junker1
Roundtable Host 2009
c'mon Josh that's got to be worth all that maybe even more LOL
Why small houses are sometimes more of a pain
- Thread starter JDhomeservices
- Start date
Clear Shine
New member
Rule #1- know your customer and come to terms and deal with the fact that a lot of people aren't your customers.....
It's a small house but tall house. Let's start with an older narrow but deep 2 family house with a driveway that goes downhill and a walk up attic adding to the height. The basement is a walkout so it's more like 3 and a half stories. It's also a rental that I'm rehabbing the interior of the downstairs unit including total paint job, some wall reconfiguring, door hanging and a bathroom fixture replacement and minimal tiling. My 2 story tip will fall just short of the peak so I'd need to get on a ladder to be able to spray it. The dumpster sits at the bottom of the driveway where it's flat so if I put plywood on top of the dumpster, I can put the ladder on the ply, get on the ladder and gain the extra height I need to spray the peak more effectively. Based on the linear ft, to me $375 is a rock bottom price compared to what I have been getting for houses. This is my first year doing this and have managed to get much more for a house wash in my area of NJ, which happens to have plenty of large residential housing. This house is just outside the more affluential areas that I have managed to do some selling in and actually got this job from doing the owners house in Chester, NJ. His house measured 88' wide by 39' deep with a front that has 1400 sf of cedar siding and based on those stats and the price I got for that house, the one I speak of is small and the price is rock bottom. Any other questions, I'd be more than happy to clarify.
fromgreentoclean
New member
So technically the house really isn't small. If the dumpster is beside the house why don't you just get a 10 foot step ladder and place it beside the dumpster stand near the top get a 8 foot extension wand and reach from there. Placing ply wood on a dumpster then strapping it down seems like over kill to me. I also use a shooter tip with a 60 p.s.i soft wash system and I can reach 3 story apartment complexes on the beach with the wind blowing. Mind you it's difficult sometimes but I still manage 90% of the time not using a ladder. Plus professionalism and safety will earn you more money in the long run.
You can have a small house but a tall one. Not sure why using a ladder isn't professional or would be deemed unsafe. There are several ways I could go about this. My 18' extension wand would be one but with such a narrow space, I'd hate to whack the other house so maybe I see that option as unsafe. I could forgo the ply all together and just put the ladder in the dumpster but I'd have to clear some of the rubbish to get to the bottom. When I back up my trailer, I can literally off load ply right onto dumpster and the ladder from there. I'm moving these pieces all of 15' from the trailer. I may be new the pw industry but have done enough work to know that sometimes, what seems to be the most complicated thing actually simplifies the whole process.
Hey stop coping me!!! Kidding J
Good advice , I m not a residential guy but I would bid those smaller homes on phone at worth while pricing.
Everyone forgets what's the real cost difference on average home 1800 and one 3500, reality is that it's not much. Problem is we get that square foot pricing caught in our head.
Anything under 10,000 for me has a minimum, only takes me two more hours to do a 20,000 feet from 10,000. The first ten might take 3 hours.
Some of you guys get it, some just won't.
Everyone has to operate on minimums
Text me for info on Milwaukee event. 480-522-5227
Rapid HotClean
New member
Hits the nail squarely on the head. +1,000!
greg/sd
New member
If you have to go look at a job that is probably under 500 dollars that's 2 trips to the job if you get it. unless its a mansion we bid them over the phone based on our rates you can get everything you need from county records and google earth. If your a professional you should have everything you need with you regardless of the size of the house.
carolinawildcat
New member
Rig? I'm a house painter. I ordered a new trailer last week, the smallest I could find, 4x4 made by Low Country Trailers in Beaufort. Put the gx on it, 250' hose, done and done. Got a small ladder rack installed, total $575. He does lots of boat trailers, claims his will last longer in this climate, but we will see how well it holds up once I start spilling sH all over it.
I cant afford to store multiple trailers, so mine has to haul Mom's pine cones to the dump one day, deliver 50g of paint the next, and tie my kayak to it on the third. Picked up a bad-ass 14' Acadia for $100 last fall -- only suckers pay retail!
I try to work as little as possible, my job is to sell. 75% of the jobs I sell are subbed out -- whether is a pwash, siding repair, new sliding glass door, or painting a house. I see the pics of all the crazy rigs you guys have, and I get it, but I like to stay lean&mean. Plus I hate all that water sloshing around...
I cant afford to store multiple trailers, so mine has to haul Mom's pine cones to the dump one day, deliver 50g of paint the next, and tie my kayak to it on the third. Picked up a bad-ass 14' Acadia for $100 last fall -- only suckers pay retail!
I try to work as little as possible, my job is to sell. 75% of the jobs I sell are subbed out -- whether is a pwash, siding repair, new sliding glass door, or painting a house. I see the pics of all the crazy rigs you guys have, and I get it, but I like to stay lean&mean. Plus I hate all that water sloshing around...
Lol yea we try to haul as little as possible but just enough to have a good buffer for 2 machines. Around 150 +\-.
I see guys hauling full tanks of water alot, 250 gallons or more. Doesn't make any sense to me.
carolinawildcat
New member
Some of the trailers I see on this board? The tires cost more than my entire trailer.
Lol $648 for 4 brand new ones a month ago.