Apartment building breezeways

I have a 4/4000 setup and just got a lead for breezeways of 6 apartment buildings, total of 12ish breezeways including the stairs (3 stories). i did not expect the massive size of these things. it must be at least 50,000sqft of concrete, and all the siding in these breezeways. i’ve attached a photo and video. I think i would have to sub contract this out to someone else but am not sure how that process should work.

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EDIT: I’ve decided to take on this job myself, looking to rent a hot water 8gpm setup

since they’re 3 stories it’s technically more like 36+ breezeways

I bet if you reach out to @dperez he could probably point you in the right direction.

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The invoice of that job might allow you to put down a good payment towards a bigger unit.

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Definitely would need to. i know a guy that has a team of pressure washers that can split the job with me. thinking i might buy a 8gpm trailer, do 3 buildings with my crew, have the other guys get 2 buildings, and rent a 2nd setup and have another 2-3 guys on the last 2 buildings. just not sure how i’m gonna be working around the people coming in and out of their homes. not sure if we should do short hours like 1 story per day per crew over a week (rough guess) or try to do 3 stories in one day per team if it’s even possible.

So, that is what we do day in and day out, every day. Put water socks down at the entry point to the sheetrock area. Don’t wash those. put a wet floor sign on every landing. Put fire alarm system in test mode. Plastic bag over every pull station. Blue tape over every key hole. That’s a two day job with two people in separate trucks.

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am i using degreaser or renting hot water? here’s a pic of some of the stains

I explain up front that grease stains/trash bag juice may come up and it may not. I don’t use degreaser. Too time consuming for the results it provides. Once you establish parameters with a manager you usually don’t have to worry about nitpicking. I have some properties that we have done for over 20 years and no one even bothers to walk the property after we finish because they know what to expect. Don’t promise then the moon. Some things just aren’t going to come clean.

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What hours do you usually operate when doing these jobs? should i be within weekdays 9-5 or should we be working basically all day? not sure what would be most convenient for us and the tenants.

We don’t do breezeways until after 9 am and stop before 3 pm due to folks going to work and kids getting off the school bus. Granted that has really got screwy and difficult with the whole covid-19 thingy. Start on buildings exterior at 8. Finish up with breezeway. We try to average a building every two hours with double breezeways. Corridor breezeways like yours are easier because we don’t do the sheetrocked hallways. They only have about a half dozen different designs of buildings across the country I think :).

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that’s amazing you’re able to knock these out in such short times. i almost had a heart attack when i walked into the first breezeway knowing i only have a cold water 4gpm. those breezeways are like mazes, not to mention it being 3 stories and 6 buildings. Those L shaped buildings are daunting

How do you deal with water management? Is there drains that go to sewer or do you use reclaim equipment? Seems like it would flood the hallways?

Just push the water out with the fan tip. Most sit far enough back off the street that the water goes into the grass between the buildings and the sidewalks.

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i went back today to take another look. looks like we’re gonna have to “upsell” some caulking because on all 2nd and 3rd floors weve got like quarter inch gaps as seen in the picture below. Also the entire hallways have sheet rocked walls so instead of rinsing them we’ll have to go over the cobwebs and junk with a backpack blower as well


just gotta figure out how to price that now. we’re making progress though. our current plan is to just rent one hot water 8gpm setup and going for a building per day.

That’s a gap in the baseboard, not the seal plate.

you don’t think i’ll need to caulk it? it’s caulked on the first floors only since that’s where most water would be, 2nd and 3rd stories don’t have it caulked.

If you feel it needs to be caulked, that’s a job for maintenance. You don’t need to accept that liability

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caulking should be easy i definitely don’t mind the extra money. i told him it’s either that or he takes liability for any water damage

I’m with @Innocentbystander Have their maintenance fix that issue. They get paid to fix, you get paid to clean

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i’ll inquire