pressure washing training

[Chazz 14]

I am sure this has been asked before but answers do change and i may get lucky with a new perspective on this

i need the confidence to feel i know what i am doing when i head out on my first job

i need to believe my website i am creating does resemble all the things i could do

i also need to be able to compete

What i need is some serious training from professionals....and i will attend a round table to start

ideas....? who's got em?

thanks

Chazz

[Adrian 155]

See if there is a company in your area willing to let do a "Ride along" with them.

Compete very little and network alot.

Read read read this forum for info as well.

Practice on your own property. Get insurance. again read read read this BBS.

[Chazz 14]

Insurance i have, reading i have been doing for the last few months day and night, friends and family are wondering how much i can read about pressure washing, they have no idea i feel i have not even scratched the surface. i will definitely practice on my house and others...i guess where i'm hung up is the chemical part and the sealant part...for decks and such.

i would like to know how to do it the right way.

[Adrian 155]

Those questions cannot be answered in this thread as there is just too much involved.

Again, do a ride out or labor for learning with legit contractors in your area.

Find and make friends with a cleaning contractor.

Find and make friends with a resto contractor.

Hands on is a great way to find your niche.

Round tables are a great source of info and networking.

For right now, this minute....... read & learn from each category in this forum about the services you intend to offer, chems, and techniques. Read Read Read and then Read some more.

[Douglas Hicks 128]

I do not know of anyone offering a structered training in PW. Most of just blundered along, learning the hard way. You newbys at least have the BBS now. Adrian's suggestion is a good one, but I would never help a competitor in my area. You might get a better response by contacting someone in a different area.

[Chazz 14]

ok, thank you...i appreciate your feedback

[Rick2 42]

I do not know of anyone offering a structered training in PW. Most of just blundered along, learning the hard way. You newbys at least have the BBS now. Adrian's suggestion is a good one, but I would never help a competitor in my area. You might get a better response by contacting someone in a different area.

There's a lot of truth in that! Geeze, thinking back when I first started out knowing almost nothing. Maybe we can share some of the mistakes we have made. I remember one of my first major ones... I was finishing a house when I noticed I was about 5 feet short of gun hose so I simply moved the machine because I had plenty of garden hose. Too bad I wasn't thinking when I moved the machine because I has the exhaust pointed right at the siding of the house about 5 feet away. When I came back to shut the machine off a huge section of the siding was melted. Good thing a close friend is in the siding business and, after he finished laughing his butt off, fixed it for a case of beer.

Another friend of mine, Timmy, is an electrician who wired my house when I was building it. He told me a story about a man that worked for him once. He was getting ready to take the ladders off the van. When removing the bungi (sp?) cords holding the ladders to the rack one of the cords whipped around striking him in the eye and PULLED HIS EYE RIGHT OUT OF HIS HEAD! I think of these two thing (and others) everytime I'm moving a machine or taking a ladder off the trailer.

We learn best through our mistakes.

[Celeste 341]

You can probably do a quick search here using "labor for learning". Maybe Beth will pipe up - I think at one time she had an area set up where folks could specifically indicate that they made this offer and in what area. Our door is always open in North Carolina.

[Chazz 14]

thanks Rick, you sure know how to motivate ...haha

[Chazz 14]

Thank you very much for the offer...are you doing residential work? how long dose your working season run for in N. Carolina?

[Celeste 341]

A little longer than NY I suspect :) We can generally work until about Thanksgiving if our market is still active. It's more the people than the weather. Residential is the larger percentage of our market.

[sprayer dave 14]

What do you pros expect out of someone looking for labor or learning ?

Own insurance ?, Time period (1 day--1 week)? etc...

Thanks,

Dave.

[allisonhester 30]

Steve Stephens, who's been in the industry for 30 years, used to offer an intensive 5-day training course that included on-the-job experience, along with all kinds of other things (marketing, business setup, chemistry, etc.). We are looking at restarting this, but will need to have an 8-10 student minimum for it to be worthwhile. Steve can also do consulting work, much of which can be done over the phone. Holler if you'd like to learn more.

[Doug Rucker 31]

Steve Stephens, who's been in the industry for 30 years, used to offer an intensive 5-day training course that included on-the-job experience, along with all kinds of other things (marketing, business setup, chemistry, etc.). We are looking at restarting this, but will need to have an 8-10 student minimum for it to be worthwhile. Steve can also do consulting work, much of which can be done over the phone. Holler if you'd like to learn more.

Chazz, Allison beat me to it. I HIGHLY reccommend you hook up with Steve Stephens. Get a hold of Allison Hester and she can get you in contact with him. I have been in the Pressure Washing Industry for over 20 years, thought I knew a lot about this business until I met Steve. I am using his consulting service's, an am on my third session with him and he is helping me to change the way I do everything, from marketing to all the way through the cleaning process. This guy know's this business. Get hooked up with him NOW. You will be glad you did.

[gutterdog 14]

There's a lot of truth in that! Geeze, thinking back when I first started out knowing almost nothing. Maybe we can share some of the mistakes we have made. I remember one of my first major ones... I was finishing a house when I noticed I was about 5 feet short of gun hose so I simply moved the machine because I had plenty of garden hose. Too bad I wasn't thinking when I moved the machine because I has the exhaust pointed right at the siding of the house about 5 feet away. When I came back to shut the machine off a huge section of the siding was melted. Good thing a close friend is in the siding business and, after he finished laughing his butt off, fixed it for a case of beer.

Another friend of mine, Timmy, is an electrician who wired my house when I was building it. He told me a story about a man that worked for him once. He was getting ready to take the ladders off the van. When removing the bungi (sp?) cords holding the ladders to the rack one of the cords whipped around striking him in the eye and PULLED HIS EYE RIGHT OUT OF HIS HEAD! I think of these two thing (and others) everytime I'm moving a machine or taking a ladder off the trailer.

We learn best through our mistakes.

Hey Rick! The bungee cord story, reminds me about 5 years ago, I was taking off a ladder. The bungee cord came loose and cut my forehead open, LOL!! After the blood stopped spilling on the road, I cleaned the guys gutters and moved on. Glad I have both eyes!! Also I'm very carefull now with bungee cords!

[Rick2 42]

Do you still think of it when removing a cord? Each time I remove one I think of that story Timmy told me.

[allisonhester 30]

Hey Rick! The bungee cord story, reminds me about 5 years ago, I was taking off a ladder. The bungee cord came loose and cut my forehead open, LOL!! After the blood stopped spilling on the road, I cleaned the guys gutters and moved on. Glad I have both eyes!! Also I'm very carefull now with bungee cords!

Geez! OUCH!