Joseph Rogers
New member
I'm looking into the best way to start off pressure washing. I expect I'll be able to begin by the end of next summer, unless I decide to upgrade my current cleaning equipment (Prochem has some pretty sick TM's). I'd like to put together a functional PW system that would go either on a trailer or in the bed of my truck, without spending 25k on some of those pre-built setups I see online.
Objective: Basic Pressure Washing, to begin with. Nothing fancy, just houses and maybe some commercial buildings. Revenue generated would be used to augment my business overall, ideally not increasing my client list so much as increasing the revenue generated by each client by providing more services.
I'm trying to determine particulars, so I'm gonna toss some stuff out, and I'd appreciate input from you and your experience:
Objective: Basic Pressure Washing, to begin with. Nothing fancy, just houses and maybe some commercial buildings. Revenue generated would be used to augment my business overall, ideally not increasing my client list so much as increasing the revenue generated by each client by providing more services.
I'm trying to determine particulars, so I'm gonna toss some stuff out, and I'd appreciate input from you and your experience:
- Minimum 5 GPM for serious work
- 3/8" hose is standard?
- What's the deal with the PSI? Is it adjustable? When do you crank it up, when do you turn it down? What's a good, solid, middle ground?
- Is it really necessary to have a freshwater tank in the beginning? I'm sure it helps speed the process along, allowing for full flow, but...
- What is "Soft Washing"? Heard the term recently, but unsure what it signifies.
- When cleaning various materials (brick vs. siding vs. wood) do you use different "cleaning agents"? The guy I did some work with seemed to use bleach diluted 1:10 with a couple glugs of Dawn into a 150 gallon tank. Is this normal/acceptable according to current industry standards?
- Some of the bigger and badder Carpet/Tile cleaning machines advertise the ability to operate at high pressure for PW work. Is this a gimmick, or are they acceptable for serious work?
- I've seen various wands. Close up wands, something called an X-Jet (adjustable tip for close up blasting to shooting a 40 foot stream), to another type of wand that I do not know the name/manufacturer at all. Metal construction, might be 2' long, great big orange nose, with a front grip handle you pull towards you for a stream that will shoot 3 stories, and push away to get more of a showery kind of stream from it for rinsing down bushes and such. Do you guys know what I'm talking about?
- Does an organization exist which provides classes (certifications or not) in the basics/advanced aspects of PW? The knowledge I've gained from carpet certs has proven very beneficial in making me better at my job. Clients appreciate when you truly understand the things you talk about.