This week I tested a new house wash formula on a 2-story with a walkout basement, elevated deck, trees in front & side, landscaping that filled every nook and cranny and a garage roof that was 90 degrees from the house gables.
One end of the house had the walkout basement so the gable peak was about 40 feet. The terrain in the back was tilting toward the side with the walkout basement, making the gutter 20ft off the ground at one end and 30 feet at the other. The front and side of the house had a couple of large 50 ft plus pines with branches touching the siding. Mold and mildew along the walkout basement side and all along the front. Black soot on both ends of the house all around the louvered vents. Gutters soiled with black streaks.
I tackled the walkout basement side first and took 3 applications at different concentrations before the soot came off (mold and mildew came off after 1st application. The lady of the house came out, I showed her the now clean side. She told me the story of the last attempt of cleaning the black soot the contractor attempted cleaning from below, then from the rooftop without being able to remove the stains. She was overjoyed with my results and we talked for a little while.
I started cleaning the rear of the house and spent about an hour and a half climbing the large ladder, climbing the deck, climbing the small ladder. This old man was beat by the time I finished cleaning half of this house. I headed for the cooler a snack of energy bar and a 5 minute recoup time.
About the time I finish my energy bar, the man of the house approaches me and we talked shop for a bit and then he starts quizzing me about wheather a 1600psi pressure washer (he had in the garage) could clean the concrete pad in the back, of the house under and around the jacuzzi, the pad at the exit of the basement, the walkway in front, the front porch and the driveway. I explained that with the appropriate chemicals he could get some results but nothing like I could do with my surface cleaner and concrete cleaning chemicals plus it would take him a whole day. He walked away back into the house. About this time the wife came around the house and commented that she couldn't believe how clean the house was in the back and one side and never realized how dirty her gutters had been.
I asked if her husband had seen it yet and she said she was just going to get him and show him.
About the time I was ready to fire up the P/W the man walked up and asked how much I would charge to do the concrete cleaning and could I do it today. I told him to give me a couple minutes to pull the price together. 5 minutes later we had a change order signed for cleaning all the concrete. He told me he was leaving but would return in a couple of hours and wanted to know if he should give me the check now or would I still be here when he returned. I told him that with half the house complete and the concrete work to do I was sure I would be here. If not, he could always send me a check as I always want the customer to approve the work before a check is made out.
I finished the front of the house having to hand brush half of the siding and all of the second story gutter as the tree branches made the X-Jet approach ineffective for all the work.
I made sure I cleaned the concrete next, as I wanted to be complete by the time the man returned.
After cleaning the concrete, this old man needed another break and about a half a gallon of cold water. The man of the house was returning just as I was moving the ladder to finish cleaning the last part of the house. He was happy as a kid in a toy store as he admired his newly poured concrete surfaces. He walked around the house several times and could not get the smile off his face. He went into the house and got his wife and both walked around the house. She was ranting and raving about the house, while he couldn't stop talking about the fresh new concrete.
The lady approached me and asked if I had a couple of business cards as she had a couple of friends up the street that needed their houses cleaned and they would like to come down and talk to me and give them estimates. I told her to have the ladies come over in about 45 minutes when I would be wrapping up. That way, they could look at the house before I gave them an estimate.
I was almost finished with the work when the man came out of the house and said he had to leave again so he wouldn't see me again today but wanted to give me the check and wanted to make sure that I called next year as the two of them had discussed having the house cleaned every year and they wanted me to do it. (We'll have to talk about this old man washing this house next year - he'll be supervizing like he should have been this year.) The man gave me a check and handed me a bag of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies his wife baked for me. (Chocolate chip is my better half's favorite cookie, mine is peanut butter - sounds like she'll be having a treat.)
As I'm starting my clean-up, 2 ladies walk up and knock on the front door, talk to the lady of the house and start walking around the home. About 10 minutes later, I'm introduced to 2 potential customers. I let them know that as soon as I'm packed, I will come to their homes and will give them an estimate.
As I leave the street, heading for home, I wish that I was 20 years younger as my body aches all over. But then I look at the bag of chocolate chip cookies, the check for a house and concrete cleaning along with 2 new contracts. I can't help but feel I made the right decision doing this work myself rather than sending a young crew to this job. Oh my back, ...oh my ankle, ...oh my knee ...who's got the tylenol.
Oh, the new formulation sucked. I gave up on it after about an hour of tweaking. Back to our standard mix for the time being.
This week I tested a new house wash formula on a 2-story with a walkout basement, elevated deck, trees in front & side, landscaping that filled every nook and cranny and a garage roof that was 90 degrees from the house gables.
One end of the house had the walkout basement so the gable peak was about 40 feet. The terrain in the back was tilting toward the side with the walkout basement, making the gutter 20ft off the ground at one end and 30 feet at the other. The front and side of the house had a couple of large 50 ft plus pines with branches touching the siding. Mold and mildew along the walkout basement side and all along the front. Black soot on both ends of the house all around the louvered vents. Gutters soiled with black streaks.
I tackled the walkout basement side first and took 3 applications at different concentrations before the soot came off (mold and mildew came off after 1st application. The lady of the house came out, I showed her the now clean side. She told me the story of the last attempt of cleaning the black soot the contractor attempted cleaning from below, then from the rooftop without being able to remove the stains. She was overjoyed with my results and we talked for a little while.
I started cleaning the rear of the house and spent about an hour and a half climbing the large ladder, climbing the deck, climbing the small ladder. This old man was beat by the time I finished cleaning half of this house. I headed for the cooler a snack of energy bar and a 5 minute recoup time.
About the time I finish my energy bar, the man of the house approaches me and we talked shop for a bit and then he starts quizzing me about wheather a 1600psi pressure washer (he had in the garage) could clean the concrete pad in the back, of the house under and around the jacuzzi, the pad at the exit of the basement, the walkway in front, the front porch and the driveway. I explained that with the appropriate chemicals he could get some results but nothing like I could do with my surface cleaner and concrete cleaning chemicals plus it would take him a whole day. He walked away back into the house. About this time the wife came around the house and commented that she couldn't believe how clean the house was in the back and one side and never realized how dirty her gutters had been.
I asked if her husband had seen it yet and she said she was just going to get him and show him.
About the time I was ready to fire up the P/W the man walked up and asked how much I would charge to do the concrete cleaning and could I do it today. I told him to give me a couple minutes to pull the price together. 5 minutes later we had a change order signed for cleaning all the concrete. He told me he was leaving but would return in a couple of hours and wanted to know if he should give me the check now or would I still be here when he returned. I told him that with half the house complete and the concrete work to do I was sure I would be here. If not, he could always send me a check as I always want the customer to approve the work before a check is made out.
I finished the front of the house having to hand brush half of the siding and all of the second story gutter as the tree branches made the X-Jet approach ineffective for all the work.
I made sure I cleaned the concrete next, as I wanted to be complete by the time the man returned.
After cleaning the concrete, this old man needed another break and about a half a gallon of cold water. The man of the house was returning just as I was moving the ladder to finish cleaning the last part of the house. He was happy as a kid in a toy store as he admired his newly poured concrete surfaces. He walked around the house several times and could not get the smile off his face. He went into the house and got his wife and both walked around the house. She was ranting and raving about the house, while he couldn't stop talking about the fresh new concrete.
The lady approached me and asked if I had a couple of business cards as she had a couple of friends up the street that needed their houses cleaned and they would like to come down and talk to me and give them estimates. I told her to have the ladies come over in about 45 minutes when I would be wrapping up. That way, they could look at the house before I gave them an estimate.
I was almost finished with the work when the man came out of the house and said he had to leave again so he wouldn't see me again today but wanted to give me the check and wanted to make sure that I called next year as the two of them had discussed having the house cleaned every year and they wanted me to do it. (We'll have to talk about this old man washing this house next year - he'll be supervizing like he should have been this year.) The man gave me a check and handed me a bag of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies his wife baked for me. (Chocolate chip is my better half's favorite cookie, mine is peanut butter - sounds like she'll be having a treat.)
As I'm starting my clean-up, 2 ladies walk up and knock on the front door, talk to the lady of the house and start walking around the home. About 10 minutes later, I'm introduced to 2 potential customers. I let them know that as soon as I'm packed, I will come to their homes and will give them an estimate.
As I leave the street, heading for home, I wish that I was 20 years younger as my body aches all over. But then I look at the bag of chocolate chip cookies, the check for a house and concrete cleaning along with 2 new contracts. I can't help but feel I made the right decision doing this work myself rather than sending a young crew to this job. Oh my back, ...oh my ankle, ...oh my knee ...who's got the tylenol.
Oh, the new formulation sucked. I gave up on it after about an hour of tweaking. Back to our standard mix for the time being.
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