Suggested Equipment for Hood Cleaning question

H

HydraTony

New member
Newbie Questions - I am new to this industry and will be attending a school in october for certification. I have worked with another person in a different state to get a hands on feel about this venture. Since then I have gathered most of the tools and equipment I need except the power washer and length of hose ? What would you suggest I purchase as far as PSI and Gpm as well as hose length to successfuly tackle the cleanings. I plan on approaching single story restaurants. I understand this is a very broad question, any help or input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
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3000 psi, 3-4 gpm
keep about 300 ft of hose minimum.
Keep it to a portable unit if possible that way if you encounter a unusual situation you can unload the unit.

Eat a slice of Chicago Pizza for me......
 
If you have worked with someone already,just go clean hoods and don't worry about certification.You don't need it.Some here will blow a gasket over that statement but you don't need it.Since 1986 I have been asked once(about 6 months ago) if I was certified, ONCE! I am not, and told the customer that and still got the job,and just did the repeat cleaning there last week.I have never been asked by a fire inspector,neither my insurance or any customers insurance co.
 
I appreciate the input John, but I want to get as much education as I can about the different fire suppression systems, Exhaust systems and most situations I will encounter. I'm sure at this point I could go clean (Maybe not the most efficient at first) Plus I think a certification is a good selling/marketing tool. There is competition in my area and I want as much as I can get as far as knowledge on my side to start out.

Thanks,
Tony
 
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Tony,
would you please add your information to your signature area, incl company name and phone #
Thanks
 
You will soon find out that each place you service could require different equipment. You must be very resourceful with your application of tools and equipment. When looking at a job I look for thing that will be problems for my employees and equipment. In most cases I schedule tools and equipment based on the job.

Your school should give you guidelines regarding equipment and tools. Remember more is not always the best-the exception is the length of hose.

:)
 
Tony,
Yes it is good to learn as much as possible.I have alot of competition here as well.certification won't help at all with that.What will is showing up when you are supposed to for both the estimate and the cleaning.Then do what you say you are going to do for the price you quoted.If you do that you will be ahead of 90% of the competition.
Most of your new business will come from customers recomending you to a friend or relative in the business.Telling people you are certified won't matter at all.Don't lowball your price or be chewed down ever.
 
john zema said:
What will is showing up when you are supposed to for both the estimate and the cleaning.Then do what you say you are going to do for the price you quoted.If you do that you will be ahead of 90% of the competition.
Click to expand...

Wise words....and this is not real difficult thing to do.
 
Certification may not be important now, It might be in the future ? I want the education. I also want to have as much confidence as possible to hit the ground running out of school. Like you guys this will be my Income. Thats why i'm shelling out the money for it. I will be a one man show with a helper. I appreciate all input offered.
I have a large knot in my stomach right now, spending alot of money now with no income. Just looking for positive advice and the do's and don'ts.
Are northstar pressure washers worth considering ?
 
What school did you sign up for? and when do you plan to attend?

Having a certification will not hurt you. It is up to you to sell the point to the customer. Out west we are being asked more and more, not by the local trade but by Feds, local cities and by the state. Just the other day I was asked by the Calif. DMV as to what contactor lic. and or any cert. Would they even consider if I just said “NONE”.
 
I signed up for the 5 Day Phil Akland course. Starts Oct 7th. I can't see why having a certification could hurt my business at all.
 
You picked a good one-you will do just fine. What location is the class at? Should be Derby!
 
I got certified back in 2004 at Delco and yes I agree that the education is handy but I would start thinking about how to get your business off the ground and working as much as possible. I went door to door and this was very good, I dropped my card or quoted the system on the spot. Try to remember this part a year from now, even though they seem like they didn't want to talk to you or they tell you the last guy cleaned it for half the price they will remeber you when they let their system go and they can't get it cleaned for a reasonable price. Starting out in this bussiness is no cakewalk you will be dealing with the problems no one will want if you are in a big city such as Dallas/Ft. Worth and there are plenty of cleaners around.

Pssst... here's a secret I learned along the way, Hood Cleaners don't have the money to have a spot in the yellow pages (not the ones same size as your company or mine) only the big players are listed. The point I'm making is that when you think there is only a few competitors out there you could be in for a big surprise. And if you get caught up in the lowballer game stick to your guns and get the price you are willing to do it for or atleast plant a seed by being firm with price and quality. Remember you are not a janitor but rather a Kithchen Exhaust Maintenace Technician or will be one once you see my point. Have fun and enjoy what you are doing and it can be rewarding at times but most of the time you'll be wishing you were younger. You might want to talk to Mikey before you sign on to any school he offers an IRONMAN Course in Exhaust Cleaning and will prepare you with the mind set you need to have to win out there at 3:00 am and no place to get parts and the job has to be finished. Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome you will learn their true meaning. Have fun!

3500 psi
5.2 gal/minute
210 degree hot water
300' 4000 psi hose
525 gal water supply tank

Here is a picture of my rig when I was just starting out "humble beginnings"

Take care.
 

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Thanks David for the reply,
I plan on doing as you said, going door to door. I also have a postcard campaign that will start as soon as I leave school. Yellow pages ad in April. I have made a lot of calls to Restaurants in my area and they seem to be open to bids very willingly. I want to be competitive but yet not give away my service. Pricing is where I need the experience to see what is going on in my market. Some restaurant owners will tell you some dont. At this point I'm unemployed and wading up to my nipples in startup costs.
Figuring I will starve for 3 months ? Does anyone have any flyers that I could modify to taste when distributing my Business cards ?
Thanks again.
 
Tony

Spent $5,000 on a yellow page ad my first year and only got 1 call from it. Found mailing flyers out with a 25 dollar discount for the 1st cleaning got me the best bang for the buck. Got about a 3 percent response on mailers, may not seem like much but when you mail 1,000 mailers out a month that ads up to a lot of business over time. After 6 months I had to stop sending mailer out and get plenty of business by word of mouth, and managers moving from restaurant to restaurant. I got a mass mailing permit about $500.00 just to find out that my printer(business cards) let me stamp his permit number on envelpoes for free. Beware of the folks that call and want a price for cleaning that havent had their system cleaned in years. They will tell you they want regular cleaning if you give them a good price. You will to get the business but it will not be repeat business. Once you clean a system properly it is a lot easier to keep clean. I perfer regular customers and DO NOT SELL MYSELF AS A DISCOUNT CLEANER. You want easy(less greasy) jobs that pay good. Schools, nursing homes, daycares, churches. God forbid stay the hell away from oriental places, they are very difficult to clean hardley ever pay well and are a huge liability if not cleaned right. I stated qouting at 100 per hour to get started and now am close to 150. Dropped lower paying jobs for higer paying ones and am in the process of shifting out of high cooking accounts to
low volume ones. They dont get cleaned as often, have less problems you stay a lot cleaner and sleep better at night ops sleep better during the day. Let the newbies do the nut busters, to old and to tired.

Greg
 
Hey guys I never said certification would "HURT", I just said it is not needed.If he worked under someone for a while he can in my opinion go out and clean some systems.I would send him to Mikey for free and learn the same thing you can learn from any school,if he wants more info.
 
That's an O'Fallon, Mo number on your name. Are you starting up in the St. Louis market. How much research have you done on this market?
 
Whats the matter?-- Josh Getting nervous? :eek:
Better get Rusty Britches on the phone and call out the Goon squad. :p LOL



Hydra Tony, As far as equipment goes- Ive never had the need for a larger machine say 3-4 thousand PSI.
We've always used about 1600 PSI 2.3 GPM hot water upstream injection equipment.
I havent run into anything in 14 years I couldnt clean with it.
That includes the occasional piece of heavy equipment and decks.

Remember everything you put in the hood system you have to dispose of,its a heck of alot less water to pick up.(especially if your cleaning equipment inside) 2.3 GPM as apposed to 3-5 GPM and it tends not to get in your face so much. Ever get a return blast off a dirty surface from a 4GPM machine at 3200 PSI? it aint very nice!
The argument against smaller equipment is that it doesnt have the volume or flushing power. Or that it takes longer. Not necessarily true.
At the same time we are not servicing huge establishments.There I could see more power would be an aset,especially if your looking into doing building exteriors and such.

Alot of the guys use the bigger equipment. I also like the idea of a smaller electric drive motor, Alot less maintinance issues (no gas motor to fight with)
You can get some nice 3000PSI /220 machines. If you choose the bigger electrical equipment then make shure you get the different configuration plug adapters so you can find a place to plug in your equipment no matter where you go.

" Remember more is not always the best-the exception is the length of hose."
Above quote taken from Davids post. ITS TRUE!
 
Not nervous, just curious.

Besides I have my own goon squad. Rusty's squad has to would charge too much to travel here. ;)
 
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