why the heck do you send 2 people to do a 1 man job?!

[Jarrod 22]

a lot of you guys have helpers or send 2 men to do jobs that 1 man can easily do. why do you do this? respond honestly and this will be a great thread for everyone to learn from.

[Deck Guy 14]

Yeah but Rick, Jeff also hit it on the head. We are old. We are fat. etc etc etc .

Yeah, but at least he was a bit more delicate about it! Old, fat, and I don't even want to know what the "etc." is. OUCH!

BTW, I'm not fat, I'm just short for my weight!

[Jarrod 22]

I'll post all of my answers to all of your "excuses" later. I was waiting for one more "excuse" b4 I posted. Maybe it will come today. I wanted to address everything in one post.

Remember, this is for deck washing, house washing, & pavers washing.

[bigchaz 157]

I'll post all of my "excuses" to all of your answers later. I was waiting for one more answer b4 I posted.

Fixed it for you:)

[Jeff 232]

I'll post all of my answers to all of your "excuses" later. I was waiting for one more "excuse" b4 I posted. Maybe it will come today. I wanted to address everything in one post.

Remember, this is for deck washing, house washing, & pavers washing.

Bring it on you PITA

I have another excuse. I like helpers because, I dont want to do s**t, because..............................................I'M THE KING, best excuse of all

[bigchaz 157]

-zing

[Jarrod 22]

Once again, I'll clarify. I'm not just talking about you having a helper when you work. I'm also talking about you sending 2 guys to do a 1 man job.

[RPetry 564]

I only do wood so I'll back up Jarrod on one point. He clearly stated "wood washing". By this I assume he means a percarb clean and acid treatment or bleach mix maintenance before staining.

Unless you have 2 washers and 5000 sq. ft., this is a one man job.

[Deck Guy 14]

I like Jeff's last excuse the best. I'm not necessarily the KING though, more like some low-level assistant court jester. Some day though...

[Jarrod 22]

I only do wood so I'll back up Jarrod on one point. He clearly stated "wood washing". By this I assume he means a percarb clean and acid treatment or bleach mix maintenance before staining.

Unless you have 2 washers and 5000 sq. ft., this is a one man job.

Thanx for the back up Rick. I'm also talking about deck stripping.

[RPetry 564]

Jarrod,

I disagree on most wood jobs. Two workers, in my experience, are better than one. And two girls stripping will outperform a battalion of guys.

[PressurePros 249]

Larry, that avatar made milk come out of my nose.

[Jarrod 22]

I only have time to address the production excuse for now - The way I do things (and you can easily do it this way too) is a very easy way to do it. 1 guy can easily strip & brighten 3-5 decks per day. Three of my guys are skinny 150 - 165 lb. guys. They do it all spring and summer - & by themselves! They do 3 to 5 decks per day (depending on size). Tony mentioned 2,000 sq ft decks. Come on Tony, how many of those do you do per year? How many of those even exist?! Yes, we do a few per year, thats it. And guess what? One, skinny, 155 lb guy strips & brightens it!

The way I have my trucks & equip set up, If I sent 2 guys to strip a deck, the 2nd guy would be standing around! Why don't I send him in a different truck to do 3 to 5 other decks? Now, that's production! If you're set up for a 2 man operation for deck stripping, you really need to reconfigure your set up! There is absolutely no reason to send 2 guys to strip a deck, unless it is a PITA deck on which have to use a Deckster (I hate that name BTW).

One person mentioned sending a 2 man crew out to do 3 decks in a day. Why not send out 2 one man crews to strip 8 decks? And get this - in the same amount of time that it took one 2 man crew to strip 4 decks, two 1 man crews can strip 8 decks! Don't believe me? Try it! You are all frogetting 2 major factors here, travel time and an efficient 1 man set up in each vehicle.

Let's hash this out b4 I address the next excuse. I have to go wash 50 trucks now. Within 2 weeks, that will also be a one man job!

Please throw all of your doubts in the ring, I look foward to sending them all home cry'n to mamma!

You guys that have met me know that I'm a sarcastic idiot, so for all of you that have not met me, please don't think I'm being pompous.

I'm just trying to help my family (you guys):lgkick:

[Jeff 232]

I only have time to address the production excuse for now - The way I do things (and you can easily do it this way too) is a very easy way to do it. 1 guy can easily strip & brighten 3-5 decks per day. Three of my guys are skinny 150 - 165 lb. guys. They do it all spring and summer - & by themselves! They do 3 to 5 decks per day (depending on size). Tony mentioned 2,000 sq ft decks. Come on Tony, how many of those do you do per year? How many of those even exist?! Yes, we do a few per year, thats it. And guess what? One, skinny, 155 lb guy strips & brightens it!

The way I have my trucks & equip set up, If I sent 2 guys to strip a deck, the 2nd guy would be standing around! Why don't I send him in a different truck to do 3 to 5 other decks? Now, that's production! If you're set up for a 2 man operation for deck stripping, you really need to reconfigure your set up! There is absolutely no reason to send 2 guys to strip a deck, unless it is a PITA deck on which have to use a Deckster (I hate that name BTW).

One person mentioned sending a 2 man crew out to do 3 decks in a day. Why not send out 2 one man crews to strip 8 decks? And get this - in the same amount of time that it took one 2 man crew to strip 4 decks, two 1 man crews can strip 8 decks! Don't believe me? Try it! You are all frogetting 2 major factors here, travel time and an efficient 1 man set up in each vehicle.

Let's hash this out b4 I address the next excuse. I have to go wash 50 trucks now. Within 2 weeks, that will also be a one man job!

Please throw all of your doubts in the ring, I look foward to sending them all home cry'n to mamma!

You guys that have met me know that I'm a sarcastic idiot, so for all of you that have not met me, please don't think I'm being pompous.

I'm just trying to help my family (you guys):lgkick:

Decks??? Whats a deck??? don't do them.........But if I did I could do them standing on my head. I totally agree with you Jarrod these other guys are weak.

If I ever go in the deck biz you can bring your skinny guys here to do all my deck work when its 99 degrees and 100% humidity, they'll be skinny for sure.

What do you do put help wanted ads in for skinny guys only LOL LOL

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

That avatar is .... just not right. What did Ronald MacDonald ever do to deserve that? I liked him till now.

Yeah, he is a clown but man that ain't right. lol

ok Jarrod, spill the beans, we're waitin in the wings to nail ya to the cross!

Rod!~

[Deck Guy 14]

I just couldn't resist it, but I'm staying out of politics, remember?

Jarrod...let us in on your theories!

[PressurePros 249]

I hear ya Jarod. I'm still on the fence. Your scenario holds true in a perfect world but your numbers are not jiving with mine. I'll use the analysis I have done to make it more real world for me.

A) I can send out two guys to do three decks per day. They come back the next day and they stain those three. Working six day weeks with agreable weather, we get done nine decks per week. Labor cost: $1600

B) Sending out one man crews is going to drop efficiency. By my calculations, in the realm of 35%. So now each one man crew can do two decks per day. But, even with the lost individual production rate, splitting the workers apart yields 12 completed decks for the week. To keep employees motivated for being a one man show I up their PPH by 30%. Labor cost: $2800

Other expenses will rise but to keep this simple for now we'll just use gross billing and labor expense.

-Scenario A grosses $7650 and "nets" $6,050

-Scenario B grosses $10,200 and "nets" $7,400

So the company is gonna make an extra $1350 per week. Sounds good I'll take it. But lets look at numbers to be sure.

Now lets go back and factor expenses

I had to buy another truck and machine. Lets say I cheap out and set something up for $6000 -Logo'd and all machinery to strip and seal decks. Thats $6000 I have to make to break even. Amortized and factored over its life with mainteance call it ($100) per week. Additional marketing is going to cost me ($320) per week and I will have to make 6 extra sales calls every week. Lets call it 6 hours at $30 per hour ($180). Total of extra expenses: $600 per week.

So the bottom line comes down to the company making an extra $750 per week. Still sounds like a winner.

Benefits:

1) I can afford to pay a higher wage and hopefully find better employees.

2) The increased usage of products betters my buying power with suppliers

3) The more customers in my database the more referrals and repeat work I get.

4) I think employees would be better of strapping on an i-pod and left to do their thing.

Some negatives I foresee:

- I have to expand my working area increasing travel expense

- More equipment means more to break down and/or maintain

- Safety is compromised

- I may be underestimating loss of efficiency

- Face morale issues isolating employees on jobsite.

There is more but I will let someone else jump in.

[anthony szabo 14]

Jarrod,

Sorry to say but we do at least 20 2,000 sq ft decks in a season and about 5 or so can be larger, in a year. Yes, something that large of square footage is a PITA but it pays well.

Please do recall the area you are in and where other contractors are will vary.

We work in several States and this is true just working Midwestern States.

But lets here what you want to state. I have no problem to look at other ideas that WORK. We have been doing decks for 17 years plus and I'm still learning. Lift up your skirt and show us what you got.

[Rfitz 14]

If you are the owner of your biz, the only tim e you should ever touch a wand, or stain brush is to train only, you should nrvrt be doing this work, unless you think you are only worth $10 !2 bucks an hour, I personnnally make over $150 an hour selling and marketing if you arent doing this you are screwed... but if thats your cup of tea go for it....

[Rfitz 14]

Im sorry if I SOUND BRASH OR HARSH, BUT 20 DECKS A SEAson and I would be out of biz. if you arent doing 50 -100 a month your sales or marketing or market place sucks/.... Im am getting into the consultation biz this year, but my price for 5 X 10 times your biz is well worth it...?

I charge starting at $ 150 an hour and go up from there ..

LETS GET YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTIOIN...???

[anthony szabo 14]

Jarrod,

Not to be the rebbel here, but understand this one.

One company may do 3 to 5 small deck cleanings in a day and will need to if they are charging $1.50 or less per sq ft.

On the other hand if you do 1 or 2 larger decks(800 sqft) in a day an get $2.25 to $3.00 per sq. ft. This makes issues easier to manage work loads.

Kinda like the Car Dealership thing. You can clean 700+ cars a day with a two/three man crew and get a industry average of a $1 buck a car. It will take 14 hours and after all expenses (at several locations) are paid you clear $200 to $275 a day. Not a big profit but a profit. Or go clean Two to Three homes in six hours and make clear $650 for the day.

How profitiable are you? Low profit margin or high profit margin. Lots of gray area here.

[bigchaz 157]

Rob, reread Anthony's post

He said at least 20 or more 2,000 square foot decks and some larger than that. Thats good money. Didnt say he only does 20 decks a year

Im sure he does plenty more smaller than that, and hes been in business 17 years

**edit: he beat me there

[anthony szabo 14]

Rob,

Charlie is right. We do about 165,000sq/ft up to 225,000 sq/ft in a season. Just in wood!

Thanks Charlie!

[Jarrod 22]

Tony, okay, fine. You do twenty, 2,000 sq ft decks per season. You also cover 6 states! I guess that pretty much speaks for itself. Be that as it may, 1 man can easily strip a 2,000 sq ft deck in no more than 5 hours. When I say 2,000 sq ft, I mean flooring & steps, I don't count spindles, rails, facia, posts, etc.

Now, I'll address the "I'm lonely" excuse. GET A FREEKI'N IPOD!

[Jarrod 22]

THE "CUSTOMER FEELS BETTER WHEN HE SEES 2 PEOPLE ON THE JOB AS OPPOSED TO 1 PERSON ON THE JOB" EXCUSE - ARE YOU SERIOUS? WELL, LET'S JUST SEND 10 PEOPLE TO EACH JOB! THAT'LL REALLY MAKE THE CUST. FEEL SPECIAL! HECK, YOU MIGHT EVEN GET A CHRISTMAS CARD FROM THEM EVERY YEAR! OH JOY! JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS IS MAKING ME SO WARM & FUZZY, THAT I'M TURNING INTO A CARTOON!

NOW FOR THE SERIOUS RESPONSE - I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES CUSTOMERS SAID TO ME "LAST TIME I HAD MY DECK STRIPPED, THERE WERE 2 GUYS HERE. IT TOOK THEM TWICE AS LONG AS YOUR 1 GUY. AND YOUR 1 GUY DID A MUCH BETTER JOB!"

FACT - CUSTOMERS DON'T CARE HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE DOING THE JOB. WHAT THEY CARE ABOUT IS HOW IT LOOKS WHEN IT IS DONE!

FACT - MOST OF THE TIME, THE CUSTOMER IS NOT EVEN HOME WHEN THE DECK IS STRIPPED OR STAINED ANYWAYS.

ONCE AGAIN PEOPLE, YOU HAVE TO OPEN YOUR MIND IN ORDER TO ACCEPT THIS. PUT YOUR EGO AWAY FOR A MOMENT AND PLAY ALONG. YOU CAN DEVIL'S ADVOCATE ME TO DEATH ON THIS IF YOU WANT TO, BUT IN THE END YOU REALLY HAVE TO TRY IT.

DON'T APPLY THIS TO YOUR BUSINESS UNTIL YOU CHANGE YOUR METHOD FIRST. IT ALL STARTS THERE. NO MATTER HOW YOU ARE SET UP, IT WILL COST YOU LESS THAN $100.00. WHAT DO YOU GOT TO LOOSE?

CALL ME. I WILL NOT POST MY METHODS IN A PUBLIC PLACE LIKE THIS. I DON'T WANT THE LOCAL HACKS READING THEM. IF YOU WANT TO SEE IT FOR YOURSELF, COME UP HERE AND WORK WITH ME FOR 1 DAY. I WILL SHOW YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T SAY THAT IT CAN'T BE DONE. I FLUSHED A PILE OF CAN'T DOWN THE TOILET THIS MORNING.

THIS ISN'T A "WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU DOESN'T WORK FOR ME" THING EITHER. THAT IS A CLOSE MINDED STATEMENT MADE BY SOMEONE WHO IS AFRAID TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

YOU WANT TO GET REAL? THIS IS AS REAL AS IT GETS.

BTW, I'M NOT TRYING TO COME OFF LIKE "HEY, MY METHOD IS BETTER THAN YOURS! HA HA HA!" i'M REALLY TRYING TO HELP THE INDUSTRY.

CALL ME IF YOU WANT TO LEARN HOW TO BE MORE EFFICIANT.

OTHERWISE, KEEP SENDING 2 GUYS TO DO A 1 MAN JOB.

Please excuse the all caps, it was an accident. I wasn't watching the screen as I was typing and after 3 paragraphs, I noticed it. I aint erasing and starting over!

[PressurePros 249]

JARROD THANK YOU FOR YOU UNBIASED AND NEUTRAL RETORT

LOL. The fact remains this would not work for 99.9% of the people reading this. You need a ton of work, more than one employee, multiple vehicles and very tight procedure.

PS: Your guy called me. I have to find out who is serving Philly. Thanks for the follow up!