer).

Sell an expert service and think about what Celeste just said. You will go far in that mindset.

how do ya hook it up so it enlarges? i noticed that too. that i couldnt enlarge it. my cam has a hair or somethin on it i cant get out of the lens too, lol!175 to wash and 100 to seal. lookin back she was in control more than me? i think i was just a lil desparate, maybe i showed it???i dunno. it acctually was a good job. i was proud of it. with the knowledge i have now and in the future, ill look back at how lucky ive been. i gotta get my price back up. cause there is no way i can keep doin them at that price. slowly goin under now. waitin for the leaves to fall lol!!! when i lost the house to the other guy.... my mindset changed, to survive, and there is no way to survive at those prices. i have to compete with him right? somehow. im usually first on the estimate. and try to land the job get a contract signed n half up front. so customer locked in. that time she already told me of est prior to me n i just said heck match it. what do ya put on the wood to wash it? someone else told me to wet the wood first before apply "soap" that from the same guy told me to use too much power house. he told me to wet the house down first too and i didnt take that advice. temp of the house n dryin the soap n all he said. if i seen somethin start to dry i just hit it again n always wash the windows firts to keep chem from dryin on the glass.

[offduty 25]

Gutterdog, stick to your pricing and don't try to match lowballers to get work. On the otherhand, don't get upset if someone charges a lower price than you. If someone can do a quality job at a cheaper price, don't knock them, see what they are doing that you are not. If you need to measure to give a price, it's ok for a few months, but you shouldn't use it after you get some experience. I have never heard of anyone, including myself, that has ever measured a house to give a price. If you have time in your schedule to go look at a house to give a price then you need to be working harder. Most of the contractors in my area price by the neighborhood, a few price by the square foot. Point is, you should be able to price over the phone. My last point probably won't go over well but, don't worry about the profession or industry. You are a small business owner, worry about you and what works for you.

[gutterdog 14]

Gutterdog, stick to your pricing and don't try to match lowballers to get work. On the otherhand, don't get upset if someone charges a lower price than you. If someone can do a quality job at a cheaper price, don't knock them, see what they are doing that you are not. If you need to measure to give a price, it's ok for a few months, but you shouldn't use it after you get some experience. I have never heard of anyone, including myself, that has ever measured a house to give a price. If you have time in your schedule to go look at a house to give a price then you need to be working harder. Most of the contractors in my area price by the neighborhood, a few price by the square foot. Point is, you should be able to price over the phone. My last point probably won't go over well but, don't worry about the profession or industry. You are a small business owner, worry about you and what works for you.

i did watch and met swapped cards with the guy that beat me in price on the house. tried to learn as much as i could from him without lookin like i was, lol. sure he wasnt gonna tell me everything! i sold a gutter clean next door n showed up same time he did to wash the house. i bought more hose n that saved alot of time, and noticed he wasnt usin as much soap as me. well i got that much figured out. and he only hit each side of the house 1 time. it couldve come cleaner im sure.

[offduty 25]

Don't get me wrong, if their work sucks, don't emulate. If they do a good job at a lower price, they must have something figured out. It could be they just don't like making money though:)

[Rick2 42]

Mike, I thought I’d might try to help you a bit if I can.

You‘ve been reading lots about chemicals, pressures and techniques in washing. This site can give you loads of information related to our field of work. There’s nothing I can tell you that you can’t find on this site.

If you were in my area and were my competition I wouldn’t share this with you. Seeing how we are far from each other I can only wish you the best in the business.

Mike, I visited your site and, as a homeowner, I would never hire you. Even if you were the best in everything you do your language comes off as you were illiterate. First impressions are everything in most any business and your first impression is all wrong. I even had to ask my wife (fluent in seven languages and two masters degrees) if she could understand some of it. She couldn’t. With a name like Mike I assume you are a native speaker of this language. There is no reason to murder the alphabet the way you do including abbreviating every other word.

Mike, I don’t want to come off as being rude but this is a situation that should be addressed as soon as possible. It reminds of the time my wife asked me if she looked fat six months after having our baby. I told her the truth and she got very angry, it caused a few arguments. She went back to the gym and was soon back to her 105 pounds and feels better about herself. Last year she told me I was drinking too much beer and spending too much time with my friends. I was angry and didn’t want to hear it but doing a little reflecting I realized she was right.

I’m sure if you went through this message word for word you could find some mistakes but not too many. Take some time with your web site and your posts. I’m sure you will see a difference.

Best of luck, Rick.

Edited August 4, 2009 by Rick2

[gutterdog 14]

Im always askin my customers about the website n they liked it. dont have the ability to ask the ones that didnt like it why? its too wordy i guess right n i didnt want to copy anyone elses website so i just put it like it is. ill have the website lookin more profesional n done with it in less than a week!!! thanx .

[TNRoofCleaner 16]

After reading Rick2's post I visited your site also and I have to agree. You need to clean up the abbreviations. Also do this on these forums. Believe it or not, customers come here and read. Just think of the people you are losing because of the same thing that Rick pointed out. Maybe you are missing out on the higher income customers because of this and it would be less likely that you would be competing with the lower priced competition. Provide a good quality service at a reasonable price and the customers will come to you. You do still need to advertise and maybe target a higher income clientele to get away from the low cost cleaners.

On your wood, you might want to get samples from various stain makers and test them out and provide the stain instead of letting the homeowner buy it off the shelf and getting a sub par product. You are the professional and it is not worth your reputation to use sub par products. Armstrong-Clark, Ready Seal and Baker's Gray Away seem to be the ones pros use the most of.

Roof cleaning with a pressure washer is a no no. Read the roof cleaning forums and you can clean a roof faster than you are doing now. I usually don't even get on the roof. Check out the ARMA (Asphalt Roofing Manufacturer's Association) bulletin on how to clean a roof. It states no pressure or agitation is to be used.

Good luck to you and that is a nice looking truck.

[gutterdog 14]

After reading Rick2's post I visited your site also and I have to agree. You need to clean up the abbreviations. Also do this on these forums. Believe it or not, customers come here and read. Just think of the people you are losing because of the same thing that Rick pointed out. Maybe you are missing out on the higher income customers because of this and it would be less likely that you would be competing with the lower priced competition. Provide a good quality service at a reasonable price and the customers will come to you. You do still need to advertise and maybe target a higher income clientele to get away from the low cost cleaners.

On your wood, you might want to get samples from various stain makers and test them out and provide the stain instead of letting the homeowner buy it off the shelf and getting a sub par product. You are the professional and it is not worth your reputation to use sub par products. Armstrong-Clark, Ready Seal and Baker's Gray Away seem to be the ones pros use the most of.

Roof cleaning with a pressure washer is a no no. Read the roof cleaning forums and you can clean a roof faster than you are doing now. I usually don't even get on the roof. Check out the ARMA (Asphalt Roofing Manufacturer's Association) bulletin on how to clean a roof. It states no pressure or agitation is to be used.

Good luck to you and that is a nice looking truck.

thanks bout the truck. took a whole month before i was happy with it. changed this changed that. those guys pullin hair out at the graphics shop!!! in god we trust for 2 reasons and the pink ribbon cause i was a care giver. i also run a cancer awareness group now tooo.

outa respect to another company im not pushin montgomery county much. so i got pg, calvert , charles and st marys. i bought ready seal once n customer backed out, cheaper guy. cmon 550 to wash n seal a huge deck, stairs the underside too. he found someone cheaper. the job i dont know. we washed everything underneath too, came out nice. then he backed out? told me better price i had to refund him the diff, what the cheaper guy said he wouldve charged to wash (not mentioning the price again), or he was gonna call BBB on me. so i mailed him a check for the difference. i got paid for the washing. the other guys price. we are the best gutter cleanin company out there. i go behind the franchises n fix what they dont. 0 call backs on my work. in 5 years!!!!! not bad huh? been usin xjet for few months now? or more? Its the way to go! way better than how i was washing houses! much faster!! since you have seen my website you know ive made the mistake of matchin the company causin me all this grief. well a webmaster i am not, lol! but i did do it all by myself. thanks for the input. saved alot of money doin it myself. My goal is to one day be like you guys, and i will. with your help. thanks in advance, - mike

Edited August 5, 2009 by gutterdog