I’m shifting my focus slightly to exterior wood restoration, starting out with decks and fences. I’m considering renting to start out, and am thinking through a trailer setup.
You guys who rent machines, what does your trailer look like? I’m thinking a small trailer with a small buffer tank hooked to a feeder hose on a reel. From there, the output is a hose connection ready to hook up to a rented unit. Then a reel mounted 150’ line that just connects into the unit, and a few 5 gallon buckets for downstreaming.
Basically, a full-time setup but the connections are made to be temporary.
Message me your email address and I’ll send you a video of my whole set up tonight. It’s set up for this exact purpose due to renting a hot water unit a few times each month.
Fences and other outdoor wood is my primary business. Look at my FB page Sure Shot Stain and Seal. There is a short video there cleaning a fence with a 12v system. I have tried using my PW down streaming but have not had as good results with particularly moldy fences. If you are interested I can walk you through what and how I do it. You can replicate one of my systems for about 600.00. It is my backup but I can use it for cleaning or staining. It also allows you to use it in close confines in backyards around vegetation with much less risk of overspray related damages.
Here is my backup cleaning rig for fences, garage doors etc. It is not a high dollar soft wash rig but it works well for cleaning. The guts are just a Northern Tool ATV sprayer (without the boom). I also put a different wand on it. The key to making them last is through rinsing after use. The hand truck is from Harbor Freight. I use coupons for both of them. The battery is an AGM with a box that nests behind the uprights on the frame and the axle. I can do any % SH mix I need to and by using different nozzle tips it would work for single story houses (not roofs) but it won’t be as fast as the high dollar rigs. I have done 20-30 jobs with this and I use it to apply stain too.
Happy to talk you through it. Just give me a call. If I’m on a job leave me a message and I’ll get back to you.
Really appreciate it, Mark. I do need to reach out to you soon. I think I could get a lot of fence work around here, but I want to start out with equipment that won’t frustrate me and make me want to pull the plug after the first job.
Starting out with equipment that will frustrate you is a rite of passage. Plus if you start out with all the best equipment in a brand-new business you’ll be in debt up to your eyeballs like some of the folks here asking desperately how to earn more and more business because they can’t get beyond being $99 driveway guy.
And some of them put personal guarantees on it! Just another piece of advice don’t finance anything unless it’s under your LLC name, but never include your own. That way if your business goes under, like some of those who are in debt up to their eyeballs and can’t find enough work yet, you personally won’t be on the hook for it.
I’m with you on taking on too much debt, and it being under the LLC name. But I don’t think being frustrated with your equipment is a requirement for getting into a hobby or business. I think that’s why so many new guys show up here. We don’t want to be frustrated. We want to start out with something that fits our budget but that won’t make us pull our hair out. It might not always work out, but it isn’t necessary.
The first time I pressure-washed a house, I rented a 110v 1.5gpm unit from a big box store. Of course, I didn’t know what I was doing. After 4 hours, I was frustrated and told my wife I had no desire to get into the business because it took too long and was frustrating. I’ve got plenty more stories like that in woodworking.
That day wasn’t a rite of passage, it was an ignorant decision. Had I spent time researching, I would have spent $20 more, finished the job in less than half the time, and probably enjoyed it.
I guess my point is, if I’m going to get into a business, I want to give it every chance to succeed. That includes giving myself the best shot at enjoying it. Sometimes that requires decent equipment, sometimes it doesn’t. My Festool tools are incredible, but I didn’t start out with them and I didn’t mind. My Dewalt RO did just fine.
If I’m getting into fences, I’m not brushing stain onto an 800 square foot fence. I may not be able to afford a GX160 powered spray unit, but I’ll drop coin on a decent 12v sprayer.
I know. That part was a joke of experience more than anything. I spent a year being frustrated, but marketing my butt off, making money, and buying everything cash. Debt is dumb early in the game IMO. But again… the frustration comment was dry humor at best.
I don’t know where you live but if there are fences there are opportunities. I don’t PW fences very often, I do a pressure rinse to clean off loose material if a fence has had a water based product on it. You have to learn to tell the difference. I use bleach and water from the 12 v system in the video at low pressure to clean 95% of the fences I do. I use the same rig for garage doors, pergolas etc. My website has a DIY section that is written for homeowners but it will give you some good background. I wrote it before some time back before I knew a fraction of what I know now. I’m here whenever you want to talk.
Sorry that must have happened when I was replying to an email. It was unintentional it’s on all my email generated replies. I didn’t even know it was going to the board.
Man you’ve got some really nice before/after pictures on your website and Facebook page. Love the one with the two different companies side by side, hah. You guys do great work. Might shoot you a wood question here and there sometime, if you dont mind.
oops. I went a little overboard on my response, then!
