Need some feedback.....

[mriley]

I own and operate a golf course .... and well, golf is in a little depression at the moment so I am looking at some additional revenue streams. I have looked at power washing over the years and am close to pulling the trigger. In my home town there is an extensive road project right through the center of town that has been ongoing for 3 or 4 months. Consequently every house on both sides of the street are covered in dust. Once the roadwork is completed in early November, there "should" be lots of potential dirty houses, ie. several hundred....... which I see has the perfect opportunity to either get in the business or shutup about it.

If I plan to initially only go after the "soft wash" housing market will a 200 gallon John Bean Sprayer (8 HP Honda/ 10 gpm @ 500 psi) get the job done provided I come up with a smaller dedicated detergent applicator ? Given the lateness of the season, I would rather not spend six or seven thousand (+) now for the "pro" style equipment I have looked at that would enable me to do all sorts of pressure cleaning. Would rather walk before I run.... if at all possible.

What do you all think ?
Thank you.

 

[Doug Rucker]

Had never heard of John Bean so I googled them. Looks they are really ag type sprayers. I really dont think they will be suitable for cleaning houses. They may work well for applying your house wash mix, but for rinsing not so well. If you really want to get into the business and it looks like you have a great opportunity there, you can get the right equipment and get set up for probably around 3k. This would get you a nice little 3000 PSI/4 GPM portable machine plus all the hoses and wands and extra parts you would need, perhaps even a surface scrubber for concrete driveways.

Here is what I would do if I were you. Call Mark at Easy Clean Systems, 916.638.0828, and discuss with him your budget and your business model and he can point you in the right direction of the equipment you will need. Mark is very knowledgable about the industry and sells great professional/commercial grade equipment at great prices.

 

[Clean County]

Ditto to what Doug said. Today you have to be very careful on now you spend your money especially considering the way the economy is. Like you said today it's good to have in your business plan a "Smart walk before you Run" attitude and a smart walk would be to go to a smart source and you have Mark from Easy Clean right here....and if you have any questions about any equipment you may purchase from Mark you not only have excellent customer service from him via landline,his shop....you have something else that very few others have...you have his bulletin board.

 

[PressurePros]

If you can really get 500 psi from that, it would be adequate for washing vinyl. The issues will arise when doing the other things that cana rise during a house wash like hitting webs and nests underneath high eaves, as well as concrete porches, foundations and walks. These things all require in the 1200 psi range as a minimum. Stucco may also present a problem for you. Through the years many have discussed using low pressure pumps to do house washing. I don't think its a viable long term solution as sometimes (often enough) you need pressure to clean. The specs on the pump you mentioned are the most interesting I have seen. Most talk about using 12V pumps.

 

[archie_MN]

Lots of great info there, ditto to all of it. You see an immediate market and you're willing to do the work. Now is the time to go for it!

I'm also a walk before you run guy, have you tried using your 500psi machine on yours and your friends' homes? Also, have you looked for a PW rental shop in your area? Rental can be a great way to test the waters for hundreds instead of thousands of $$$.

Welcome to the forum, by the way. Hope we can help you out!

 

[mriley]

Thanks for the feedback...
Rainy morning here so I drove over to Columbus (from Dayton) to visit with the guys from Equipment Specialists, Inc. and got the lowdown on what I really need. I plan to rent a comparable unit from one of the rental yards here in SW Ohio for a week. I have 3 buildings, 50 golf carts and a couple of dozen pieces of mowing equipment to get my feet wet. I like the contrast between a business (golf) that entails a couple hundred acres of intensively maintained grounds, 20 some employees and lots of equipment and overhead and property taxes ....versus a business where everything is paid for, requires only one helper and where the entire rolling stock inventory can be backed into my garage at day's end.
Thanks again.... Mike