request for lesser service

[jnoden 15]

Until this year I did just exterior wood restoration. This year I am adding house washing. Two of my phone calls this year stated that their house was not that bad and you can tell that they didnt want to spend much money. I checked the one house out this morning and it was large. My quote was $480 to wash everything (2 story vinyl with stone in front and about 240 linear ft including garage.) and the outside of the gutters which only had light marks on it. He said that another guy quoted at $200.00. He said that he did not want chemicals on his house and this guy was just going to pressure wash the dirt off the siding and wood trim which the home owner was planning to re-paint. The siding had some dirt on two sides and was not bad at all on the other two sides and there was no mildew. My question is to those who try to offer the highest quality house wash. Would you give in to these request or offer down grades services without guarentees? ie wash the dirty side and rinse off the other three sides.

[squirtgun 122]

Using pressure only actually can take longer because every inch of the house has to be washed up close and personal.Customers who don't want chems used think they are saving the environment.They fail to realize that by the time you have diluted and rinsed numerous times the chems have very little effect on the landscape around the house.Also,the earth bio-remediates whatever does get to the soil and help purify it further.

Don't let customers tell you how to clean.Educate them on your process and explain why the chems are important(reduced pressure on their siding,window,etc.) That should be enough to justify the price to the homeowner.

[PressurePros 248]

I wouldn't do it, but you can make the customer happy and still make a nice buck.

Explain to him that mold isn't always visible, but that spores are probably there and they will affect the adherence of the paint. If he insists no bleach, fine. Tell him in this special circumstance you will use common dish detergent, nothing stronger. I would also ask him if he would wash his dishes or take a shower with just plain water. Of course he will answer no. Great, Mr Homeowner thats why I will use dishwashing soap and I will match the other guy's price to bring you on board as a new customer.

You can easily do this house in under two hours X-Jetting on some Dawn. His windows will sparkle, you take no risk of browning his grass or plants, and the rinse will be easy. You walk away netting $75/hr and everyone is happy.

[Celeste 341]

Oh I like that one Ken :)

[RyanH 14]

For what it's worth, I refuse to take work where the homeowners just want me to blast the paint off the house and prep for painting. Think about the perception that may set up in a neighborhood for people driving by. One day they see you out there pressure washing a house...one week later they see a painting crew out there painting. With society being as it is now, most neighbors don't go asking what's going on, they just form their own opinion. I did one stripping job to prep for paint....never again. that job took longer than any housewash ever has.

[GymRat 14]

GO 'HEELS - 2005 NCAA CHAMPS!

Congrats UNC Fans

One Heck of a Season!!!

ACC ROCKS

[Cleveland Mobile 14]

It has always amazed me that a homeowner will use kill ants with a chemical proven to cause cancer.......drink pepsi that contains phosphoric acid.......spill antifreeze on his driveway.......take a perscription without even checking on possible side effects ...and suddenly he's concerned about how you wash his house. My advice is that is the TYPICAL pain in the ass that is going to nit pick the job to no end.....stay away from him.

Andy

[jnoden 15]

lol...that a good one Ken wish I would have thought of that. I tried to explain the negative effects of pressure and the fact that the chemicals will not harm anything but I think he just didnt like the word chemicals because he said a couple times that he does not want chemicals on his house. I think it was a worthless cause anyways because he said that for that price he would just rather borrow a friends pressure washer and do it himself (It wasnt even worth trying to defend professionalism with this guy and besides he looked like he could have a heart attack just pulling the ladder out of his garage ). Dont you hate rich bone heads who think they know it all?

[tropical wave 22]

When a homeowner says "no chemicals" say ok, we will use a professional house washing "soap"........ because that is exactly what we are doing...... does our "soap" CONTAIN chemicals? of course it does, but it's still just soap....

its not Dawn dishwashing chemical............its Dawn dish soap

its not Tide laundry chemicals..................its Tide laundry soap (detergent)

its not Head and Shoulders hair chemical........................its Head and Shoulders Shampoo (soap for hair)

this can go on and on, but you see, ALL "soaps" are made with chemicals of some sort........ just change the verbage and most wouldnt know the difference.......

or maybe I'm just nuts...........I dont know

[Washaway 64]

Tropical Wave,

It's sad but you're right. (not the fact that you're right but rather the truth you brought to light)

[svp07 14]

Ryan,

I read your post on paint prep and agree that it can be a pain in the ass. I did a paint prep last year, the paint was almost falling off the shake siding. I quoted him 550 and busted my ass all day. I did not even plan for all the paint chips flying around. He said he would take care of of the clean up and I told him he got a deal on the paint prep. If I do another one of these my price is double right off the bat. You basically have to wash the house twice. First time to remove all the loose paint at 2000 psi and then a second time to kill all the mold and mildew. I have done other paint preps since then for my father, I tell him to prep first by removing all the loose paint by scrapping and sanding and then I come in and wash. It works a lot better and I am thinking about contracting with some painters to do their house washes for them...I hear some hate the water. I quote a guy $1000 for a paint prep last summer for this spring...let's see if he calls.

[Aplus 525]

I try not to use the word "chemical". For some reason, on occasion it can conjure up bad thoughts with some people.

I normally call it detergent, but soap is just as good, and sounds less toxic then chemical.

[John Orr 206]

I refer to my "chemicals" as my "cleaning solution".

[Celeste 341]

We have a specially formulated cleaning procedure which is not harmful to plants, etc...

[Washaway 64]

Ryan,

I read your post on paint prep and agree that it can be a pain in the ass. I did a paint prep last year, the paint was almost falling off the shake siding. I quoted him 550 and busted my ass all day. I did not even plan for all the paint chips flying around. He said he would take care of of the clean up and I told him he got a deal on the paint prep. If I do another one of these my price is double right off the bat. You basically have to wash the house twice. First time to remove all the loose paint at 2000 psi and then a second time to kill all the mold and mildew. I have done other paint preps since then for my father, I tell him to prep first by removing all the loose paint by scrapping and sanding and then I come in and wash. It works a lot better and I am thinking about contracting with some painters to do their house washes for them...I hear some hate the water. I quote a guy $1000 for a paint prep last summer for this spring...let's see if he calls.

It's not a difficult process just time consuming and messy.

Get yourself a turbo nozzle if you do a lot of this:

[svp07 14]

I have not used a turbo on painted wood before or pianted shake siding...I think we know the outcome. I do have a turbo though.