What are different chemicals you use for flat work? I am still new to this but curious what y’all use aside from maybe SH. Which chemicals do you use are your favorite? Which would you recommend staying away from? I know you’d use different chemicals depending on what it is you’re trying to clean off the surface. If there is a list of chemicals for flat work on here then I overlooked it but thought I’d ask.
SH and degreaser. Anything more and you’re just experimenting on peoples properties.
1 Like
Ditto, however a friend of mine in a complimentary industry told me about a concrete stain lifter called Chomp. He’s in construction and leases commercial real estate. I looked it up, there are two formulas, sealed and unsealed concrete.
Has anyone had success with this product?
Oxalic or F9 for rust.
1 Like
With oxalic, which I just ordered some that some be delivered tomorrow, do you just spray it on with a hand pump sprayer?
I am wanting to clean a few practice areas tomorrow. Would you use oxalic acid by itself or spray it down after spraying (and cleaning up) SH?
I’m not being smart, but you are asking some basic questions about chemicals and chemical applications. Let me ask you this, are you a read and learn, watch and learn, hear and learn, or a do and learn type of person. If you aren’t a read and learn type, reading all the info on here won’t help you much. See if there is someone in your general area that would allow you to do a ride a long or help out for a day for free. You may want to take a class if you can’t find anyone and need hands on time. I would also go look for some abandoned property with concrete to experiment on as well, or some industrial area that they don’t care what you do with a loading area on the weekend. ruining anyone’s concrete will be bad, but if it’s yours only you can be mad at you. This is what I did, I experimented on mine and not a family member or friends concrete.
There are things called learning styles, contrary to popular opinion, everyone does not learn the same way.
2 Likes
Seriously? A little surprised to hear that from you.
SH, degreaser, degreaser with hydroxide, acid for mud and/or rust. With these 4 things you can clean 99.9% of what you’ll run into cleaning concrete.
10 Likes
What am I missing here brock? 98% of my flat work will fall under organic growth and grease removal. I don’t do niche services, I’ve learnt my lessons.
2 Likes
That’s you and your area, doing other stain removal services isn’t ‘experimenting’ and is an opinion that shouldn’t be lumped in with the rest of the world’s washers.
I see a LOT of rust, calcium, lime and efflo stains here in Louisville. People want these removed, there’s a valid market for it. That’s what you’re missing.
98% is what i take on not what I’m asked if i could clean. Those stains you mentioned aren’t US specific, nature happens 24/7 outside of Louisville all around the world believe it or not. The reality is rust, calcium, lime, efflorescence are niche services and nobody’s bread and butter in this industry, why Someone would pursue the crappy side of exterior cleaning is beyond me. Anybody starting out shouldn’t even know what those stains are let alone let lose on a property with a truck load of chemicals. Have you never met my mentor @bleachblaster and seen the crimes he committed with SH alone on an innocent family’s home?
4 Likes
Well, that’s just you then. Things work differently here.
I’ll just wait for the stain experts to chime in.
That’s a bit of a low blow brock. In this thread you start off disappointed by my legitimate advice to a newbie starting out about basic chemical choices for basic flat work looking to get into it. Then you put me into a “Us” vs “them” holding up Louisville like it’s the Mecca of stains, only Louisville has stains you’ve never seen or heard of!. Then you go on about how cleaning stains you know nothing about isn’t experimenting on peoples property while on another thread an hour apart your holding out various f9 bottles and a little one restore searching for direction and waiting for someone to say pick that one, IBS gives you sound advice to walk away because you don’t know what your doing and you pretend to not know what he’s talking about because it wasn’t what you wanted to hear. And lastly, you don’t need a stain expert, you just need to accept that you don’t know a whole lot about this industry, and that’s ok, I don’t know a whole lot about window cleaning. Let’s stick to what we know.
3 Likes
I think I may be getting my posts mixed up, I posted pics of that house I did and was trying to get some advice on how to get that stain up.🤷🏼
But shouldn’t you try to learn what “those stains” are so when a customer ask you can give them an informed answer? Once you know what the stains are then couldn’t you decide whether it is a job you’d choose to take on. Shouldn’t you be as informed as possible on things vs telling a customer “I don’t know”?
Nope, nothing wrong with saying “I don’t know”. Without exception, walking away always works out better.
4 Likes
Only if you’re in business for curiosity, challenges and headaches. Most are in it to make money and move on, the easy money in business brings in enough day to day challenges on its own. There’s more moss, mold, and algie out there than there is contractors to do them. Replenishes every year also, it’s a goldmine should someone pursue the easy route. Some make it in business, some don’t, it usually comes down to the collection of choices you’ve made along the way.
5 Likes
Actually competition is fierce here, so being able to do stain removal kinda gives you a leg up on ‘Chuck in a Truck’ types. It’s all about making your name stand out from the rest.
2 Likes
I tend to take a bit of a contrary approach…we do offer those services as add-ons, but I prefer we don’t do them. We compete by differentiating on level of service, but I find that when we do these specialized services, we tend to not be able to achieve the same level of client satisfaction. We wind up with more callbacks, more refunds (for the add-on), and a much lower profit level than just washing a home or roof. I keep telling our sales team, “let’s focus on what we do well, and do more of that”…
3 Likes
This thread is loaded with some serious protein! Thanks to @Racer @Innocentbystander @MuscleMyHustle @JAtkinson for delivering the groceries as usual. You guys are awesome to say the least. Some of us little guys benefit from your wisdom & experience every day. Thank you. Keep rawking it out! & carry on…
