Looking to enter the business

[Michael S.]

I'm doing my preliminary research into joining you guys in the business in the not so distant future. You all seem so helpful and I want to get all my ducks in a row before I make my investment.

I have many questions but will start with a few for now.

Any good places where you can get training or reference material?
I sent off for the cleaner times?
Any products (machinery) to avoid? I have read alot of your posts and am trying to familiarize myself with the diffent items talked about (water brooms, containment booms, etc...

What are the most common jobs? Driveways, houses? Commercial?

Average hours to a job?

I noticed several other areas of specialty Decks Vent hoods etc.
Is it better to start with driveways and parking lots and work up?

Or are those jobs not cost effective?

What about pricing I read about those darn Low-ballers. How do you determine a fair and competative price is there a rule of thumb or dollars per foot formula?
Dan your at my back door, does TX require a license and what does insurance run?

If I get into this, I want to do it right and be reputable. Feel free to e-mail me as well with any pertinent information look forward to hearing all your sage advice from all of you

Thanks in advance

Michael

 

[Mark]

Originally posted by Michael S.
........................ ............... .....................
I have many questions but will start with a few for now.

Any good places where you can get training or reference material?
I sent off for the cleaner times?
Any products (machinery) to avoid? I have read alot of your posts and am trying to familiarize myself with the diffent items talked about (water brooms, containment booms, etc...

What are the most common jobs? Driveways, houses? Commercial?

...............................................................
Michael

Michael,

Welcome to www.powerwashnetwork.com !

RE: Good places to get training or refernce material: Right here, also : http://www.adpub.com/ctimes/content.cfm?doc=book_pwagb&title=PW Guidebook

Machinery to avoid/ I won't go there! However as a distributor of cleaning equipment some consider my opinion to be biased. What type of cleaning do you want to do? What is your budget for equipment this may dictate what type of work you can do. If you have less than $3000 to invest you will probably need to go with a cold water unit.

Stick around ask questions, usually if you ask one specific question at a time you get more replies.

[hand]

 

[Michael S.]

Thanks Mark

Will have about $7000.00 to invest

I see lots of tools scrubbers/wands etc...
Hot water systems seem to be the norm
Just looking for good equipment to get the job done in a timely manner looking for the basic set up for doing driveways parking lots I guess to start.
or is that not a cost effective avenue to concentrate on?

 

[Dan Flynn]

Welcome Mike!

 

[Paul Freeman]

Hi Mike

Email me. Going through that. Lets talk BEFORE you spend your cash.

Paul Freeman

 

[Mark]

5 GPM @ 3000 PSI Trailer Mounted HP Washer** Click here for more information**

See I told you my opinion was somewhat biased!

 

[Scott Stone]

That is not too bad of a deal Mark, especially for a start up rig. It saves a lot of hassle in buildign the rigs, and is a clean looking unit.

I do think that I ma going ot start buying diesel engines for my rigs from now on. They have a longer service life an dthe fuel can be or is cheaper. The up front cost is a lot more though. I will have to really check in to it some more.

So the question is, What is the price of a diesel powered rig??

Scott

 

[Mark]

Scott,

The Kubota diesel is very dependable, and very expensive.
Personally I would go with a 20 or 24 HP Honda.
Here is a picture of our diesel rig.

 

[Jon]

Michael one thing you need to consider before buying any rig is growth.

You will need room to expand and add equipment to your trailer, you can buy something like what Mark sells and later buy a larger trailer and move it all there or you can also buy the trailer and skid seperatly.

Another thought is a flat bed truck, I know your limited with cash starting out so you need to watch spending.

I would suggest doing more research before jumping in and part of that would be is there enough business in the field you want to specialize in to support you?

Email me and I can give more suggestions to you.

Jon

 

[Scott Stone]

Ther eason tht I like the diesel is the service life. A honda has a service life of around 2000 hours, the same as a Vanguard. That is also pretty close to what I get out of the as well. The Kubota et. al. have a service life of 25,000 hours. So even if they are twice as much, the hourly cost of operation is about a fifth of what the Hondas and vanguards are.

For what it is worth, Starting out I would not buy a diesel. The odds of you making it in this business, (lasting 5 years or more) or any business is about 5%. Obviously not worth the investment for you until you are sure that you have a solid revenue stream. A 2000 hour machine lasts me about one year, almost. Makes for a hassle once a year to change out engines.

Scott

 

[Paul Freeman]

First, I'd like to Commend Mark McInryre for the service he freely offers to these boards. Thank You, Mark! Personally, Mark has helped me - at no profit to himself - on several occasions. I don’t know where you can find a guy like him, without finding a board like this. Additionally, if I lived in California, he’d be the only guy I'd buy my stuff from. Period. That said, and given that I’m a 1,000 miles away from him, he’s still in the top 3 on my vendor list.

I'm wondering how many people use these type units (not necessarily from Mark) - gas or diesel and where do you store other equipment on these units?

Thanks,
Paul Freeman

 

[AGoodJob]

any opinion

We have several small cold water power washers that we use. Any opinions on TUFF ? We have a small business (started out with a Generac from Home Depot 3 years ago and its just now starting to die). We power wash and stain decks, fences, etc., and hope to grow this year. Just bought a Tuff hot water, haven't had the need for it yet. Comments on Tuff ?

 

[Mike Hughes]

Are the comments really relevant since you already bought the machine?? I have never heard extremely positive things about Tuff washers, however, if you take good care of it (oil changes, etc), it should be a good worker for you.

Dont forget to winterize it when temps get near or below freezing..........or you'll be sorry!