Need a professionals opinion

R

richnstacy2

New member
Hi guys! First let me start off by telling everyone how wonderful this board is. I have been reading back posts for days now and have really learned a lot: however, with that came more questions.

I own a Lawn Care business and do mostly residential type work: however, this past year I started working for a Property Management Company and with the work they give me I have been able to expand my lawn care service greatly. My wife and I now take care of three large apartment complexes with the possibility of adding some more in the future. We also take care of all of their residential property as far as mowing.

One of the apartment complexes that we take care of had many dirty sidewalks, fountains, porches etc. The residents complained to the Property Management, and they asked us to pressure wash the sidewalks and so forth. They have indicated that they might want to pressure wash the buildings as well.

We went out and purchased a Craftsman with 2250 psi. We figured this would get the job done at the apartments and allow us to use it around our house when needed. However, with this machine we found ourselves pretty much in the same area three days later and realized it would be sometime next year when we got through if we didn't do something to improve our progress. We decide that we would buy a bigger machine. We ended up going to Sam's Warehouse and purchasing the following:

Porter Cable 4000 PSI 15HP Pressure Washer
4000 PSI water pressure
4.0GPM produces 16,000 cleaning units
15HP Kohler OHV Engine with full pressure lubrication
AR industrial grade, crankshaft pump
1/4" x 5' chemical pick-up hose for injection of chemicals and cleaning solutions
3/8" x 50' industrial hose & quick connect fittings ensures high flow and safety
13" all-terrain pneumatic wheels

We paid just under a 1000 for it and now the job at hand is moving right along. However, now that I have this machine I would like to supplement our income from mowing with pressure washing.

Also, I should note that the Management company has already shown an interest in getting us to pressure wash some of their rental property in the very near future.

I am using a mixture of Jo Maxx and Clorox mixed according to the label. Someone suggested that I use this and since I have no experience whatsoever in doing this, I went with their recommendation. Other than what I am doing right now, I am totally "green" to this business and need all of the help and recommendations I can get.

I have posted to Dave's message board and have talked briefly with a guy named Steve and he has been helpful but I would like to get all of the help I can from the professionals. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew or mess up someone else's property because I did something that I wasn't qualified to do.

Does anyone have any recommendations on where we can go to learn the basic fundamentals and terminology of this industry? There have been different subjects mentioned on this message board that we would like to get a better meaning of.... Some examples:

Surface Cleaner.. Basically we know this is something that you use along with your pressure washer. We know from the comments that it can be very helpful but what exactly is it and how/why/when/ do you use it. Those are the type questions we have.

skid? Okay, I won't even try to guess on this one.

Are there any books that we can read to get a better understanding of all of this? Do you recommend the Pressure Washing 101 for $99.00. Is this a good book to start with, if not, then what is?

I will continue to read the back posts and hopefully will be able to find answers to some of the many other questions I have. But this is a good start. :) Sorry so long folks but we have a lot of questions on this subject.

Thanks for any help that you may be able to give to us. Again this board is wonderful!

Richard
 
richard

you have a good wash unit to get you started on the right track.
A hot water SKID would be better, a skid is a self contained washs unit that is very heavy so most dont put wheels on it.
They leave it as a skid[frame and parts] and bolt it to a truck,trailer,ect....
Right now if you want go to www.ebay.com and type in "pressure washers" you will see pics of skids,surface cleaners[a lawn mower looking tool that has a rotating spray bar, not a blade]
a MUST for doing cement.
Next is you have to get away from homeowner type chems/cleaners they are too weak and cost too much.
Go the the vendor area and ask for info from the members that sell chems.
There are a lot of them here.
Learning what to use and why your useing it will help you out tremendusly. Chems clean. Pressure wash's it away.
There are 4 major bbs to help you out read all you can from each one.
You have a great starting point. Save your money and move up to a hot water skid as the work and money get bigger.
 
Ron

Thanks for responding to my post on this board. Out of 49 people who viewed it, you were the only one to post back.

I am continuing to read all that I can. I appreciate the information about the skid, and surface cleaner. I did as you suggested and went to e-bay and checked out the pressure washer area. It gave me a better understanding of the things that I have seen mentioned on the board.

I live in a community of about 12,000, and live where all of the lawns are manicured, as are the sidewalks throughout the city and the average household income starts at about 55,000. The city has been awarded the American Bloom Award for all of the progressive flowering that they do on the city streets. Within 20 minutes from here is Mobile Alabama, where the population is over 400,000 so I can see a need for something like this.

We have many large buildings and sidewalks, residential areas, historic and so forth, and only a couple of power washers in the area, which consist of an elderly man and his two grandchildren, so basically the market in this area is wide open for someone trying to start up.

We also experienced one of the largest building increases in the state of Alabama so there are many aspects that one could venture into, from flatwork to construction clean up.

Owning two other very successful businesses in this area, I can see where there is a great need for power washing services and hopefully I will be able to provide a portion of that.

One question, is there a good multipurpose cleaner that you could recommend?

Sorry for the long posts.... From now on I will try to keep them short and sweet and to the point. I have a tendency to ramble on about stuff not so important. :)

Again I appreciate your response and look forward to hearing from you or any other poster that might want to respond.

Richard
 
Does your insurance agent know you've started power washing? If not, he should, immediately. You're rates will probably go up, however.

On an unrelated note, check out www.lawnsite.com if you haven't already.
 
Insurance

Mike thanks for the post. I was on the phone yesterday with my local agent who handles my lawn care liability insurance and he doesn't cover power washing, so I will contact Jim Walters and see if maybe I can get coverage from him on both. Maybe he will offer some type of discount for multiple businesses.


Richard
 
hi richard

it's JOE walters by the way. lol
Check out www.dcs1.com
check out the chem usage guide to get yourself started about diffrent chems and what they can be used for.
There are some very good vendors here but i wanted you to get an idea about diffent chems.
When you see a chem that say's it will do what you want it to do. Then look up the MSDS sheets and see what's in it that dose the cleaning.
By the way you need to carry all MSDS[material saftey data sheets] with you at all times.
A good multiuse detergent is delcos red powder[R109]
You by it by the lb. and mix it yourself.
If I were you i would think about 2 things.
Signing up to one of Delco's class's
and where the closest round table meeting spot was to me.[and go]
you see my motto on the bottom of my post's and nothing could be more true.
By the way auction #3310168029 on ebay is what your next rig should look like.
I think $5100[that is the resv. price set on that rig] is a pretty good deal.
Add on a surface cleaner and a couple of toys/tools and your on your way.
Hot water is night and day no matter what anyone tell's you.
Only place it wont be usefull is on wood.
anything i can help with just give me a shout.
 
Re: Insurance

richnstacy2 said:
Mike thanks for the post. I was on the phone yesterday with my local agent who handles my lawn care liability insurance and he doesn't cover power washing, so I will contact Jim Walters and see if maybe I can get coverage from him on both. Maybe he will offer some type of discount for multiple businesses.


Richard
Click to expand...
Richard, I strongly recommend that you research your liability insurance coverage, and be sure that you have proper policy. Also you're entering into an industry that requires fundamental knowledge of powerwashing equipment, cleaning techniques, and lots of common sense. And before you start to use any cleaning products or detergents (using the word "chemicals" will scare some customers!) familarize yourself with the proper usage by reading all materials such as product i.d., MSDS sheet, etc. for your own protection, for the commercial products are considerably stronger and more harmful than the over-the-counter soaps. Also, you need to know your local environmental regulations pertaining to power washing. You need to be well-trained and informed, and any info you receive here on this site will aid you in becoming a better cleaning contractor.......Bill
 
Ron and Bill thanks for the response!

Ron- I think a class would be a very good idea along with any round table discussions I could get to. I will keep an eye out for one in my area.

We are going to call Joe Walters and see what type of liability insurance we can get. Maybe we can get coverage on both the lawn care and power washing through him.

Bill - As I was telling Ron, we are going to be working on the liability insurance today and on Monday. I know that with my lawn care business I have to carry a 1,ooo,ooo policy, is there any certain amount I need to be looking for. I have noticed on the boards people mentioning 300,000 but is this considered adequate coverage in your opinion?

Richard
 
We carry $300,000 liability, but we only wash houses. Years ago when we were a larger operation and a substantial part of our business was industrial and commercial cleaning, we carried $1,000,000,000, and depending on the job, sometime had to add a 1 mill. dollar rider on top of that. I think most surface cleaning contractors carry about $300,000. Liability ins. is expensive but absolutely mandatory. You only need to be without it one time, have a claim, and it will change your way of living. In my handout pamphlets for house washing, I hammer home the point that we have liability insurance, and remind my potential customer that no matter who they hire to wash their house, make absolutely sure that they're insured before you allow them to do any work on your property. Oftentimes that separates the credible operator from the wanna-bes who are trying out the powerwashing business for the summer. Don't get me going!:D One thing that frosts me is the guy with the $10 magnetic sign (or no sign at all!) in a beat-up pickup, no insurance, looks like a bum, that pulls up in your driveway and scribbles your estimate for housewashing on the back of a bookmatch cover. And of course he's $100 cheaper than me! You get the picture. If a customer can't see that, and insists that price is the most important factor, then maybe I don't need this person as a valued customer. We have washed literally 1000's of houses, and we keep most of them because we do quality work, and we like to think that if we lose a customer, it's because that person has passed away or moved away, and not because we did an inferior cleaning job. Sure, we've had our share of little accidents like stepping on a planting, breaking a light fixture or screen, killing the family dog (only kidding about that one:D ), and I usually pay out of my pocket to take care of it quickly, but if there should be some extensive damage, it's good to know you are insured....Bill
 
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