funny story with a quote....

[Bleemus]

Anyone who lives in South Carolina knows that you pressure wash your house at least once a year and sometimes twice. Any south facing vinyl will quickly grow algae and moss in the hot humid conditions.

As I am in the research mode for starting a pressure wash business I decided to try out some of the competition and chose one that has a small ad in the yellow pages. He advertises "low pressure" as a keypoint and since the front of my house is Dryvit I thought I would give him a call. His wife or girlfriend answered and she sounded like I had just woke her up from a nap since it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon. She took my name, number and address and said that "he" would call this weekend to arrange the quote.

About 10am on Saturday my wife receives a call as I was out golfing with buddies. According to my wife he asked very few questions and basically asked "is this the correct address?, do you have a screened in porch?" and that was it. The answer my wife gave was yes, that was the correct address and we do have a screened in porch. He then said that he would do it Tuesday afternoon, he would charge $79.99 and that if we weren't there he would leave an invoice that we could pay only if we were happy with the work.

Our house is a two story, 2400 sf with a couple of sections that are close to forty feet high. The north facing side is covered with summer "growth" and there are a couple of sections that would be tough to get to with an X-jet or long lance. The best price I have seen around here for a single story is $129 so this guy is unique. Can't wait to see what he shows up with but if he botches it I write it down to research. He does say he is insured.
Great way to figure out who you are up against. I find it kinda funny cause this guy could have upsold me on driveway flatwork as well as a deck restoration if he had actually stopped by to see the house. I think he believes we are single story as many houses in our neighborhood are.We shall see. I will post the outcome on Tuesday night.

 

[FCPWLLC]

For $79, I wouldn't let anybody with a pressure washer near my home.

 

[Bleemus]

I have a sense of adventure. It's only a house.

 

[grasshawg]

Pretty slick, Bleemus. This guy is in for a surprise to say the least. If he does do a good job, you've got a helluva deal. If he botches it, look forward to him driving by one day seeing you wash a two story getting 250-300. At the very least, it will have been worth the 79.99 to see his face when he shows up.
I'll be looking forward to Tuesday's assessment as well.
Randy

 

[CaroliProWash]

Hey - we'll come upsell the flatwork and deck restoration!

Celeste

 

[Larry L.]

Hope fully one of this days the shoes isn't on the other foot.

 

[PressurePros]

"It's only a house"

"He says he is insured"

"If he botches it..(minor consequence)"


Mike, I am with you 100%. Obviously this guy is a complete fly by nighter as is evidenced by his girlfriend/wife answering the phone like she did. No business greeting? Uggh. Dryvit is a specialty clean and a house your size should be $600-$1200 for a first time cleaning (based upon where you live..lower end for the south)

Even using low pressure to get it truly clean the entire structure and every inch of mortar has to be cleaned up close and with even strokes. It's only a house? What investment have you made in your life that has been larger? Do you have any idea how much it costs to repair dryvit and God forbid subsequent water damage if it gets behind the substrate and into your interior walls? He says he is insured? Any knucklehead can say that. What is the likelihood that this hack is actually insured? You want to find that out the hard way? I think you're crazy for even considering this. At best he will drive up, see the house, and keep on driving. At worst he will leave you with a nightmare that will take you thousands of dollars to wake from.

 

[Bleemus]

I think you may be overreacting just a hair. I will be here when he does the job and certainly know enough to stop him if he is causing damage. Also, my wife is a lawyer and on the rare occassion that a contractor has screwed us in the past we always end up winning. If he is good but cheap it is fine. If he is a bozo and causes damage I will own all of his equipment in short order. Game on.

 

[FCPWLLC]

.

As I am in the research mode for starting a pressure wash business I decided to try out some of the competition and chose one that has a small ad in the yellow pages.

The best research you could do right now, would be to try to clean your own home and realize that there is more to it than you think. Allowing this lowballer to work is only hurting the industry that you seem to want to be a part of. That $79 you give this guy will pay for another month in that phonebook and he'll be getting calls and lowballing your future customers driving down prices.

Real smart supporting the local lowballer.

 

[Larry L.]

However he hasn't done the job yet and likely not if another price isn't agree up one,it seems info wasn't freely offered also.If I was him even after seeing the job and what was expected I'd walk off with another smile on my face.Another wanting something for nothing is why he still has his girlfriend or wife anwering the phone.And another thing he even offered to leave the bill and you pay later that is 'IF" you where pleased with the job.He seems like a honest guy and has plenty of work b/c he wasn't setting home waiting on you to call.He did get back in contact with you like has wife or girlfriend said he would,she may work nights as the reason she sounded sleepy,at least she did answer the phone.More than likely he can do a great job even if someone is/was standing around looking over his shoulder.I say he will do the job and take the lose than again he may not after meeting you.We powerwashers have a way of knowing what type persons to stay away from,not saying your that type person.

Making fun of another the way they do business is like......I'll stop there....I thought I'd take up for him,he would be a preacher.

 

[PressurePros]

I give up. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[PressurePros]

However he hasn't done the job yet and likely not if another price isn't agree up one,it seems info wasn't freely offered also.If I was him even after seeing the job and what was expected I'd walk off with another smile on my face.Another wanting something for nothing is why he still has his girlfriend or wife anwering the phone.And another thing he even offered to leave the bill and you pay later that is 'IF" you where pleased with the job.He seems like a honest guy and has plenty of work b/c he wasn't setting home waiting on you to call.He did get back in contact with you like has wife or girlfriend said he would,she may work nights as the reason she sounded sleepy,at least she did answer the phone.More than likely he can do a great job even if someone is/was standing around looking over his shoulder.I say he will do the job and take the lose than again he may not after meeting you.We powerwashers have a way of knowing what type persons to stay away from,not saying your that type person.

Making fun of another the way they do business is like......I'll stop there....I thought I'd take up for him,he would be a preacher.

Absolutely no idea what you were trying to say here Larry. Maybe they do business differently in the south than we do up here. No one was making fun of anyone that I saw. There is a right way and a wrong way to do business. Guys complain in every other post about lowballing and what we can do to stop giving the industry a bad name and then backwoods yokels without a clue how to run a successful business (improper phone answering, sight unseen price quote, ridiculous pricing and then out of business after one season types) destroy every hope of ever getting people to respect this as a true business.

Whatever. I give. I make money and I thank God I am up above the good ole Mason Dixon. You guys in the south that do things right, you have my respect.

 

[Larry L.]

Ken if you would read into it you would see what I was saying,it just takes yankees longer to see in.If I see a ad in the paper for 50 dollar details do you think I'd take my vette there and complain if they missed a spot or put a scratch on the hood?We down here in the south beleive in paying for what we get or is it get what we pay for or is it we should have known better.I do NOT support lowballers no matter what trade they are in,I know the differents in 10 cents and 20 cents jobs nomatter what they be.Usually even if I hire someone and they do a better job than expected or put me on top of the list I give a little extra when I write the check.Down here cheap means what it says,a cheap toy a cheap job uaually last or as good as the money paid.

 

[Bleemus]

I had no clue this guy was a lowballer. In our local phone book there are only three display ads for pressure wash service providers with about 30 others. One ad is for a local company that is well recognized around town and they have four trucks. I have watched them work on jobs on many occassions. The other two were unknown. Since I have Dryvit I chose the ad that said "Low Pressure, Licensed and Insured". I had no clue he would be so cheap and, to be honest, he may have driven by the house early Saturday morning and done a walkaround without my seeing him as I was out playing golf. We shall see but I can't imagine making money on my house at $79 unless he does it in 15 minutes.

 

[Bleemus]

The best research you could do right now, would be to try to clean your own home and realize that there is more to it than you think. Allowing this lowballer to work is only hurting the industry that you seem to want to be a part of. That $79 you give this guy will pay for another month in that phonebook and he'll be getting calls and lowballing your future customers driving down prices.

Real smart supporting the local lowballer.

I have cleaned my house before and realize what is involved. Last fall I borrowed a machine from a neighbor. 3000 psi/3gpm unit. Took a long time, ladders etc. and a few hours later I was done. I realized at the time that I am sure there are more efficient ways to do this and eliminating ladders at all costs would be required. It was hard work but I enjoyed it. I then saw another local company come in with three guys and do a great job on a house in about 35 minutes from the time they stopped the truck. They had a dual motor machine that must have done at least 8GPM. (I think it said WaterResearchUS on it) One guy with what I now know is an x-jet and the other guys just moved the tarps over the bushes and were very careful about rinsing house and bushes . They also stapled plastic over the screened in porch until they were done and washed the exterior wall inside the porch by hand. According to my friend they charged $150. They did three houses that morning that I could see in our subdivision alone. Having seen their operation I didn't want them to do my house so I picked one of the other two that had a display ad in the Yellow Pages.


After watching those guys I knew there was a big difference in the equipment I used and the little machine I had borrowed. I did some research and got intriqued by what was offered. The quest continues. My goal is to attend the Texas school in the fall and study lots of stuff on historical building cleaning as the downtown area here is full of old limestone and brick buildings that nobody seems to be cleaning and are covered in moss, acid rain and pollution staining. Bringing some of these buildings back to their former glory will bring me some pride and money.

 

[CaroliProWash]

I then saw another local company come in with three guys and do a great job on a house in about 35 minutes from the time they stopped the truck. They had a dual motor machine that must have done at least 8GPM. (I think it said WaterResearchUS on it) One guy with what I now know is an x-jet and the other guys just moved the tarps over the bushes and were very careful about rinsing house and bushes . They also stapled plastic over the screened in porch until they were done and washed the exterior wall inside the porch by hand. According to my friend they charged $150. They did three houses that morning that I could see in our subdivision alone. Having seen their operation I didn't want them to do my house so I picked one of the other two that had a display ad in the Yellow Pages.

Did I miss something here? You didn't want this company because they used quality equipment and were careful??????

Celeste

 

[Bleemus]

Celeste,
Having seen them in operation on three houses I felt I knew enough about their methods that having them do my house would provide me with very little data for my research hence the reason I chose the next service provider with an ad in the yellow pages. I may even try the third one in the fall or encourage my neighbor to use them so I can see how they differ. Just a little research, nothing more.

Regards.

 

[CaroliProWash]

Color me stupid here, but if you saw that company, using quality equipment and good cleaning practices, and you're looking at this as a business - why would you want to bother with looking at the other folk? Learning how NOT to do something is sort of a waste of time isn't it? Actually paying someone to watch to see them mess up or lowball is only encouraging the companies that are not qualified to continue on their same track. Don't know your long term intentions for business, but some of us would like to see the non-quals, non-insured, and lowballers goin' OUT of business - they give the whole industry a black eye.

Celeste

 

[Bleemus]

His ad said "licensed and insured" and we have yet to determine if he is not qualified. We will find out tomorrow.

As for why I am looking at this guy wouldn't you agree that investigating all of your competition before submitting your business plan to a bank makes good sense? If my business plan includes a one paragraph report on the operation that has four trucks and washed a few houses in our neighborhood I doubt any loan officer would consider that I had done my due diligence. Having a comprehensive database of the skills and marketing of your competitors is always a good idea. When they show a weakness you can fill the void. Also, knowing how my competitors work also provides me the ability to confidently provide them with referrals for jobs that I cannot handle due to special equipment demands or skill requirements.

I am not doing this just to get my house cleaned, even though it needs it. I could do it myself.

 

[Bleemus]

Ok, they arrived today as we had thunderstorms yesterday and they got delayed. Two guys in a pickup truck with half the bed full of bleach bottles. Seemed like real nice guys although their presentation could have been better as one was wearing a wife beater t-shirt and the other had no shirt on but they were pleasant and jovial. Washer was 4000psi machine wheeled that looked well used. They downstreamed a 40% solution of bleach and got right to work. The young guy did the initial lance work while the older guy cleared a few things out of the screened in porch. I had already pulled most stuff out for them but a few things remained. They worked their way around the house and were quite thorough with applying chem and then rinsing before the sun had a chance to dry it but one side was baking and it dried on them. They were careful not to use pressure and let the chems work. The mossy side of the house took two tries but is now clean. After drying there were some dark streaks on the panels just below a seam in the vinyl panel above it. For the price I didn't moan about it since you can hardly see it but I think it was a function of their machine just not having enough rinse water volume. Any thoughts on that I would love to hear.

I have one gutter that I hate cleaning that is way up high and just out of reach of my Little Giant ladder. I offered an extra 30 bucks if they cleaned it and before you could say boo the young guy was on the roof and over the top pulling debris out.

They even washed my front walk down to the driveway.

I watched the whole thing, enjoyed chatting with the guys as they worked and they seemed to enjoy it as well. The integrity of the house was not comprimised any more than if I sprayed a hose at it and it is clean. One hour total.

Invoice was presented. House cleaning was $69 dollars, screened in porch was $10, for the gutter he put as $20 even after I said $30. I gave them a $10 tip and a couple of beers for their cooler. $110 total. He had a flat surface machine and asked if I wanted the driveway done but said "Can't do it today as I have three more houses, have to do at least five a day to make it worth it." And off they went.

Next up - another competitor for the flatwork.