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Which lines of work are the simplest??!!

E

edmontonWasher

New member
Thanks to everyone that has helped me out so far. There's so much to learn about equipment, chemicals, etc, etc!!

With that said, which areas of pressure washing are the easiest for a person like me? I'm a student, have a cold water, 3000 psi, 4gpm washer, I have limited knowledge and limited equipment. I want to know what takes the least amount of skill and equipment.

Somebody mentioned flat work (i'm getting a turbo nozzle, but if I'm going to be doing lots it might be worth getting a surface cleaner right?...and would a cheap one be ok?), somebody mentioned deck/fence restoration. ANy other ideas??

What is the fastest, simplest, easiest kind of work??!!

(also what's a good allround, safe chemical to use?)

thanks!
 
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Everybody thinks pressure washing is easy so did I before I started but I will tell ya it aint as easy as it looks. Ive been going from sun up to sun down for 5 days straight and my butts dragging. But to help you out with some of your questions first off if your looking for easy stay away from decks until you get some experience. Wood is very easy to damage. You said you only had cold water so stay away from concrete also because you will need heat. Also stay away from fleet washing as that too will need heat. So what your left with is House Washing, IF and I said IF you buy the right chems and find out how to use them properly then this is a fairly good market to get into however it anint easy just wait till you spray from sun up till sun down and your butts dragging then come talk to me about easy. And yes that is what I have been doing HOUSE WASHING and I have some decks lined up also. Life is Good but it aint easy.
Im not coming down on you just trying to inform you of what looks easy really isnt thats all. But you can make some good money doing it. Happy Washing.
 
Morgan your suppose to life your feet up when you walk, not drag your butt around.


Glad to see your busy now too!

Ever sell your sweeper?

Edmonton, there is no such thing as easy in our line of work, as Morgan said you would be best with a hot water system but not all can afford one starting out.

You can do trucks with cold water but you will need to learn the proper method.

Also chemicals, some work better then others, not all are equal in what they do even though many claim to be best for certain things.

Now a word of advice, for each chemical you buy be sure to have the MSDS sheet and have it with you on the job.

I keep one at home and one in a notebook marked MSDS Sheets for the Fire Department, HazMat and rescue squad if the need should ever arise for their need.

Jon
 
thanks for the responses guys, I know there's no such thing as an "easy" job, that's not what I'm assuming or asking. I'm just asking what is the "easiest" for a person like me with limited knowledge etc. By "easiest" I mean what is the least technical....obviously washing sidewalks is not as demanding as gutter cleaning. So keeping that in mind, what areas should I stick to, what areas require the least amount of knowledge or equipment?

I'm probably going to get some replies saying every area takes a certain amount of knowledge, and it's true, just in your opinion, if you had the knowledge you have now and you were starting out again, what areas would you tackle first?

thanks
 
Ever sell your sweeper?
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Not yet Jon but I have a prospect I hope he buys it as I need out from under the note right now.
Edmonton I dont know which direction you want to go but here are some prospects for you. You could start rather easily with House Washing as will need an Extension Wand, X-Jet, Chemicals, Pressure Washer, and good marketing to get your name out there. Then theres Fleet Washing either of these would be good for you to get your feet wet in. If you went with House Washing and got some experience you could graduate up to wood restoration. One thing to remember is that Fleet Washing is repeat business and Residental you have to market big time. I hope I have help you with your decision.
 
Edmonton

"if you had the knowledge you have now and you were starting out again, what areas would you tackle first? "
Click to expand...

Now that's a loaded question if there ever was one.

I'm a cold water guy just like you, on for the most part a hot water bbs. Obviously your equipment is important, but the chemicals that you use with your cold water system will be the key.

I know you've already done a thorough search of the bulletin board, so you probably already have a general idea of what kind of work you'd like to "tackle first".

My first machine was 1000 psi, 4 gpm cold water, 2 stage hose, and I upstreamed Hydroflouric Acid followed by alkaline. I probably washed over 1000 24 x 60 aluminum mobile homes before I blew that machine up and then upgraded to 2000 psi @5gpm and started washing fleets. Fleets quickly became my niche, and even though I've done and still do flat work, I prefer washing commercial fleets.

Oh yeah, I think washing houses is a good option for you as well, but I believe there's more money in fleets.

One little bit of advice I can offer you with certainty is if you decide to wash fleets, get yourself a good water softener, or use dionized water. Either one will make your life alot easier. Water Recovery is a very important subject and a fact of life these days, so you'll have to consider that as well

You'll read alot of dramatic words about the dangers attached to the use of Hydroflouric Acid on the bbs, and I suggest you pay attention to the warnings. I can also tell you that there's nothing better that you can use as a first step soap followed by sodium hydroxide. I use Delco's DNB1433 and think it's great.

So to answer your question, "with the knowledge I have now, and if I was just starting out", I'd do it exactly the same way.

There's some pretty valuable info laying around here. Do a search until you're bleary eyed and you'll learn alot more. Of course the best way to learn is to go out and get some hours under your belt.

Good Luck
 
edmonton, your looking at things backwards. You find what is most needed in your area, then come here to learn the best way to do the job. That way you have the best shot at making a GO OF IT.
De-greaseing and most flatwork would be thing's that would be far slower with just cold water and you would have a tuff time competing with other contractors.
Now, if i were to tell someone where to start, it would be this.
Call Steve Rowlett,talk about fleetwashing chem's,get set-up with them and get out their and do some demo's for smaller trucking co. and buissness's with just a few truck's. Market's where the big guy's wont be interested in. Then add a X-JET to my tool's and wash house's[prob just vynal only to start]
The closest thing to a NO BRAINER, COLD WATER job is truck washing. Anyone can bucket and brush them clean and pressure wash off the soap. The brain's come in as you need to go faster or cut labor.
The nice thing about fleet's is that you sell the job once and wash for a year. More work,less selling.
You give 1 free truck wash as your advertising exspense and get immediate response's as to getting or not getting the job.
Not meny other surfaces can be marketed this way.
The bad, it's mostly evening and weekend work. That is why you will want to wash house's, to fill in the day's.
Think about branching out to other area's of cleaning also, like window washing. If you advertised as a window washer. You would get people to call you to wash the windows in their homes and then tell them you also wash whole house's and land more work. Use the pressure washer to clean the screen's.
Just some ideas. Good Luck.
 
No brainer, easy work with a cold machine is truck washing??? If you are going to wash trucks with any skill at all, it is definitely not a cold water project, unless you are using some really hot chemicals, you know, the kind that can kill you. Personally, I think that 90% of the guys out there washing trucks with cold water are one of two varieties, either they don't give a flying rats butt about their employees, or they are so stupid that they don't realize that they are not making money. It is also possible that they are a hobbiest, but they will not be a part of this discussion. IN 14 years in this business, I have seen precisely one contractor that actually seemed to have a clue about washing with cold water on trucks, but he had been doing it for a while and understood what he was up against.
There are some areas where a guy could start washing with cold water, but Truck washing is not where it is at for them. Maybe they can get into detailing. I hear that there are some knuckleheads out there making a little bit of money doing it that way. Personally, it is not for me.
If you really want to get into this business, there are a couple of things that you need to do.
1. Realize that if you want something easy, this is not what you want to do for a living.
2. That if you want to do something in this area, you better find out what you need and how much you are going to make before you go out and spend money on a machine at Home Depot.
3. Realize that the guys that have been in business for a while and appear to be low ballers are probably making A LOT more money than you are, so they must know something that you do not know.
4. $50,000 a year is not big money, heck that would barely cover my insurance.

Scott Stone
 
knucklehead? rofl

Always good to feel like I'm on the minus side of the IQ Chart when answering a post. Gotta love bulletin boards.

First of all, it's very possible to wash trucks with cold water, and do it successfully. As for the "hot chemicals that can kill you", you have a point, but like I told Edmonton, there's some dramatic words being written about HF around here, and I for one do pay attention. BUT I LOVE THE STUFF AND I JUST CAN'T NOT USE IT WHEN IT'S AROUND. The faster it can kill you means the cleaner the truck's gonna be in my mind. Just learn how to dilute and use the stuff and you'll be ok. Now how's that for No Brainer?
If your employees have had the proper amount of caffeine before work (which is at least 10 times the suggested amount), they'll be moving too fast for the odor and effects of any dangerous chemical to catchup with them. And by the time the caffeine wears off you'll be all done with them for the day, and the lid will hopefully be tightly secured into the killer chemical drum. I'm not good at bulletin boards, but have said before that if you want some help in learning how to do this stuff, come out here and I'll train you till you bleed. Only one guy ever took me up on it, and as it turned out all he really wanted was to take pictures, get a suntan, and rob me of my precious acid. Was a bummer because I was all set for a much needed rest while he did all the work, but in the end it was ok because I gained a valuable and trusted friend.

Detailing hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm now there's a field I could sink my teeth into. Edmonton I take back everything that I said in the earlier post. If I had it to do over again I'd be a detailer, hands down!! I already got blasted for talking about microfiber towels though so will shut up about detailing. Don't wanna ruffle any feathers.

Money is the whole ballgame, and of course is why you're here asking questions. Scott threw out a figure of $50,000 and said it is not big money. The money part is all about what you NET. Again, No Brainer.

It doesn't take alot of brains to get into this biz. To do it as your only source of income and make it your career requires good energy, good people skills, some luck, and yep you have to be able to think. Some advice I can give you that is born out of my own experience is TAKE TIME OFF as often as you can. I didn't and it really messed alot of things up for me. I admire the hell out of those that can takeoff anytime they want to!!

That's it for me. Back to lurking.

Speaking of lurking, where the hell is Musgraves? He must have fired the manager of that little league team his kid's playing on and is probably up to his ears in a pennant race.
 
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Detailing is taking a car that has been used and abused by its' owner and trying to return it to pristine condition. Basically by shampooing and cleaning the inside of the car, and then buffing and waxing the exterior to remove any imperfections. If it is done well, some guys make a TON of money at it. There is a guy that is local to me that has been in business awhile, and has people come from 100 miles away top have their cars detailed by him, and he charges a premium. We are talking nearly $500 for a complete detail, and gets it all day long, but he does incredible work, and is a fantastic salesman. Most can not do that.
Hey Chuck, how can a guy expect o get a suntan with you working in 80 degree heat? For me that is a lovely spring day.
Edmonton, there are uses for cold water. There are a lot of thigns that you will just have to figure out for yourself, and develop trusted friends that will give you honest advice about what you are about to do. There are many on these boards that have a ton of eperience that will help you, and a lot that claim to have more experience than they really have. There are some guys on here that have been in business part time for 2 or 3 years,a nd still do not make a living at the game, yet, they love to give advice to any and all who will listen. You will need to learn to sort those guys out from the guys, like me, who this is all that I do. My wife does not work to support me, in fact she is too busy taking care of the kids to work, yet we have what most would consider a very comfortable living, and have the type of life that most people dream of, and that is what it is really all about. SO the question is, What type of work do you like to do, and what would you look forward to doing EVERY day when you roll out of bed?

Scott Stone
 
Edmonton I am a flat worker, means I clean concrete with hot water and I love it.

Scott your making CA start to shake with the way you're picking on a certain fleet washer here, not sure why but I sort of get the feeling he is building up steam so I would be careful of what you say, I surely don't desire another "earthquake" around these parts:D

What Ron P. said holds a lot of truth to it, what is the market in your area lacking in ways of pressure washing? find that and study the how and why of it then learn all about what to use, how to use it and what equiptment (supplies) you will need.

That is your target area, as has been mentioned by the others here.

I pretty much knew going in what I wanted to do and what I did not want to do so it made things easier for me.

I would do the same thing again, flat work.

Another thing is when you first start out you might take whatever comes your way for experience, that and offer to do a few friends homes free to gain experience and knowledge.
 
Scott

It slipped my mind that 80 degrees is the ambient temp in Mesa at 3 in the morning 9 months out of the year. The guys who do $500 details are amazing. I know one who gets that kind of money and he takes trim screws out and cleans around them.

Edmonton, those were good words he told you. Go out and get some hours on that machine, and when you get stuck I'm sure someone around bbs land will help you.

Jon ty for putting Scott Stone in his place. He's been a handfull lately (even for me).
 
Why yes, those that know me say that I am quite the package, or something like that (shrug)
As for a certain Fleet washer building up steam, Not to worry, it is just Gas, but I think that comes from his location. It will rumble a little while and just dissipate to nothing.
I do wish that I could get $500 for a detail, especially since he does sone cars at that price once or twice a month. Way overkill.
Scott
 
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