cedar sided house wash

junker1

Roundtable Host 2009
Good afternoon. I am about to put in a bid for a house wash in maine. the house is cedar sided and relativley new(under 15 years). the house is a mess and really needs a wash. I plan on pretreating it and doing a lot of hand scrubbing. first question is what would the best homemade recipe be?

i took pictures and studied the house for a hour with my partner. we came up with 21 hours x's two men so 42 man hours to do it right. (does that sound like a lot for a two story house ?) at $31.25 per man hour. a little over $1,300.00 for complete wash. does that sound like a lot? my wife says i am crazy but i dont want to do it for nothing.
 
Last edited:
Sounds like you've never done a wood sided house before......why on earth would you want to go at it with a home made concoction? Is there stain - what kind - how old. "a mess" is not a really descriptive term when you're talking about wood care. Maybe you should post those pics.
 
Well, to get any sort of good direction.....putting up those pictures is a must.....hop to it!
 
$31.25 per man hour? Are you a tech or a business owner? No business can survive with those prices. Wood restoration is not cheap and with the proper technique and process is worth a lot more than the prices you had in mind. BUT, you have to know what you're doing or you can really chew up cedar fast. Use the proper chems, use a white 40* nozzle and at least use a dual lance wand that you can back off the pressure if you don't know how to drop the pressure using spray nozzles with over-sized orifices. If you are just learning wood resto some-ones cedar sided house is not a good starting point. Maybe some ones old pressure treated decks or something. Do a lot of wood stripping searches. For instance don't fan the wand back and forth and don't trigger the gun off and on. Start at one end of a board and go all the way down the board in one slow deliberate motion or you'll get marks all over the board.
 
Practice your technique on some cedar fence boards....or go buy some siding - but holy geez - DO NOT let the first piece of cedar you play with be a customer's home or you may find yourself with a nasty insurance claim.
 
023.JPG023.JPG021.JPG019 - Copy.JPGFirst things first, I am no expert or proffesional at this.I am learning and will accept critisizam with an even head so feel free to talk straight with me. second,sorryabout the quality of the pics but it seems that i can not upload anythingb over 1 meg. please believe me that i do not want to ruin any house. my price at $62.50 per hour was for two men and gas for my machin, figuring that as i get better i can do these in half the time and make more money. as of today there is no money so if i can get $30 an hour after expenses then i am ahead of the game I have a skid mounted 2400 psi 4gpm machine with a 24k btu burner, 225 gallon tank mounted in a van i have done 3 decks this month with good results. last year i washed a bout 40 houses while painting with a friend of mine, the "washing" was mostly prep for paint. I am ready to take my time and wash this house correctly. i understand the 0,15,30,40 degree tips. i will never use a zero tip. the 40 was the one i was gonna go with.as to the chemicals I found this in a previous post "sodium percarbonate with a little sodium hydroxide, pressure wash, and neutralize/brighten with oxalic acid." Does that sound correct? please feel free to throw me you thoughts. I am not afraid to attempt this job i will take extra precautions not to ruin the wood. Thank you for your time Steven
 
This is NOT a good project to cut your teeth on - at least not by yourself. I'll be in the office all next week beginning Tuesday if you want to call.

Celeste
 
Your hourly should not be low just because your just starting out. Mattercof fact it should be higher if anything.
View attachment 17203View attachment 17203View attachment 17202View attachment 17204First things first, I am no expert or proffesional at this.I am learning and will accept critisizam with an even head so feel free to talk straight with me. second,sorryabout the quality of the pics but it seems that i can not upload anythingb over 1 meg. please believe me that i do not want to ruin any house. my price at $62.50 per hour was for two men and gas for my machin, figuring that as i get better i can do these in half the time and make more money. as of today there is no money so if i can get $30 an hour after expenses then i am ahead of the game I have a skid mounted 2400 psi 4gpm machine with a 24k btu burner, 225 gallon tank mounted in a van i have done 3 decks this month with good results. last year i washed a bout 40 houses while painting with a friend of mine, the "washing" was mostly prep for paint. I am ready to take my time and wash this house correctly. i understand the 0,15,30,40 degree tips. i will never use a zero tip. the 40 was the one i was gonna go with.as to the chemicals I found this in a previous post "sodium percarbonate with a little sodium hydroxide, pressure wash, and neutralize/brighten with oxalic acid." Does that sound correct? please feel free to throw me you thoughts. I am not afraid to attempt this job i will take extra precautions not to ruin the wood. Thank you for your time Steven
 
You are steping into some deep water on this one. Wood is not easy and if you using acid you could ech the glass from residue running down the building after you leave. I spray and neutralize it and rise and rise. You cant use high pressure at all or you will fur it up or bleach. I only have done decks which have come out amazing, but alot of time and not cheap.

Here is a deck we did in St. Augustine florida http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-pN0x8mfW4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Before and after
 
Your hourly should not be low just because your just starting out. Mattercof fact it should be higher if anything.

When I was new out overhead was $92/hr. It has dropped some over the years as our days filled. I don't know how a business could survive at around $30/hr.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
 
Yeah your right. A business CAN"T surive with that low of an hourly rate...well, no ligit business anyways. Im sure after he get's some consulting from some more seasoned pro's he will change his thinking.

Sorry, but your prices are "hack" prices. If you are licensed and insured, which you better be on this job, your prices should be much higher! Talking to Celeste will be the best thing you ever do!
 
You really should be starting out in the 100+ dollars an hour for your work. This might sound like a lot to the average man on the street but after you figure in the cost of chemicals, your equimpent (truck, pumps, insurance,etc) it doesn't add up to 100 dollars an hour in your pocket any longer. Never tell the customer what you charge an hour, they'll never accept your bid. With the proper tools you'll be able to get the job done quickly at a cost you and the customer will be happy with.
For example I did this Cape was done in about 10 hours over 2 days for 1500 dollars. If I started out the bid with "I charge 120 dollars an hour" I never would have gotten the job. A weak mix of SH was applied first followed by an acid rinse. The homeowner was very happy as was I. The neighbors were real happy because they didn't have to look at the nasty siding anymore.
 

Attachments

  • 006.jpg
    006.jpg
    634 KB · Views: 44
  • 002.JPG
    002.JPG
    930.1 KB · Views: 47
I am sure you could apply this thru a roof cleaning pump making it easier to apply? And using a P/W with a wide tip and low pressure instead of a garden hose.


<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OdfWZDcd9l8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
All good advice, and an offer of help. Low pressure, strong cleaners. brighten, dry and seal. Wood guys have always been "soft washers" because the damage caused by high pressure can be enormous in a hurry.

Big "thumbs up" to all the guys about info on pricing jobs. If you would like, I have an old article from the Sun Brite Times where we break down the numbers on how much you need to charge per hour. Just call or email and ask for it.

You can find a lot of background advice on doing wood just by searching the board. You can also call me next week for advice about the job. I teach the ins and outs of wood all the time and certify companies doing wood. 770-277-9924.
 
Yeah after your experience with some decks you should have a feel for it, but one thing that always helps is to do a test patch to make sure your chemical will do the job. Also, that does not look like a 40 some hours job. Maybe, 20 with the right knowledge and equip. which would put you at $120 per hour. Still low though. Seeing what I see, i would double the price if you get it you will be able to take your time and not lose any money. Everyone here can safely say that you should get more training, but you have to be the judge of that for yourself, because you should know what you are capable of more than anyone.

You might already be as good as a pro and don't know it yet! My wife is beautiful and don't know it. I'm still not a Pro, but I act like one sometimes. Just practicing, like a Lawyer does! lol
 
Back
Top