Am I in over my head?

Hey guys, title says it all. I think I’m biting off more than I can chew. I’m a one man operation and typically just do house and roof wash, and some other smaller commercial jobs, ( pretty small hotels). But if I get another guy and rent a home depot unit can this be done? I go there today to quote it and talk to the guy the needs it done.

@Nashvillewash

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What are they wanting done?

Ceiling, ground and walls. Also it used to be a recycling plant. Do you think house mix could clean it?

@Infinity is right. @Nashvillewash tried something similar and it bit him bad.

You might need a degreaser.

Best to do a test spot in multiple places and see how it cleans up.

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What are you working with and what are the expectations? If they just want the dust knocked off then sure go for it. Don’t underbid that job. You will absolutely regret it.

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All money is not good money

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Dewalt 4 gal 4400 psi. 22 in surface cleaner. Rent a lift.
Also got another guy to help and rent a home depot machine

Scroll down in the Nashville Wash thread. He put the videos back on there.

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I don’t know how big that building is but even with two people that’s going to take forever. Is there a time frame that they want you to hit?

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Ive walked away on many jobs like that.

A really good customer owns a cement casting company. Asked me for a quote to clean about 50k warehouse floor and all their industrial equipment. I told him I appreciated the opportunity but it was outside my wheelhouse.

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Just a heads up, I declined the offer guys. Thanks a lot for all of your input though!

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I’m glad you posted about it. It’s good to see these things, discuss them, and it brought up a really helpful older thread I hadn’t seen yet.

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Id be worried about electrical

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Probably a smart move on your part. I quoted one not too long ago, recognized it for what it was before you even said. Those buildings are pretty nasty. With your equipment, you would have been there for 2 months. You have to factor in chasing all the dirt and dirty water out of there and there is a boat load of electrical. One I was looking at was 68,000 sq ft… The downside is if you could have cash flowed the project, you could have bought you a nice 8gpm hw setup with trailer to do the job with.

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From the couple I have done of similar size, these jobs are never worth it. Washing internal is a whole different game plan to washing the exterior walls. It was a moody, wet, dark few days that I will never forget and never take on again. Plenty of other work out there. You did the right thing :+1:

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I saw that you passed on the job…good move. One thing to add that I haven’t seen mentioned is that constant overhead work. Looking up and holding your guns up for hours on end…well, it adds a different dimension to the physical part of washing. I imagine you are young, so that kind of mitigates the effect…but, at least for me and at my age, it kind of compounds the physical aspect of this job.

You need to eat your Wheaties @JimLuke lol