Hi, my name is James. I am 23 and live in the SW part of Missouri. I have worked for a guy that does pressure washing for several years now. He has a contract with a local company to keep concrete and walk ways, dumpster areas and some restaurant vent hoods inside clean. Id like to do the same on my own minus the vent hood part, i don't want anything to do with that. Currently I have a 16 foot utility trailer with a 330 gallon tank mounted over the wheels. I have a Honda 13hp engine, and a direct drive AR 4000psi 4GPM pump. Rapid Reel 200ft cap. hose reel (i hate it! it will be one of the first things to get replaced with something else.) 100ft pressure hose (expanding to 200 or more even if i have to roll up some additional hose by hand and add in only when needed) I am using a Whitco stinger 2 steam cleaner that i am modifying to suit my needs. Currently it does not have a fuel solenoid valve, flow switch, or thermostat. It is set up for 2000psi and 220v. I am converting it to 120v (and adding flow switch, fuel solenoid and likely a hit temp cutoff switch instead of a thermostat) and changing the relief valve to a 3500psi valve and the inlet hose to a 4000psi hose. The mfr says the coil is a schedule 40 coil and that i should not exceed 3000psi, although the burst pressure is 8,000psi. So i will be running 3000 psi max. At some point I am going to go to a belt driven pump 7-8gpm probably and the generator i have is a 6,000w belt drive unit which for now will be used with an 11hp Honda. I would like to run the pump and generator off the same motor. (What a BIG motor that will be! I'm considering a 4 cylinder diesel or a rebuilt Wisconsin 4 cylinder gas). Anyways i think that about covers my unit. I'll upgrade as I make money.... don't know how long the direct drive pump will last. It isn't too happy about having to pull AND push water. The coil will get replaced with a schedule 80, and I have discussed my plans for a motor and pump already.
I haven't exactly decided what all I want to wash yet. I want to start out with the easy stuff, but at the same time i don't want to tell people no if i get calls for something. When it comes to washing two story houses, do you wash off of a ladder ? Or, as i've seen in a video, do you just use an X jet and spray chemical from the ground, let it sit and then rinse?
When i did my deck and fence with my unit, cold water, around 3500psi i noticed some spots wouldnt come clean without bearing down on it hard and some of it not even then. It would wash away some of the fibers too and when it dried up it was like saw dust and left streaks and bright spots. You could see that the washer had been there. For this i assume there is too much pressure. I sprayed on some Ultra HD chemical from KOPressureSupply.com (which is local for me, their store and their chemical manufacturing facility is here in town with me) I was not impressed with the chemical on any surface i used it on. What would you guys recommend for decks and fences? What about for houses? Please tell me, and let me know how you guys apply it and how to use it correctly.
I would prefer to do something like parking lots, sidewalks, and trailers, personally, but trying to be a good business, especially starting out, i don't think that I can really be too selective.
There are many questions i have but thats all that comes to mind right now. Looking forward to starting this biz and to hearing what some of you have to say. I've been reading the site for a day or two waiting for my account to be activated.
Thanks guys!
I haven't exactly decided what all I want to wash yet. I want to start out with the easy stuff, but at the same time i don't want to tell people no if i get calls for something. When it comes to washing two story houses, do you wash off of a ladder ? Or, as i've seen in a video, do you just use an X jet and spray chemical from the ground, let it sit and then rinse?
When i did my deck and fence with my unit, cold water, around 3500psi i noticed some spots wouldnt come clean without bearing down on it hard and some of it not even then. It would wash away some of the fibers too and when it dried up it was like saw dust and left streaks and bright spots. You could see that the washer had been there. For this i assume there is too much pressure. I sprayed on some Ultra HD chemical from KOPressureSupply.com (which is local for me, their store and their chemical manufacturing facility is here in town with me) I was not impressed with the chemical on any surface i used it on. What would you guys recommend for decks and fences? What about for houses? Please tell me, and let me know how you guys apply it and how to use it correctly.
I would prefer to do something like parking lots, sidewalks, and trailers, personally, but trying to be a good business, especially starting out, i don't think that I can really be too selective.
There are many questions i have but thats all that comes to mind right now. Looking forward to starting this biz and to hearing what some of you have to say. I've been reading the site for a day or two waiting for my account to be activated.
Thanks guys!