200,000 Sq Ft - Minimum Equipment

Darl Hite

Darl Hite

New member
This fell into my lap this past weekend. I have been asked to quote on cleaning 200,000 sq ft of side walk. Minimal gum. I have access to 3 – 5gpm machines and 3-20” sc. Is this feasible??:confused:
 
Darl Hite said:
This fell into my lap this past weekend. I have been asked to quote on cleaning 200,000 sq ft of side walk. Minimal gum. I have access to 3 – 5gpm machines and 3-20” sc. Is this feasible??:confused:
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Darl Hite said:
This fell into my lap this past weekend. I have been asked to quote on cleaning 200,000 sq ft of side walk. Minimal gum. I have access to 3 – 5gpm machines and 3-20” sc. Is this feasible??:confused:
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Water Tank? Water Access? It's always about the WATER. If you have endless supply of water it makes the job soooo much easier. Having to stop and fill up or even worse no tank and having to find a spicket for 3 machines would be a nightmare.:yes4: But to answer your question, yes it's doable but how long do you want to be doing it for?
 
Thats funny tony good one
 
Where are the drains? Do you have a local code for gallons of water you are allowed to dispose of?
 
Water situation looks good.

Is there a time limit to clean the sidewalks?

Are all the machines on 1 trailer or all separate?

I don't think it would be a problem, just get the game plan, maybe make it into a contest on productivity but with points taken off or hours cutoff from the check for missed gum, not rinsing good, etc...

I would love to have one of those accounts, it would be great!






_________________
Superior Power Washing
Chris Chappell
361-853-2513
prostaff@superiorpowerwashing.com
House Cleaning
Driveway and Sidewalk Cleaning
 
Christopher said:
Water situation looks good.
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It's not the ability to GET water I was asking about. Example - in Charlotte, NC, you are only allowed to dispose of XX gallons per day - WITH a permit - down the sanitary sewers.. That is what I was asking about. Obviously no one would be letting all of that go into storm drains :nono: If they don't have disposal in place or somewhere for him to divert to - what's he going to do with all of that discharge??? Hauling opens an entirely new can of worms.
 
I could use a few jobs like that fallin in my lap. :thumbup2: You should be covered pretty good with what you listed. Are you having to reclaim ?
 
Darl Hite said:
It is all sidewalk. This is fairly new construction so there is water at least every 150'. Each unit has a tank. The other thing is it will have to be done at night.:happydance:
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You mentioned 5 GPM machines. I would be cautious about scaring the concrete or etching it. The creme of the cement can be as low as 1,600 psi. If the contractor had issues with the laying of the cement, you may find yourseld with "Soft" Cement.

We just did some cement this weekend. The contractor laid the cement in the hot summer days. He had to keep it moist by spraying water throughout the day. This weakend the "Creme of the cement"

They called us in because the pressure washing contractor prior etched the cement. We came in at 1,700 psi at 6 GPM's with 295 degrees. The gum was gone and no etching.

In your case, you may not be able to hit the 295 degree mark, but you should have a steam lever. Use that when possible for the gum removal on new cement. Use a higher nozzle rating to increase the " Thickness of the spray" while lowering your PSI.

Thats my 2 cents !
 
Darl Hite said:
It is all sidewalk. This is fairly new construction so there is water at least every 150'. Each unit has a tank. The other thing is it will have to be done at night.:happydance:
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Celeste, this is what I was commenting about. He has water every 150' so there would not be a problem getting water, I was not commenting about your comment, I was commenting about his comment so now that our comments should be all straightened out without further commenting on all the comments here, I will stop the commenting that I was commenting about. hahahahahahaha






_________________
Superior Power Washing
Chris Chappell
361-853-2513
prostaff@superiorpowerwashing.com
House Cleaning
Driveway and Sidewalk Cleaning
 
Jim@Garagecleaning said:
You mentioned 5 GPM machines. I would be cautious about scaring the concrete or etching it. The creme of the cement can be as low as 1,600 psi. If the contractor had issues with the laying of the cement, you may find yourseld with "Soft" Cement.

We just did some cement this weekend. The contractor laid the cement in the hot summer days. He had to keep it moist by spraying water throughout the day. This weakend the "Creme of the cement"

They called us in because the pressure washing contractor prior etched the cement. We came in at 1,700 psi at 6 GPM's with 295 degrees. The gum was gone and no etching.

In your case, you may not be able to hit the 295 degree mark, but you should have a steam lever. Use that when possible for the gum removal on new cement. Use a higher nozzle rating to increase the " Thickness of the spray" while lowering your PSI.

Thats my 2 cents !
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Jim, Do you lower the PSI with bigger tips for every concrete job or just this particular one? How can you foresee whether the concrete is weak or strong? If the machine is 5.6GPM at 3500PSI, would that be 7.5-7 orifice nozzles to lower the PSI to 1500-2000?
 
FoxSweeping said:
Jim, Do you lower the PSI with bigger tips for every concrete job or just this particular one? How can you foresee whether the concrete is weak or strong? If the machine is 5.6GPM at 3500PSI, would that be 7.5-7 orifice nozzles to lower the PSI to 1500-2000?
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Here is a great nozzle calculator, it can be use many ways to fine a particular outcome.

http://www.barens.com/cgi-bin/calc
 
FoxSweeping said:
Jim, Do you lower the PSI with bigger tips for every concrete job or just this particular one? How can you foresee whether the concrete is weak or strong? If the machine is 5.6GPM at 3500PSI, would that be 7.5-7 orifice nozzles to lower the PSI to 1500-2000?
Click to expand...


It was good talking with you. I hope I answered your questions
 
Is this residential sidewalk (townhomes, condo's, apartments) if so you cant use 295 degree water or you will kill the grass with the water and hoses. If its commercial thats a different thing. I assume since its new its not moldy probably just tracked up with left over dirt stains, if thats the case you dont need hot water at all. Just chems to help gently lift the dirt and wash away. (woops I just saw the minimal gum part, you may need some hot water for that but not for the whole job)

Anyhow all of our washers are hot but I rarely need the hot water on new construction, it does not help with that.

Let me know what it is exactly you are cleaning and I will shoot you in the right direction with the proper materials to get the job done correctly, 99.9% of people dont have steam levers and 295 degree water, the job is already overwhelming if you have never done that much sidewalk, its way way different than a garage floor so I dont want you to feel its impossible and walk away, I do these all the time, its no biggie as long as you go into it with the proper stuff and set up correctly for time and speed. Let me know! I will check back in a few.

Another very very important thing is the type of finish on the concrete, this an overlooked area, some concrete has a rough finish and some smooth. Ask Tony Shelton, he and I took some time to look at some concerete at a local center here and ours is completely different from what he is used to seeing in Nevada. The smoothe finish will clean faster and is not as pourus, the brushed, rough or swept finish will allow dirt to go deeper into the cream coat and is more difficult to clean and easier to damage.
 
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Great advice Russ!

The sidewalks, 200,000 square feet and equipment advice is something that is a good topic for a lot of people to read because it is not residential sidewalks so there are different techniques that apply here.

Not everyone has the experience as you and some others for huge amounts of sidewalks, I have done places like this job but not as many as you have and on an ongoing basis.

People can learn from what you posted and think about it a lot how there is a big difference between residential and commercial sidewalks.

Thanks Russ!
 
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