House Washing Techniques

[bfenne 14]

Hello All,

I have been more of a lurker than a contributer. Spring is just around the corner and I wanted to piece some things together. While I have been reading here I have found many points on house washing but they come from many, many power washers. I was wondering if anyone would like to post there house washing procedure/rules of thumb that apply the majority of the time? Do you start at the top, the bottom ect,ect... I thought it would be neat to compare different complete methods to achieve the same clean reults from powerwashers across the country or abroad? If you feel like elaborting on what and how you use your chemicals during the process that would give everyone some food for thought as well. Thanks to all who have and who will contribute to this post but more importantly this forum.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

bfenne,

The airflow generated by the spray is what causes the problem. The lower psi you mentioned should be relatively safer for avoiding this situation. Although, you may come accross siding panels that have popped thier lock and are ready to fly away anyway. I tend to use binoculars to check any questionable looking areas before proceeding and informing the customer before hand.

You can use brad nails (aesthetically unobtrusive) to secure the siding once you have popped it back into place. Using a weep hole, nail it in at an upward angle. This will help to keep it from popping out during the wash process. btw, you can charge extra for this service too.

Rod~

[Cleveland Mobile 14]

I've always used my own creation "Hotsoap" (got the name when my son was 5 and stuck his finger in the mix and said wow thats hot soap.....alkalines heat up when you mix them. A local "mixer" makes the kits for me...its cheaper through him than to buy the ingredients direct. Anyways, I've never ever had to brush anything. Usually a dillution of 15 to 1 is plenty even for the streaks. I use the same soap to wash trucks, decks, and stripping stain from decks. Makes life a whole lot easier than carrying different chemicals with me. The only other sollution I have is an acid for aluminum brightening....and I mix that too. The benifit is cost....the alkaline costs $4 per gallon and the acid $2 per gallon.

Andy

[bfenne 14]

Thanks for all the replys everyone.

Lets say say someone wanted to mix there own chems., where would they be able to find detailed info on what chems due what and where they are best used? I know this BB is a great resource but it is very hard to weed through and piece things together when you are not sure what is what and who is who. Also how do you mix them? What ingredients are you using for various cleaning of alum,vinyl,wood, concrete, brick, stucco?

[R L S 14]

Since you are very new to the industry with no chemical knowledge(I assume). It would be wise to buy your chems from a reputable dealer than to risk injury to yourself or others. Besides good chems dont mean they are expensive, shop around there are excellant chems availible at very resonable prices.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Richard

[bfenne 14]

RLS,

You are correct. I was trying to compile info that would help me when comparing/selecting a premixed product. Thanks.

[Aplus 525]

bfenne,

The airflow generated by the spray is what causes the problem. The lower psi you mentioned should be relatively safer for avoiding this situation. Although, you may come accross siding panels that have popped thier lock and are ready to fly away anyway. I tend to use binoculars to check any questionable looking areas before proceeding and informing the customer before hand.

You can use brad nails (aesthetically unobtrusive) to secure the siding once you have popped it back into place. Using a weep hole, nail it in at an upward angle. This will help to keep it from popping out during the wash process. btw, you can charge extra for this service too.

Rod~

Rod, the binoculars are a good idea! My old eyes aren't like an eagle anymore....LOL!

I also keep a tube of acrylic adhesive caulking in the trailer in case I need to glue something back into place. One time I was washing a house that had this fancy dental molding, and even at low pressure.....about a two foot chunk broke off, the stuff is made of some kind of dense foam like product. But anyway, I'm thinking "crap, now what am I gonna do?" Well it just so happened that I had my gutter cleaning supplies in the back of my truck, and had some caulk, and saved my butt.

[newlook 265]

Our biggest problem out here is old stucco and/or thin layers of it on pillars and etc. Even with low pressure we have to be very careful with the angle that we hit the surface with. If we hit it at a 45 degree angle we run a good chance of the water getting underneath the crack and lifting a chunk of it up.

Quick question to all...when washing and something accidentally happens like stucco blows off or 2 feet of that foam stuff Tony was talking about and you fix it ~ do you tell the customer what happened?

For us, we do tell customers about things like this.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

It is ethically best to answer this yes.

But how many of us actually did?

If we informed the customer before hand of the potential, then we can go back and say "As we talked about, this happened and I took care of it by doing this..."

But, if we didnt inform them and didnt even realize the problem was possible, then more than likely, my guess is that we covered our tracks (the problem) and didnt mention anything to the customer.

Personally, I cant think of anything more than siding blowing off (not completely) and having to stop and re-attach it and the only reason for not mentioning it to the customer was that they were not home at the time of completion.

Carlos, thank you for bringing this up. In the process of writing this response it gave me an idea...

In KEC, they have a form called a deficiency report that is given to the customer after the initial inspection or after the job is completed to inform them of problems or regulations that their equipment might be in violation of.

I would suggest that we in our own businesses come up with a report that mentions to the customer any problems we encountered in the process of doing our job so that they can take corrective measures. This of course is relating to pre-existing conditions that we are not made aware of before hand. Any problems that came about as a result of the process should be corrected by the contractor and then notify the homeowner. This is instilling trust in the contractor and shows that the contractor is responsible. Lets set a standard of integrity for ourselves.

Rod~

[newlook 265]

Rod,

That is a pretty good idea. In a way one could look at that as a comprehensive quality assurance program that you are offering along with power washing services.

If you market this correctly it could generate additional business for you. We have a quality assurance program for our concrete services and it is a great selling point. We have been awarded so many jobs just because of the Q & A and that other companies do not offer any assurance to the customer.

[PressurePros 249]

This whole thread reaffirms my feeling that giving price estimates over the phone is a bad idea. One can see all the variables that go into a simple house washing and the possible things you may encounter. The reason I am posting this is this..

I got a call last week for a price. I talked the guy into letting me come out. He described his house as a 4000 sf tudor style in good shape, just dirty and moldy. When I get there I find a very steep, narrow driveway so curvy a Porshe would have to go three miles an hour to stay on it. The driveway snakes under tressles that are 9'6" high. My bucket won't make it closer than 300 feet to the property. My other van is only equipped with a double phase electric machine. The house itself is 3 stories with a gutter line that runs fifty feet in the air. The gutters are the dirtiest I have ever seen. The house is primarily stucco and it needs to be repaired in many areas. An X-Jet would have sufficient pressure hitting the house to tear it up. The property is heavily landscaped. His water supply is a well and his pump maintains about 5 gpm of flow.

When I get there, I recognize the guy from TV. He advertises his legal firm as "we get you money". If you are from the Philly area you know whom I am talking about. After a long discussion with Mr X, he told me replacing the stucco is not an option. He is selling the property and is not willing to incur the cost. He just wants a little more "curb appeal"

I figure the whole job will have to be done with my 3.8 gpm Surflow, garden hoses and ladders. It's an easy 1.5-2 day job. Even a quote of $700 on the phone would have been way off.

[svp07 14]

Ken,

Did you get the job and what was your finally quote given your obstacles on the property?

[PressurePros 249]

I quoted him $1600 and as of one week later, I'm pretty sure he will be hiring someone else. If I could get back on the poperty I would take some after pictures of the damage that is sure to occur if someone is not extremely cautious with the use of pressure over 300 psi. I'm going to follow up with him today..my feeling is he is looking for someone to foot the bill for his repairs and some lucky newbie looking for business is gonna oblige him. Not this newbie...

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

How many here know how to do stucco repair?

Rod~

[CCPC 26]

Not me, but I should learn. about 90% of the houses I service are stucco or dryvit.

[Howard 50]

Not me either, not many stucco here but I do wash dryvit. Would be interested in leaning though.

This is a good thread gave me some ideas on what else I need to carry on the truck. hhuuummmmm.....may need a bigger truck soon.......