I will be cleaning the exterior of my local Walgreens and am concerned if bleach getting on the lights behind the sign will cause any problems. I will be using my 12v pump to apply a 3% mix, if that’s not doing the trick I will bump it up to 4%.
I’ve never cleaned a building with lights on it so I apologize for my ignorance. I did try searching and got no results.
Thank you for any helpful input in advance!!
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You can usually let them know you need them powered off for the day you’re washing. I do it regularly. Most will do it when show up, but some will be ready for you.
If they can’t power them down let them know you can wash up to them, but not over them or below them and you’re invoicing for the full amount no matter what. They’ll usually change their tune.
Sounds like a good plan. I will be working after the store closes so that’s perfect.
One more question, I am cleaning the roof areas along the building and only have 1 mix tank, would you recommend doing the whole job with elemonator or cling on? I’m worried cling on might take forever to rinse but also worried elemonator wont be thick enough to stay on the roof long enough for the SH to do its thing.
I use barely any surfactant on stucco at all. Maybe a cup of elemonator per 55 gallons. Cleans up fine with 3% mix and rinses a lot easier.
I’ll give that a try. If it’s not sticking I can always add more.
I appreciate your help.
I’d do the building and then come back to the roof. That tile roof going to need probably 4-5% with some cling on.
Yeah that is what I was thinking since squids said to barely use any soap on the stucco. Going to go really light on soap at 3% and once stucco is done I’ll add some cling on and transfer more bleach to my mix tank to get a stronger mix.
Appreciate the insight. Just got my pump fully setup yesterday, excited to start taking on stucco and roof jobs. Lots of nasty roofs here in North West Florida.
Good job on getting the Walgreens. They’re tight as ticks with parting with any money for cleaning around here.
Do you have an x-jet. It would be perfect for that building. I rarely use them but they make things so much easier and quicker on a job like that.
And be careful using a strong mix around that glass.
I got asked to redo a sidewalk cleaning that someone else did a poor job on. After I finished, the property management company gave me the contract for every Walgreens he manages which is about 14 stores. I’m almost to the end of my first year in business so it was a big deal to me getting that.
I quoted pretty high expecting them to want to haggle but they took my first estimate.
I’m going to be using a 12v pump for this job. I feel like I’d be refilling buckets way to often for xjet to be valuable on this job. 11,000 Sq ft of surface being washed. Yes I will be trying to keep the mix off the windows as much as I can, I’ll have a hose set up on both sides of the building for quick rinsing.
I’m still new to all this but I’ve done loads of research. You never know how much someone knows though so I do appreciate the advice!
Ou local Walgreens and CVS both are in need of love. They are both around 10 years old and have never been cleaned as far as I can tell. I’m sure pricing is different in our areas. Would you mind me asking a ballpark figure on the pricing structure you gave them? No worries if you would like to keep that discreet.
Sidewalks I’ll be doing yearly but buildings it sounds like they wait until it’s real nasty before getting it cleaned.
I pretty much always charge by the Sq ft. For 3100 Sq ft of sidewalk plus the lip where the sidewalk meets the asphalt parking lot I quoted $400. I added extra to my normal price for the pain in the ■■■ factor of having to work after they close which is 10pm.
As for the building it’s about 11000 Sq ft of surface including those roof areas along the side and above the drive thru pharmacy. I quoted $1500 for that which was my usual price plus cost of material plus pita factor of being after hours. I honestly thought they’d haggle about it but they accepted it right away.
I’m trying to find out who manages the cvs around here but the store managers are clueless. I live in a big vacation/tourist area so property management companies are everywhere. No one owns their own building. Makes getting commercial work difficult. Specially for a noobie like me.
You gave them a great price.
Really? I thought I was over reaching at $0.12 per Sqft. I’ve just been reading that commercial properties try to pinch pennies so I didn’t want to over charge and get turned down.
That’s a nice little payday
Whats your rate on concrete and roofs?
14 stores you hit a nice little jackpot.
Not to be a Debby downer…but usually a building wash/house wash doesn’t require reclaim of runoff.
In this situation you may need to look into it as you have concrete surrounding the building and chance are there slopes to a drain.
Especially in this high traffic of an area
I just got my pump so I am unsure on what I’ll charge for roofs yet. My concrete price is usually $0.10 per Sq ft. Couple other pressure washers in my area that have been around a long time so I made sure I was lower than them to get a customer base built up.
Patriot I am glad you brought that up I need to look into reclaim and what the rules and regulations are around here. The last store I did just the concrete and they didn’t have any drains in the lot. I just rinsed into the parking lot on that one. This one is about an hour away so I won’t know until next week when I start working. I need to get one of those sludge pumps I’ve seen talked about on here.
