Horror Pictures

[the_GUNN_man 14]

I am so sick of going to peoples houses to give estimates and them say that they were thinking of doing it themselves but wanted to see how much I would charge. They think by saying that you will lower your price. I don't. I was wondering if anyone had any horror pics of pw'ing done by the "do it yourself'ers". I would like to start a scrap book of pics done by home owners doing it themselves. We need to start letting these people see for themselves what happens when you don't use the right chemical and too much pressure. I guess the main thing I am looking for is decks. That seems to be the number one area people complain about being too high. I was offering to to clean and seal a deck of a $500,000+ home and they said $500 was too much. They had it done 3 years ago and there was stain slopped all over the siding. I guess I could knock $200 off the price and go in there and throw some bleach around and then just use a pump up and throw the sealer down. Don't bother protecting anything and let the sealer go where it may. They act like that is what they want. After they go to the store rent the pw bring it home, realize they need it for more them one day, then use 3000 psi to clean their deck, use the wrong kind of cleaner, leave lap marks, don't neutralize it, spend 2 days trying to do it, bring the pw back to the store, go buy some junky Thompson's sealer, probably put that on after letting the deck dry overnight, slopping it on the siding, and not protecting anything and realizing you just killed everything around the deck. Plus the 30 hours they spent on it themselves. If they only knew. So, anyway. I would appreciate anyone sharing some pics of messed up decks or concrete(or anything for that matter) done by the D.I.Y 'ers. I will post this on a couple boards and see what I get.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

I know what you mean. It can be frustrating. But then we turn around and love it when they do it themselves, slop Behr or something onto the deck, chew it up with the wand, and have spent 3 or more weekends trying to do what pro's do in a few hours. They call, and your re-quote for a strip job to include sanding is higher, and they have learned the lesson. They won't go back to doing it themselves again.

Happens every year. The stubborn ones always end up spending over twice as much money.

Funny thing is, they don't always admit they made the mess until after you fix it.

Beth

[Joel Hawley 14]

Steve it funny that you bring this up, here is a good example of what you are talking about.

When my wife went to work on Monday her boss came into her office with a band-aid on the back of his hand. My wife asked what happened and the story went something like this.

Mr. Do It Yourself decided he was going to clean his house and deck, he went and rented a 3500 PSI machine. As best as I can tell it has so far cost him around $750 + the rental. He first proceeded to tear the hell out of his deck with around A 15 degree tip, he told my wife he has about 20 boards to replace. He tore 3 screens out of the windows of his house plus pulled the chain on the screen door out of the frame when he opened the door and tried to wash the back of it from about 3 feet. He blew the pin stripes off the his Land Rover and somehow broke the front windshield on it while he was washing it. and to top it all off when he figured that he had done enough damage for one day he decided to use this 3500 PSI machine to rinse off his hand. Cut a 1/4 inch gash about 3 inches long on the back of his left hand.

When my wife asked him why he didn't just call me and hire me to do it he said..................Drum Roll Please.................. and I quote "Those guys charge to much"

This guy makes around $175K to $250K a year and thinks he knows it all. I guess he found out something he doesn't know.

I promise you I am not making this up, I told my wife to ask him if I could come take some pictures to use in advertising, he was not amused.

__________________

[Paul B. 523]

Joel,

That sounds like the story about the $10 cost of a red scarf.

I don't remember it exactly but a short recap goes something like this:

Red shoes to go with it $15.

Red purse to match scarf and shoes $45.

Candy Apple Red corvette to go with shoes purse and scarf $5500 (old story).

Insurance for corvette ($600)

Speeding ticket $100

Total cost of red scarf = $6,270

[Paul B. 523]

I steer away from bidding on ranch style vinyl siding. More are rejected than accepted. I target selling more 2 story houses, the more difficult, the better - because I know not many homeowners will or can do what we can. So even when the price is high, there is a higher level of acceptance. In the initial call, I always ask if the home is one story or more. If the say ranch, I usually mention that our prices start at $135 for that type of home - would you like for me to provide an estimate? That weeds at a large percentage of the $50-$100 range expectations.

I also concentrate on brick homes that have oxidation stains, lime runs, efflorescence or white scum - most home owners will not know how to deal with these types of stains and will not have the proper equipment for it.

The decks are a totally different animal. Again I try to not provide prices over the phone, but again I attempt to screen the $100-$200 customers by providing a minimum $$$ charge for our services. I know I will lose some potential sales by doing this and a lot of GOOD sales people will disagree with this approach but I am only an average salesperson and at this point am willing to target a higher priced audience. If my approach gets to a point where I/we start getting hungry, my approach will be revisited.

I'll search my files for bad job photos (it may take a couple of days).

[Littlefield 65]

Joel, I'm laughing so hard as I read this to my wife that I'm crying all over my laptop. Shame on you!!

Originally posted by Joel Hawley

Steve it funny that you bring this up, here is a good example of what you are talking about.

When my wife went to work on Monday her boss came into her office with a band-aid on the back of his hand. My wife asked what happened and the story went something like this.

Mr. Do It Yourself decided he was going to clean his house and deck, he went and rented a 3500 PSI machine. As best as I can tell it has so far cost him around $750 + the rental. He first proceeded to tear the hell out of his deck with around A 15 degree tip, he told my wife he has about 20 boards to replace. He tore 3 screens out of the windows of his house plus pulled the chain on the screen door out of the frame when he opened the door and tried to wash the back of it from about 3 feet. He blew the pin stripes off the his Land Rover and somehow broke the front windshield on it while he was washing it. and to top it all off when he figured that he had done enough damage for one day he decided to use this 3500 PSI machine to rinse off his hand. Cut a 1/4 inch gash about 3 inches long on the back of his left hand.

When my wife asked him why he didn't just call me and hire me to do it he said..................Drum Roll Please.................. and I quote "Those guys charge to much"

This guy makes around $175K to $250K a year and thinks he knows it all. I guess he found out something he doesn't know.

I promise you I am not making this up, I told my wife to ask him if I could come take some pictures to use in advertising, he was not amused.

__________________

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Amazing....

Joel something comes to mind.

Stupid is as stupid does....

Why do people think it's easy? Because retailers sell machines that are far too powerful (in my opinion) for homeowners to use safely in many cases. Why do they need to sell machines over 1500 PSI to begin with? For the guy who is determined to wash his own property, it makes better sense to have only the low end machine available.

We get calls frequently from people who have tried to do it themselves. Typically, at least one of the following (if not more) have happened.

Hubby spent several weekends trying to:

wash deck

seal deck

You usually see:

stop start marks

gouging

splinters

raised grain

stain (unually Behr) slopped on so that there are....

drips

runs

puddles (BIG puddles)

lap marks

stain on the house (NO PREP!!!)

THEN... you can see where they gave up and called you. They don't usually finish the whole deck.

In some cases we have already given them an estimate and they very sheepishly call to get a new one to strip, sand and reseal. In other cases they had not called but when they do the husband says someone else did it but the wife will tell you HE did it. (it's obvious anyway)

Beth

[mhpoole 14]

that story was to funny, i almost spit my tea out of my mouth i was laughing so hard

[Robert Ray 14]

I have one in the works this year already:

I gave a guy a bid to refinish his deck at first he said ok. Then he asked if I would just do the pressure wash and any sanding that would be necessary. I then asked him what product he was planning on using and he of course said Behr I strongly suggested he not use the behr product and we decided that work was to begin next Friday... a few minutes later he calls to tell me the he and his brother are going both his and his brothers deck themselves... I bet I will be posting that they both called for a strip and sand bid in a few short weeks.

[Paul B. 523]

And then the financial penalty is applied!

The financial penalty will hopefully serve as a teaching tool.

Some folks are just too stubborn to learn fast.

I have a customer that is having his siding cleaned by my company and his wife asked him if I should look at their deck for an estimate also (how come are women are so much smarter than men when it comes to these kind of decisions?). He assured her that his friend will lend him his pressure washer and show him how to use it to clean his deck. Needless to say I could not stand by. I resisted and did not offer my services, (as this would have insulted his manhood) but recommended a product that would perform the needed task and offered to take any of his calls for advice without cost to him. I also informed him of the possible damage potentials to his deck using high pressure vs. the proper cleaning chemicals (and of course a short safety speal including my motto: Safety First and Make It Last!"). I gave him information on different nozzles that are available to reduce pressure (that most homeowners do not have) and the proper pressure required and the distance he should keep from the wood, etc. It was a quick lesson. I could see the gears turning.

That was the day of my siding estimate. Two days later, I received a call to proceed with the siding cleaning and I asked if he had any questions on the deck cleaning procedures we talked about. We re-hashed some of the same and again I could see the wheels turning, but there was no asking for the job (by me) and no asking for an estimate (by him) - YET!

When he is ready, I will gladly provide the service he (so manly) denied. There will be no penalties, unless damage has already been done. Like good wine, this process must ferment for the proper amount of time.

I will be there (making a stop) the day the siding cleaning starts. I will look at his deck and ask if he's found the product I recommended and may even offer to sell him a small sealed container of it and will ask how close he is to doing the job. We'll see if there are any teeth left on those gears. News at 11:00!

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Paul,

You have to wonder why he would hire you for the siding when he has a friend that will loan him a pressure washer and show him how to use it. Sounds like he is stuck on the fence.

[Paul B. 523]

OTP

It's a 2 story house. The deck looked like it was never cleaned.

My masonry partner's brother builds and repairs decks (this may be an opportunity for him for future work). ;)

Let me share some points, as that answer was just too short.

I've found that most folks can clean the ranch style on their own (to a level that's acceptable for them), but they don't know how to clean one that is taller than that. They don't invest in a ladder to clean gutters and even when they do, they are too scared to climb that high. (Never heard of an X-Jet.) Most use strictly pressure because that's how they think it was designed to be used. Some rental places are getting a bit smarter on the accessories they provide. The other issue with 2 story jobs - most customers I deal with don't know how to remove even simple stains and contaminants such as mold & mildew. That's why I said earlier that I don't even attempt to go after 1 story/ranch cleaning unless the bricks have efflorescence, oxidation or other stains.

The nische for me is with hard to remove stains, 2 story homes and brick with difficult stains and of course cedar siding. I go after jobs I think others will turn down because of the difficulty factor and because of that, I get simple jobs and referrals at a higher price also. The theory is along the lines that if they do did a great job with that, think what they will do with mine. I also tell customers how to clean smaller jobs on their own (during the estimating stage). I tell them that WE are too expensive for that piece of work, they should do it on their own. The majority of the time we end up with the other work also as an add-on, about 1/2 way thru the job. Quality sells for itself. My theory is to spend time with the customer to build a bond and long term relationship (get to know them and let them get to know me/us). If the customer is home, they get a preview of the cleaning about half way thru which is the door to a business relationship and add-ons. Everyone is trained in the finer points of suggestive sales.

Zig Zigglar, in my opinion, was the best with that technique.

If I was in the P/Washer rental business, I would rent extension wands, extension poles and I would sell lower pressure nozzles.

I would also provide pressure washing service out of the store front along with a few other services. I have a feeling that most tool rental stores are franchises and are held back from expansion. For that reason, I would never own a franchise.

I remember a few years back the ice cream/yogurt (TYCB?) joints were popping up everywhere in the north. I was dumb-founded as a quick 5 minute number crunch would tell me that a specialty ice cream shop can't survive the winters up north unless you also sell coffee, sandwiches, cakes, cookies, etc. I would see these places open in the summer and by December be out of business.

[Paul Freeman 14]

Last year I bought an Ex-Cell 3200, portable from a guy who had just purchased it. After distroying his driveway, most of the sereens on his house, his fence, some outdoor furniture, and blowing up the pump, (which a local PW shop charged him 650.00 to replace), he sold me the unit for $650.00 (including the old pump, which has a shattered piston).

I also have 2 decks (850 and 1024 sq ft) scheduled for strip and seal that the customers thought they could do themselves. Start and stop marks, scars and splinters, and fuzzies galore.

Finally, here's one for the record book. It's a steel sided home that had a 2 year old coat of redwood stain/sealer on it (brand unknown!).

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there :)

[Paul B. 523]

Steve Gunn,

I was thinking that we need to create a low quality / low price contractor business. All the customers that think that the prices are high can be referred to this company. The company would boom and the high quality companies would boom also. The low quality business would thrive from the high quality referrals and the customer would go to the high quality business for the repairs. The low quality company would change names after every season, but would consist of the same workers. I'm sure we could get all kinds of employees and all kinds of customers.

The company would use the lowest cost materials and speed would be more important of a qualification than quality. All bids would be sight unseen based on square footage. We could advertise the 1/2 day deck or the 1 hour house-wash (no chemicals, just pressure).

The company name would be "Brute Force Cybernatics Pressure Cleaning." (BFCPC)

Our motto would be: "We create a need and then fill it."

We would have a lot of competition, but we can underbid everyone by at least 10%.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Paul B,

Thanks for the insight.

[Guest rfitz]

I see all the horror stories here, I see all the mistakes the homeowner makes

but, then why are our prices sooooo low ? The time, energy, and money

we save the homeowner, is worth a hell of alot more than $1.50 to $2.00

a sq. ft. so why arent we charging more ?

Because they are so many low ballers in this business that will work for

$10-$15 an hour because they have a full time job as a fireman or a school

teacher, and are just looking for vacation or beer money, and they dont think

and will never think they are worth $100-$150 an hour, and until we can teach the part timers of their mistakes and low self esteem, will will be working for chump change, the sooner we can educate these folks, the better off we will all be...

Just my opinion....

[Jon 533]

Try this as it works, I do it for bids on concrete cleaning.

I give my presentation/bid, they go over it and ask is that the best you can do, I say no and ADD $100 to the price saying my cost just went up since you're seeking price and not quality.

At that point they start fumbling with words then ask if they had it done would my bid price hold, I say nope but I will come DOWN $50.

Try it next time someone pulls that stunt on you, just up the bid enough so when they do ask you to do it at the lower price you meet them half way.

Now I don't do this for my major accounts but the strip malls and one owner stores I do.

Jon