Pressure Washing

 
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Old 12-12-2006, 07:48 AM   #21
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Re: Pressure Washing


I have two pressure cleaning services on my menu:

#1 - Pressure clean to "spruce up" your home.

#2 - Pressure clean to prepare for painting.

Two completely different jobs.

Priced accordingly.

Tom Rohland, Jr.
Ranger Painting & Pressure Cleaning, Inc.
Lake Mary, Florida



Pressure Pro,

How in the heck do you hand scrub gutters on a two story Colonial if your feet never leave the ground?

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Old 12-12-2006, 08:30 AM   #22
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Re: Pressure Washing


Tom, 30 ft aluminum extension poles with a truck brush and specialty cleaner.
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Old 12-12-2006, 10:50 AM   #23
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Re: Pressure Washing


Pressure,

My bad.

I forgot. The 30' extension pole, truck brush and specialty soap.

But then, that's not what I call hand scrubbing.

Anyway, who makes those 30 footers and where can I get one?

Boy, 30' is up there!!!!!!!!!

I don't think I've got enough AZZ in my pants to handle that job!!!

LOL

Hey, got any pics?????????

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Old 12-12-2006, 11:19 AM   #24
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Re: Pressure Washing


Sure it's hand brushing. If you put a truck brush on a 6ft pole and scrub your rig, are you not hand brushing it? Semantics. I wouldn't get caught up in terminology, Tom.

We use 30' poles so that when we extend them to 20' they aren't over-extended and wobbly. You can see one here.
http://www.theyhaveit.com/servlet/Detail?no=9484

What do you want to see pictures of, Tom? Quite a few housewash pics are posted here:
http://www.cleaningtalk.com/showthread.php?t=683&page=2
Starting with post #55 and continuing at post #89

I have about 150 more if you'd like me to email them to you? I'm not sure what your goal is here, Tom? Guaging the quality of our work or seeing if I am full of sh*t?

Go over to The Grime Scene, you may be very surprised to learn what you don't know about exterior cleaning. I probably have 1500+ posts over there covering everything from marketing, sales, techniques, chemicals etc. Happy reading.
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Old 12-12-2006, 02:19 PM   #25
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Re: Pressure Washing


Quote:
Originally Posted by rws View Post
I wonder where this guy lives? All the painters in his area are hacks and vandals?Iraq?I was amazed that most people dont know what they are doing in Jacksonville too.
Hey rws, in Jacksonville, the scary truth is that most guys with a pressure washer have no idea what they are doing. 99% of them around here do nothing but a bleach bath on everything they clean. That was my only point. I know a few professionals in my area that are not like this, but not many.

The thing I find funny is how many pressure washing guys I've seen come in here calling painters hacks (as far as pressure washing goes), and guys like pressure pro have PAINTING listed as one of their trades! Hah! Shouldn't that go both ways? Please take no offense pressure pro, but you aren't the first one to say that here, and it's dang funny you would say that and list painting as one of your trades.

What's good for the goose.......
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Old 12-12-2006, 04:05 PM   #26
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Re: Pressure Washing


I'm not offended.. At best I am a mediocre painter compared to some of the work I have seen here. I employ two union painters on my staff. I offer painting to my existing customers. It is primarily a winter endeavor. I very rarely pick up a paint brush. I would be doing my customers a disservice to do so.

When I mention the painters in my area being hacks I am more or less open to those same guys calling me a hack if I advertise myself a painter. If I may clarify. I cross paths with painters quite often in the field. I see them pressue washing homes with over 2000 psi and a bottle of clorox. Not only are they driving water into sensitive substrates and loosening siding, they leave windows coudy, gutters stripped of paint and bricks eminating efflorescence. This to me, is vandalism caused by ignorance of proper technique. These guys have $500 Home Depot pressure washers and insist they are doing things right. They aren't. I suppose I am overly sensitive to this ilk because when it comes time for a company that does know what it is doing, customers think the service not worthy of true business sustaining profit. "You want how much to do my deck"?

The worst culprit is the painter offering deck finishing. I have taken the time to learn the use of proper sealers, the identification and intricasies of every species of wood, the importance of proper detergents that do not destroy the lignin in wood and the importance of pH balancing wood for sealer longevity. Learning the difference betwen a paraffinic oil and man made alkyds and drying oils and knowing which to aplly and under what conditions has taken time. When a painter shows up and blasts a deck all to hell with 3500 psi and sprays down a coat of Behr acrylic it is my company that customer calls when next year the deck is a peeling, flaking mess. The customer does not want to hear that it will cost five times as much as Joe Pro charged him last year to fix it. This is why I developed the concept of Restore-A-Deck as a DIY system.

Unfortunately, and even more so in painting, the cost of geting into the business requires low start up costs. AA, I'm sure you see otherwise unemployable hacks entering your market every day. Get a POS van, buy some brushes, rollers, a ladder and a few tarps and you are in business. They are here today and gone tommorrow and leave in their wake customers that think you should be able to work for beer money.

I apologize for offending any serious painter that has built a name and reputation based upon quality. That was not my intention. At the same time one should remain teachable and open minded enough to learn better technique. There is plenty of work to go around and every trade suffers from guys that fancy themselves professionals and undercut prices.
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Old 12-12-2006, 04:12 PM   #27
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Re: Pressure Washing


Quote:
Originally Posted by PressurePros View Post
I'm not offended.. At best I am a mediocre painter compared to some of the work I have seen here. I employ two union painters on my staff. I offer painting to my existing customers. It is primarily a winter endeavor. I very rarely pick up a paint brush. I would be doing my customers a disservice to do so.

When I mention the painters in my area being hacks I am more or less open to those same guys calling me a hack if I advertise myself a painter. If I may clarify. I cross paths with painters quite often in the field. I see them pressue washing homes with over 2000 psi and a bottle of clorox. Not only are they driving water into sensitive substrates and loosening siding, they leave windows coudy, gutters stripped of paint and bricks eminating efflorescence. This to me, is vandalism caused by ignorance of proper technique. These guys have $500 Home Depot pressure washers and insist they are doing things right. They aren't. I suppose I am overly sensitive to this ilk because when it comes time for a company that does know what it is doing, customers think the service not worthy of true business sustaining profit. "You want how much to do my deck"?
The worst culprit is the painter offering deck finishing. I have taken the time to learn the use of proper sealers, the identification and intricasies of every species of wood, the importance of proper detergents that do not destroy the lignin in wood and the importance of pH balancing wood for sealer longevity. Learning the difference betwen a paraffinic oil and man made alkyds and drying oils and knowing which to aplly and under what conditions has taken time. When a painter shows up and blasts a deck all to hell with 3500 psi and sprays down a coat of Behr acrylic it is my company that customer calls when next year the deck is a peeling, flaking mess. The customer does not want to hear that it will cost five times as much as Joe Pro charged him last year to fix it. This is why I developed the concept of Restore-A-Deck as a DIY system.

Unfortunately, and even more so in painting, the cost of geting into the business requires low start up costs. AA, I'm sure you see otherwise unemployable hacks entering your market every day. Get a POS van, buy some brushes, rollers, a ladder and a few tarps and you are in business. They are here today and gone tommorrow and leave in their wake customers that think you should be able to work for beer money.

I apologize for offending any serious painter that has built a name and reputation based upon quality. That was not my intention. At the same time one should remain teachable and open minded enough to learn better technique. There is plenty of work to go around and every trade suffers from guys that fancy themselves professionals and undercut prices.
Bravo my good man,Bravo
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Old 12-12-2006, 10:47 PM   #28
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Re: Pressure Washing


Very well said pressure pro. I guess I take offense to some of those comments because I offer both pressure washing and wood care as one of my services. However, I have taken the time to refine my processes and learn from others the proper way to handle jobs of this nature. There aren't many painters that can quote you the dry time of a specific coating at 50%RH and 75 degrees F. I'm the type that spends every waking hour looking for new information and new ways to do things, that's half the reason I'm here, and half the reason I can charge what I do to my customers. I feel your pain though because I often loose jobs because of my rates. It costs substantially more to do things right and those of us who have taken the time to perfect our services should be able to get a premium for them.
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Old 12-13-2006, 05:34 PM   #29
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Re: Pressure Washing


Quote:
Originally Posted by PressurePros View Post
Sure it's hand brushing. If you put a truck brush on a 6ft pole and scrub your rig, are you not hand brushing it? Semantics. I wouldn't get caught up in terminology, Tom.

We use 30' poles so that when we extend them to 20' they aren't over-extended and wobbly. You can see one here.
http://www.theyhaveit.com/servlet/Detail?no=9484

What do you want to see pictures of, Tom? Quite a few housewash pics are posted here:
http://www.cleaningtalk.com/showthread.php?t=683&page=2
Starting with post #55 and continuing at post #89

I have about 150 more if you'd like me to email them to you? I'm not sure what your goal is here, Tom? Guaging the quality of our work or seeing if I am full of sh*t?

Go over to The Grime Scene, you may be very surprised to learn what you don't know about exterior cleaning. I probably have 1500+ posts over there covering everything from marketing, sales, techniques, chemicals etc. Happy reading.

PressurePro,


I'm still having a problem determining:

#1 If the method you're describing should be advertised as hand scrubbing or pole scrubbing. It is misleading.

I can certainly apply more elbow grease if I have the brush in hand; as opposed to having the brush on the end of a 6' pole, never mind on the end of a 20' pole. Don't you agree?

Is this the technique you use for 'prepping gutters to paint' on a two story Colonial? Or is it just the house wash.

It doesn't seem that you can do any more than just lightly swipe the brush across the gutter.

Where is the leverage coming from?

Tom Rohland, Jr.
Ranger Painting & Pressure Cleaning, Inc.
Lake Mary, Florida

Must be a house wash.
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Old 12-13-2006, 05:57 PM   #30
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Re: Pressure Washing


Another problem with aluminum poles is electric wires.Even with the rubber on the ends they are very dangerous.
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Old 12-13-2006, 06:10 PM   #31
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Re: Pressure Washing


Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Rohland View Post
PressurePro,


I'm still having a problem determining:

#1 If the method you're describing should be advertised as hand scrubbing or pole scrubbing. It is misleading.

I can certainly apply more elbow grease if I have the brush in hand; as opposed to having the brush on the end of a 6' pole, never mind on the end of a 20' pole. Don't you agree?

Is this the technique you use for 'prepping gutters to paint' on a two story Colonial? Or is it just the house wash.

It doesn't seem that you can do any more than just lightly swipe the brush across the gutter.

Where is the leverage coming from?

Tom Rohland, Jr.
Ranger Painting & Pressure Cleaning, Inc.
Lake Mary, Florida

Must be a house wash.
I'm fairly sure Ken is referring to a house wash.You would be very surprise at exactly how clean the gutters come using this method.Brushing with a pole is considered hand scrubbing,as a lot of pressure washing companies shoot their gutter cleaner on and rinse.Without the aggitation to the gutter surface the end result is clean,but not as clean.
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Old 12-13-2006, 06:45 PM   #32
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Re: Pressure Washing


Yes, housewash. Purely cosmetic. Its all in the cleaners. Like Scott mentioned, our Silver Plan is spraying chemical onto the gutters and just rinsing it off. Comes fairly clean but not as clean as if we manually scrub them (as offered in Gold Plan).

We get the job done properly. How much leverage? Enough to be successful at making gutters shine. Too much pressure would degloss the gutter coating or remove it. The right tools and technique for the job. This is the way hundreds of cleaning contractors do the job.
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Last edited by PressurePros; 12-13-2006 at 06:47 PM.
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Old 12-13-2006, 08:02 PM   #33
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Re: Pressure Washing


what do you guys use to get the black crap of the gutters?
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Old 12-13-2006, 08:55 PM   #34
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Re: Pressure Washing


Gutter Zap. Its expensive but works well. Gutter Shock is another good specialty cleaner.
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Old 12-13-2006, 09:11 PM   #35
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Re: Pressure Washing


You Apply Those By Hand Right?
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Old 12-13-2006, 09:44 PM   #36
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Re: Pressure Washing


There are a few ways to apply.
1) Via 12V Shurflo pump (diluted)
2) Via downstreamer (straight) with proper nozzle to shoot detergents 40+ ft into the air
3) Dip brush into bucket with diluted chemical and brush on.

Our method is to have one man apply our regular housewash mix via downstreamer and have a helper follow with chemical bucket brushing gutters and windows.
Attached Thumbnails
pressure washing-ds_er.jpg   pressure washing-greg_brushing.jpg  
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Old 12-13-2006, 09:50 PM   #37
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Re: Pressure Washing


Wow
I was taken back abit aboutwhat you guys are calling hacks.
I consider myself a professional. And I wash most all our house with bleach and preasure washer. My prices range widely due to the size of houses we do. An av house for us would be @15000sf 30,000 tops.
These are big and some of them my 40' wont reach the top. Mildew is a huge problem around here and bleach works well for me. My pwr washer is a 18horse 4000psi.
By reading the previous post, I am a hack.
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Old 12-13-2006, 09:53 PM   #38
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Re: Pressure Washing


Sorry to keep posting all of these pics but I know our work is top notch. Our chemicals are proprietary. You won't find them at Blowe's or Home Cheapo.
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pressure washing-drty_frnt1.jpg   pressure washing-clean_frt1.jpg  
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Old 12-13-2006, 09:54 PM   #39
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Re: Pressure Washing


close up of gutters
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Old 12-13-2006, 09:57 PM   #40
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Re: Pressure Washing


Quote:
Originally Posted by axnjoe View Post
Wow
I was taken back abit aboutwhat you guys are calling hacks.
I consider myself a professional. And I wash most all our house with bleach and preasure washer. My prices range widely due to the size of houses we do. An av house for us would be @15000sf 30,000 tops.
These are big and some of them my 40' wont reach the top. Mildew is a huge problem around here and bleach works well for me. My pwr washer is a 18horse 4000psi.
By reading the previous post, I am a hack.
What if I could show you a way to reach 50', never leave the ground, never use over 500 psi, leave windows sparkling, gutters gleaming, in and out in 2 hours and told you for your efforts you could collect a $500 check and still squeeze in two more jobs per day?

PS: Is your 15,000 s/f an interior measurement or exterior wall space? I charge $.18-$.25 per s/f of wall
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Last edited by PressurePros; 12-13-2006 at 10:00 PM.
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