water toting

[sjpressurewashin 64]

I was just wondering if you guys and girls charge extra for suppling the water or if you plan the estimate on taking your water with you? I have ran into a few jobs lately where the well has run dry or emptied and luckly I have had water with me.

Thanks,

S & J

[Kory 14]

I keep 100 gallons with me at all times. If I need more than that then I charge 15-20 cents per gal.

[sjpressurewashin 64]

Thanks

S & J

[Anthony G 14]

I show a picture of the trailer with the water tanks, especially if I am in the county areas with wells. Then I ask the customer if they want me to bring water and not chance the well drying up (my well is 700ft) and that is a lot of money to scare people of being dry. I can fill up for about $4 or so per 1000 gallons. I can normally pass it off for $10-$20 per customer. If I am doing doublewide mobile homes then I can do about 2-3 homes per load and that takes care of the extra expense.

Heavy to haul though.

[sjpressurewashin 64]

The other day I was cleaning a house that the onwer had told me there was plenty of water in the well and wouldn't you know I had one little section left and the well went dry. I had to stop and drive 30 miles to get water. Told home owner about it and they said oh yea it will run dry but in about an hour it will be full again. Very frustrating!!!

S & J

[Mike Williamson 198]

I was just wondering if you guys and girls charge extra for suppling the water or if you plan the estimate on taking your water with you? I have ran into a few jobs lately where the well has run dry or emptied and luckly I have had water with me.

Thanks,

S & J

In a case like you mention, I wouldn't charge extra. If I showed up and the water supply was inadequate, my fault...I didn't check when I priced the job.

In answer to your questions, Yes, and Yes. I charge extra for jobs where I have to supply the water, and I plan that into the estimate.

[Neil_Asheville 114]

The other day I was cleaning a house that the onwer had told me there was plenty of water in the well and wouldn't you know I had one little section left and the well went dry. I had to stop and drive 30 miles to get water. Told home owner about it and they said oh yea it will run dry but in about an hour it will be full again. Very frustrating!!!

S & J

Buffer tank. Atleast a 55gal poly. 55gal is plenty to rinse what's up there or finish tail end of job should you have supply probs.

[GymRat 14]

Buffer tank. Atleast a 55gal poly. 55gal is plenty to rinse what's up there or finish tail end of job should you have supply probs.

The only problem would be if you are using the water tank inline with a float valve, you usually won't recognize the problem until the tank is empty.

[Mike Williamson 198]

Buffer tank. Atleast a 55gal poly. 55gal is plenty to rinse what's up there or finish tail end of job should you have supply probs.

LOL, 55 gallons will run my machine for a grand total of 7 minutes. I keep a 225 gallon buffer tank, and sometimes that isn't enough.

[Neil_Asheville 114]

The only problem would be if you are using the water tank inline with a float valve, you usually won't recognize the problem until the tank is empty.

You're absolutely right. That sounds like it's spoken from experience.

Mike...your 8 will beat up my 4 anyday!

<pump envy>

[sjpressurewashin 64]

This particular day I was cleaning two houses side byside and the first house I was told that the well would run dry so I filled my 300 gallon tank and took with me. The second house was the one that I was told the well had enough water. I aways carry my tank full when ever I go out to a job. It was just frustrating that I was told that the well would hold a cleaning and it ran low just before I had finished.

S & J

[FullBlast 14]

Hey I know the feel here too!! When I go out to look at the job I try to usally turn the water on just for a second just to see what the flow is like and that gives a lil idea how much to carry with you. Last week we got done with a job and one of the boys had the tank up around 400 gal which we wern't far from home so we left it in and the next time out I just about dumped some of it before we left just so it would pull easier but decided I to leave it there and was glad I did because when we got done with 2 houses we were down below a 100 gal and that is scary.

It's the game you play!! Yea I charge just a lil more not enough!!

[chechnya 14]

For my future business, id be kinda weary of hauling alot of water, due to the weight issue and fuel economy being decreased from whatever rig is towing it. Luckily we rarely have wells here, which are mostly in the boonies.

[Jimmy M 14]

This guy thinks he is making money, his yellow page ad reads, most any size house 125.00, we use our own water free of charge.

[sjpressurewashin 64]

Which guy are you referring to? I don't know how any one can make money with 125.00 and include your own water. The cheapest I have ever cleaned a house is for 150.00 and carried my own water. The only reason it was 150.00 was because they where a very close friend.

S & J

[Mike Williamson 198]

For my future business, id be kinda weary of hauling alot of water, due to the weight issue

Actually, you use a truck and/or trailer to haul the water, so there's really no reason to get weary hauling water! :)

[sjpressurewashin 64]

I have a 300 gallon tank and am thinking seriously about getting a 600 gallon tank.

S & J

[Mike Williamson 198]

Which guy are you referring to? I don't know how any one can make money with 125.00 and include your own water. The cheapest I have ever cleaned a house is for 150.00 and carried my own water. The only reason it was 150.00 was because they where a very close friend.

S & J

If you fill the tank at home the night before, how does it cost more to haul your own water, other than a little more gas? It actually saves the time of running your hose to the spigot and rolling it back up. Of course, that's if you can wash a house on one tank.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

We do charge extra for hauling water due to time, gas, water usage fee's and permits.

People don't like to pay our prices for hauling water because they think it should be for free. They don't consider the amount of time it takes to break down the equipment (ie. pack up hoses etc...), gas to travel to a hydrant, time it takes in labor to have an employee fill the tank, gas back to the site including labor hours for the employee while traveling, and time to reset up in order to continue the work. This does not include any idle time for the other employee who if not applying chems literally has nothing to do and is paid to do nothing in the interim.

We use a 225 gallon tank on our main unit and the machine consumes 8gpm with 2 guns running which gives roughly 25 minutes before the water is below the inlet and needs to be refilled. It takes 20-25 minutes to fill the tank from a hydrant including time to uncap and recap the hydrant, install the meter and hook up the supply hose and reverse the whole thing to get back to the job site. For a job that requires the unit to be running for 3 hours, it will take about 7 trips to complete it.

Anyone can figure the math at this point. It costs money and that is why we have a trip fee to cover these costs.

Rod!~

[Mike Williamson 198]

I have a 300 gallon tank and am thinking seriously about getting a 600 gallon tank.

S & J

You must do some serious washing from the tank! I rarely have to depend on my tank at all. 600 gallons would be nice on a couple jobs I've done, but all the rest of the time that hugs tank (or tanks) would just take up trailer space!

[sjpressurewashin 64]

I have a 6.0 gpm unit and out of the 20 some house I have done this month I'd say 15 of them the well went dry or stopped pumping water due to level of water. I used to put the customers water hose into my tank and refill as I'm washing but have quite because one time a lady's well went dry and pump started pumping red dirt from bottom of well into my tank. I didn't think I would ever get the dirt out. Now I just price job with water included and carry my own. If job is big and it will take two tanks of water I price an extra trip for water. Around here,most everyone has wells.

S & J

[sjpressurewashin 64]

This year for some reason everyone wants there house washed and deck cleanded and strip it seems. I can run my unit for about 50 minutes before tank runs dry. i can usually clean a 2500 to 3000 sgft house with one tank and the deck with the second. Any extra rinsing could cause trouble and more water.

S & J

[Jimmy M 14]

This guy is in my area. Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon. I simply don't like to punish my truck or my trailer to haul an extra 2800 pounds to a job. If you are trying to wash a decent size house with a limited amount of water you are gonna compromise a thorough rinse in many situations. When I do haul water I get it from water plant near my house and it cost pennies and only takes about 3 minutes to fill my 350 gal. tank but I usually ask customer in a round about way can I use their water by asking them where the outside faucets are at time of estimate.

[Russ Spence 76]

i run a 225 buffer tank as well and have never even had a water issue come up with a customer i just hook to their water and work they usually expect that ......dont make an issue out of it and it wont be an issue...my oponion

[Mike Williamson 198]

i run a 225 buffer tank as well and have never even had a water issue come up with a customer i just hook to their water and work they usually expect that ......dont make an issue out of it and it wont be an issue...my oponion

I don't think I've ever had a residential customer complain about using their water. As you say, it is just expected. I have had condo owners complain when I've used their water to clean for the association. I'll usually just switch to another unit, or offer them a couple dollars. Usually when they realize that the hour or two that I was hooked up to their water cost them less than 20 cents, they stop complaining. Here, we pay about .30 per 1000 gallons (water and sewer charge).

[sjpressurewashin 64]

In the town its not that big of a deal. They are on city water and I just ask and usually they don't mind. The majority of customers live outside city have well water and since there hasn't been alot of rain here its a concern. I to run there hose in my tank while I'm cleaning but usually inside of 30 minutes ther is no water in the well.