Brushing entire house?

T

Tim Srader

New member
I have been asked by a homeowner to give bid on washing his 2-story house. He states that he rented a power washer before to clean it himself, but "it didn't work." He advised that the entire house will probably need to be "washed with a brush."
Before going out to look at house, I asked what cleaning chemicals he used, type of siding, if he had tried to brush, last time cleaned, etc. His answers:

cleaning chemicals - "non used" (huh?)
type of siding - "textured (vinyl) covering over aluminum siding"
prior brushing - "no"
last time cleaned - "a long time"

Some advice/experience in the following areas:
What special problems (if any) with this type of siding?
How to price with/without brushing?
Special problems (access around house, porch, etc) -
see pictures by clicking link below
Homeowner is especially concerned about flowers around house
Paint peeling around most windows (release of liability?)
Type of lift to use if customer insists on brushing? (have x-jet)

Havent been able to do test wash due to homeowner out of town for a few days. Will do that when he returns, which may answer most of the questions. In the mean time any advice or suggestions would be greatly apppreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Pictures of house
 
Last edited:
ron p

it just sounds like a pain in the butt that no matter what you do, it's going to bite you.
If you feel a small knot in your belly?
walk away.
BUT if you like to live dangerously.
5 gal bucket= 1 gal clorox advantage+1 gal truck wash concentrate OR 1/2 gal liquid tide+1 cup of dawn dish soap+reg h20 to fill the rest of the 5 gal.[this is for use with a x-jet]
pre-soak all plant life[heavily-if there is a sprinkler system have them run it for 2 hours before getting there]
use a ladder to get above the porch[be carefull]
TIP #1 when you use a ladder i use my duel lance so i can open the low pressure side so you dont get a kick.
TIP #2 an x-jet will draw from 20 ft so you can get a longer supply line and keep the bucket on the ground.
Before washing you either tell the customer that you are not going to do the windows[so you wont further damage the paint]. 2- sell it as paint prep and carefully blast them. 3- get up there and hand wash the windows. What ever route you take get it in writeing.
After you have cleaned everything, re water all plant life.
Tip #3 go to a pool supply store and ask for de-chlor, mix it and put it in a pump up sprayer and nuet. the remaining clorine[bleach]
Tip #4 if you feel that no amount of bleach should be used, then use a oxi-bleach instead[pre carb bleach] www.chemistrystore.com is one place to get it.
hope you get thejob and it goes as planned.
you would'nt get me to brush a whole house and vynil coated alum is real good stuff [dont use heat] as far as price i figure it $100 per working hour, then after i est. the time, i ask myself if I would pay that to have it done? Then adj. from there. Less if your hungery for work.
 
Hello Tim,

Good pic's, neat way to present them.

We brush most all buildings that we clean (we don't do very many)(we're to expensive!).

We could apply our detergent to this house using our hose end sprayer. We would try to use screw together poles to reach rather than getting a lift. Some of course the tech would need to get on the roof.

The offer is still open for you to come down and talk shop. Call when you have time.

Dave Olson
 
My first instinct when I read your post was to suggest to you that you walk away from this job. I wasn't going to say it, because I knew Ron (squirt) would blast me for it...........but, now that he has said it, I'll have to agree.

From what you have said about your conversation with this guy, he seems like the type you can never please. Good luck, but I'd be nervous about proceeding with this guy.
 
I agree with Mike and Ron P.

If you don't brush houses when you clean them then why start now? I clean things the way I think work best using my 7+ yrs of knowledge and what I learn from people in this Industry but as far as Joe the homeowner telling me how to do it then I would not bother to do the job. I don't need the headache from a controlling home owner to tell me how to do my job UNLESS of course you can charge him alot and he is willing to pay then I would reconsider it.
This is where the line "Money Talks" comes in.

Good luck
 
Thanks for the info/advice.
Like I mentioned, homeowner is still out-of-town so haven't even met face to face yet. All information and his suggestion to "brush" were only during a phone contact based on his prior attempt to clean w/o chemicals, etc. I had already advised him that I would take a look/work on a proposal (while he was absent), and when he returns, we'll meet and go over the it. I left myself an "out" saying that if I were unable to do job, I would let him know (no promises).
I believe I would be remiss not to attempt a test wash (w/ and w/o brushing) to see if it would be satisfactory to him. Then let him decide.
Dave Olson -- thanks for open invitation. I'll be in touch. By the way, where do you purchase your extension brushes, etc. Have been looking for a "local" supplier (if any around?), but not successful so far.
Thanks for everyone's response.
 
Remember the old adage:

If I do the job, it's $300
If the customer watches, it's $400
If the customer helps, it's $600


Regards,
 
Hi Tim,

Test for sure.

We get 6 foot aluminum poles at a industrial type hardware store. These are the type that guys use to handle floats when they pour concrete. They screw together and are about 1-1/2" O.D. We use 12" or 24" brushes.

Dave Olson
 
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