Hey everyone. Name is Ryan, and a co-worker of mine and I are currently in the planning phase of bringing a residential siding/roof/flatwork pressure washing business online. Just wanted to post our current plan and equipment list to get some input from you experienced guys on what we are missing / shouldn’t buy/ should buy etc. Marketing side, we plan to utilize a facebook page and wordpress site, craigslist ads, print a couple thousand door hangers and roll through subdivisions, and just general word of mouth. We also plan to form a LLC when we decide to pull the trigger so all purchases can be taxed appropriately and we can get insurance to cover our asses.
We are young guys who are skilled with computers, so building the digital side of the business is not my main concern. What I don’t have in depth knowledge of is equipment. So here is our current list with best known examples online (Where we buy them may differ when it comes time to purchase)
I already own a truck, V8 F150, and I also own a two leaf blowers, a stihl chainsaw, two weed eaters, and other tools that we plan on carrying with us to offer additional services if needed. Also plan on adding a ladder rack to the truck and getting a 25+ ft extendable ladder. The trailer in that document is just an example of what we are looking for/budgeting. There are a lot of local trailer options for me (near Raleigh NC) but that was just the best example we could find online if a tandem axle full sized wheel trailer. I didn’t include plumping materials (PVC pipe, ball valves, etc) because I figure that will come later once we have the equipment and start figuring out the best trailer layout. Also an unloader valve is necessary correct? It’s what bypasses water back to your buffer tank when your not using your gun?
Cleaning supplies I plan on using standard 10% or 12.5% SH that hopefully I can source locally, in addition to the other recommend cleaning agents (roof snot, green wash, elemonator, etc). Still researching cleaning supplies and proper technique, but any input or suggested basic supplies to always keep on hand would be greatly appreciated. I mix buffers for my job on a daily basis, so understanding how to mix appropriate concentrate levels etc is clear. The only questions I have are is a 55 gallon tank of pre mixed house/roof solution enough to clean several say 2000 sq ft houses or will that only cover 1 or 2? I am not sure of the total volumes needed to clean your avg sized home/roof. Do you basically mix up your solution for the day based on what jobs you have, and then go? Or do you do a job, remix a new batch, go to next job etc? I’ve seen a lot of stuff about guys dumping their buffer tanks when done with a job so you aren’t towing thousands of lbs of water, but just a little confused on transporting/mixing house and roof mixes.
Another thing I am having a little problem fully understanding is downstreaming your cleaning agents. I understand it’s a T’d connection downstream of the pump that is piped in to your cleaning agent to prevent cleaning agent going through your pump. My question is, does the force of the pump running create the suction needed to draw up the cleaning agent? You do NOT need a pump in order to get the cleaning agent primed up the line correct? Also, with a downstreaming set up, you do NOT dilute your cleaning agent mixes? So say in my 55 gallon tanks, I would basically mix up 30+ gallons of my soap solution that is not diluted, then when it gets injected downstream it dilutes itself with the water through the pump?
So yea, I think that about covers where we currently stand. We are still several weeks out from potentially pulling the trigger on this as we want to be fully researched as much as we can before we go dropping 8000$ on equipment. If there is any BIG ticket items I am missing (like 300$+), please help me identify them. If it’s smaller items that you find make your life/job easier (Under 300$) I’d love to hear your recommendations. We would like to get a ProPortioner in the future, but that is under the “Buy with profits” plan. Thanks for any and all input and happy washing!
