Beginning Pressure Washer Setup

Newbie Questions
#1

I’m planning on starting a pressure washing business with my brother and had a few questions about my setup. I am hoping to do commercial (fleet, parking lots, etc.) and residential work (roof, house, driveway, etc.). I’m planning on running two 8 gpm 3500 psi hot water pressure washers on a flat bed truck with a 200 gallon tank, and I’m planning on downstream injecting chemicals using a proportioner.

Do I need two 8 gpm hot water machines or is that overkill?

How many chemical tanks would be ideal, what size, and what chemicals?

What diameter hose would be ideal for an 8 gpm machine? Is 3/8" sufficient or would I need 1/2" or 5/8" for these machines?

Do I need a pump to pump the chemicals for downstream injection? What kind of pump?

Do I need a transfer pump on this setup? I’ve read a bit but don’t really know what it is.

Do I need to/how do I extract used water or chemicals?

#2

Welcome. I recommend you do some research to better educate yourself about what you’re asking.

For starters I would use a 500 gallon tank unless you’re going to fill from fire hydrants with two 8GPM’s.

SH is used or a degreaser (depends on the job and stain). I’d carry a 55 gallon SH tank and 55 gallon degreaser tank for commercial (I don’t do commercial so purely my thoughts and some of these pros can chime in).

No it pulls on it’s own

3/8

Depends on your workload.

Never a bad idea

Depends on your city and states guidelines/laws.

Check this out for your basic knowledge. https://texas-pressurewashing.com/pressure-washing-101-guide-2/

2 Likes
#3

Man, talk about jumping into the deep end.:flushed:

3 Likes
#4

Never split the difference is a good book to add to your list. I don’t read at all, but have listened to that one numerous times.

2 Likes
#5

you make it sound like we make hamburgers for a living. Just need to know the ingredients and me and my brother will just slap them together. Might be a good idea to wash your own home or driveway and get a feel for the work before dropping the coin on this venture. Everything’s easy and straightforward on the internet lol.

8 Likes
#6

Ya man, you sound like a real rocket scientist. I’m sure I’ll never get on your level. You’re clearly very insecure, considering I never said anything to imply this job was akin to flipping hamburgers or that I wasn’t going to practice on my own house/do other houses for free.

#7

Once you spend some time reading here you’ll get a feel for the sense of approach people take. Brutal honesty is common.

Your post shocked me because it’s a lot of money to drop with little knowledge beforehand.

I recommend spending the next 2-3 months reading and researching to better gauge what equipment you need. My time spent learning changed my approach and thoughts on gear quite a bit. Although starting with 8GPM hot water units is top of the line and I support that.

3 Likes
#8

Good luck to you. What the aussie was saying was that you are going to start a business doing everything but had a few quick questions on equipment. Doesn’t sound like a solid plan from a first time poster. Maybe you have a background (or your brother) in this field that you didn’t mention and he wouldn’t know.

As heath said, stick around you will get a better feel for what people are saying. A lot of people come on here, get their 20 seconds of information, then disappear. Guess they have it all figured out. You can always just lite it up and get it done though.

2 Likes
#9

Light it up and get it done will forever make me bust out laughing. For eternity. I say that so often to my buddies I shared that thread with. We all crack up.

2 Likes
#10

@TexasPressureWashing The civility of your response was exemplary. Better than I would have done, by far.

3 Likes
#11

@Under_Pressure Maybe you should read for more than 3 minutes before coming on here asking questions that have been asked and answered over and over and over again, and then responding rudely and disrespectfully when people give you an honest answer. Or maybe you should just pound sand.

image
image1242×2208 299 KB

1 Like
#12

@TexasPressureWashing See what I mean?

#13

Thanks brother! I just go into “professional mode” when doing anything online, in person, or anything regarding my business.

2 Likes
#14

@Atlas1

1 Like
#15

Actually, I have that and 'Walk away" trademarked. Softwash was already taken.

3 Likes
#16

@Innocentbystander For copyright infringement I’ll send you a check…or just choke myself, whichever you prefer.

2 Likes
#17

Send me a check for half of what you intended and just kinda strangle yourself a little bit. It is Christmas after all.

4 Likes
#18

:rofl: love it!

3 Likes
#19

Your about 50 years late with that statement, I used to build rockets out of fireworks when I was a kid, the mail box was the launch pad until there wasn’t any mailbox left. The only thing I’m insecure about is when the sun hits my barbers eyes and he turns the chair facing 10 dudes that are staring at my head and all I can do is roll my eyes a few degrees in each direction to avoid awkward eye contact, I feel like a monkey in a circus. Your not completely wrong.

3 Likes
#20

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.