A little help - Advice and Pricing

Torque454

New Member
I got a call yesterday from a guy wanting three different things done. The first project is power washing a 16 x 80 Mobile home with vinyl siding and the guy talked about bleach water and algae/mold/mildew. I quoted him $100 on that, which is probably a pretty good price, maybe a bit on the cheap side. Its a ways from the $1 linear foot that's talked about on here, but this is a mobile home and he didn't sound concerned about any stains or spots, he just basically wanted it washed of the algae and mold/mildew. With that said, and the lack of much if any gutters, eves and high points (maybe called crowns or peaks im not sure?) I think $100 is pretty good.

The last house I did (I'm new to the business) was the first house I've done, aside from my own, and it turned out great. However I had just a short wand with a quick connect on it (my long wand i have a small tip in that produces too much pressure, and i have some weights and a 45 degree bend in it that i use on concrete so i couldn't use it for the house) and I used a pump up sprayer with regular store bleach/water in it. As i said it turned out nice, the customer was happy but the bleach water mix was probably a bit strong and the pump up sprayer is slow. If i use 12% bleach through my downstream injector would that be strong enough to remove the algae, etc. ?

I'm getting a long wand today with a quick connect on it so i can reach farther with it and not have a fixed tip so I can use both the chemical tip and a low pressure cleaning tip.

Ok, next project.

Project 2.

The same customer that wants the mobile home washed also has a deck that has a couple of new boards on it and he would like to have the whole thing washed, hoping to get the old boards to match the new ones so he can seal it before winter. I don't know if it will turn out quite that good or not but I'm going to try. I don't know what to charge him for it, tho. I am unsure of the square feet and i am not sure how you would calculate the sq ft of all the rails and related materials. On my deck I have 2x2 slots every 6 to 8 inches across. Sounds like a nightmare to calculate sq ft of. Ive tried out some stuff on my own fence that I got from Walmart called McCroskeys or something like that that says it contains sodium hyperclorite (bleach) and sodium hydroxide (lye). It is $4.50 a gallon and works better than anything else Ive tried including bleach alone, and sodium percarbonate so I will probably use this on the guys deck.

Project 3.

Anyways, he also has a driveway that he has sealed, but he says there was something on the driveway when he sealed it that has kept the sealer from sticking and it is coming off. Someone he talked to told him to have it power washed and then seal it again so the guy wants that done. I dont know if he wants ALL the sealer off, or just the stuff that didnt stick. If he just wants the stuff that didnt stick off, that wont be a problem. If he wants ALL the sealer off, i am not sure what to do. I dont know if just the pressure/hot water alone will do the job, or if i'll need a chemical. Im sure the chemical would help speed things up some if he wants all the sealer off. What would i use for such a task? Sodium hydroxide?

What should i charge for the driveway if he just wants the loose stuff off? How about if he wants it all off? Its approximately an 8 x 200 driveway he says. Could be a little shorter but could be a little wider as well. I figured 13 cents a sq ft for just removing the loose stuff, but i dont know if thats a good price or if its high or if its low. That comes out to be $208. For removal of it all id say what? Double that? $416? That sounds high, but $208 sounds about right.
 

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