Squirtgun
New member
Since Thursday I have struck out hard on 3 jobs.Losing money on all 3 due to unforeseen conditions.
Thursday's job should have been simple 1 concrete drive way and parking pad at buildings right next door to each other.I figured no more than an hour for both.What a nightmare they both turned into because the 50yrs old concrete didn't look new blah,blah,blah.Explaining to them it won't ever look new took an extra 20 minutes on top of the 2 extra hours I spent trying to make this crappy concrete look the best I could.
Today's job was supposed to be a simple dryvit building wash(front of building only) and side walk cleaning.First the building wouldn't come clean,the algae and mold have eaten into the dryvit to the point chems and light pressure won't take any of the stuff off.Then a GFI receptacle in the front wall catches fire while I am rinsing.I duct taped the recepts,but failed to notice the gap between the wall and weather proof cover that allowed water to get in behind the cover directly on the wiring.
I break out he fire extinguisher put out the flames because the GFI doesn't trip the breaker until much later.Call the customer and ask them to please come kill the power only to find out they have left the state.Wait for their daughter to show up to cut power and make sure nothing inside was burning.Thank goodness she was super cool about everything.She kept telling me the recept wasn't my fault and don't worry about it.That I shouldn't discount the job because we have time involved etc.
I explain to her the building won't come clean and repainting is the best thing to consider at this point.Discount the job a $100 for not getting the dryvit clean and replacement of the recept.
Then on to the home of the same customer for a walkway and patio cleaning.Again some nasty old concrete that looked 100% better but still looked bad after cleaned followed up by a patio loaded with planters tables,chairs and a huge grill.They promised they would move it all,but somehow forget in their effort to get out of town for the weekend.
I hate days like this anyway,but a couple in the same week really make me miserable.Even worse is hemorrhaging cash on jobs that should be easy.I have forgotten I'm only human and there are some things that just can't be cleaned no matter how hard I try.
Thursday's job should have been simple 1 concrete drive way and parking pad at buildings right next door to each other.I figured no more than an hour for both.What a nightmare they both turned into because the 50yrs old concrete didn't look new blah,blah,blah.Explaining to them it won't ever look new took an extra 20 minutes on top of the 2 extra hours I spent trying to make this crappy concrete look the best I could.
Today's job was supposed to be a simple dryvit building wash(front of building only) and side walk cleaning.First the building wouldn't come clean,the algae and mold have eaten into the dryvit to the point chems and light pressure won't take any of the stuff off.Then a GFI receptacle in the front wall catches fire while I am rinsing.I duct taped the recepts,but failed to notice the gap between the wall and weather proof cover that allowed water to get in behind the cover directly on the wiring.
I break out he fire extinguisher put out the flames because the GFI doesn't trip the breaker until much later.Call the customer and ask them to please come kill the power only to find out they have left the state.Wait for their daughter to show up to cut power and make sure nothing inside was burning.Thank goodness she was super cool about everything.She kept telling me the recept wasn't my fault and don't worry about it.That I shouldn't discount the job because we have time involved etc.
I explain to her the building won't come clean and repainting is the best thing to consider at this point.Discount the job a $100 for not getting the dryvit clean and replacement of the recept.
Then on to the home of the same customer for a walkway and patio cleaning.Again some nasty old concrete that looked 100% better but still looked bad after cleaned followed up by a patio loaded with planters tables,chairs and a huge grill.They promised they would move it all,but somehow forget in their effort to get out of town for the weekend.
I hate days like this anyway,but a couple in the same week really make me miserable.Even worse is hemorrhaging cash on jobs that should be easy.I have forgotten I'm only human and there are some things that just can't be cleaned no matter how hard I try.
