Explain to them that your equipment is bigger and more efficient then the other guys. Comparable to cutting down a tree with a chainsaw as opposed to a handsaw.
I’ve never had anyone bring it up. I tell them it will take about an hour around the same time I tell them what it costs. Never had any pushback.
Man that is awesome. I did one today, about 3000 sqft not including the 3 car garage so not sure total sqftage. Just me. I did the entire house and surface cleaned a sizable rear patio and a sizable additional patio. I didn’t get in any rush because it was my only one today, but I was in and out in about 3 hours. Did have a few tough stains on the front porch that I worked on for a while but other than that it was fairly straight forward. 40 mins seems almost unbelievable to me at this point.
1 Like
Keep taking your time and doing it right and always do something extra. It will pay off for you in the long run.
8 Likes
Great advice @Racer!
Develop the habit of doing more than you’re paid for, you’re rewards will eventually outgrow your efforts.
3 Likes
Honestly can’t even wrap my head around a 40 minute to 1 hour wash. I’m on a job right now and it took 30 mins just to setup the equipment and tape the outlets and key holes. The house wasn’t hard but does have a wrap around porch and it took 1 1/2 hours and another 30 minutes to put everything back on the porch, take the tape off, put the equipment up and get paid. Comes out to about a 3 hour job from start to finish. 40 minutes? Wow.
2 Likes
I hope your insurance covers you to be the moving man!
2 guys…
1 hour 30 mins divided by two = 45 minutes
Yea, that second person is a huge help. But I’m in the same boat as Steve. I’m about 30 mins in just getting set up and taping everything off and so forth. Then prob close to that with breaking everything down at the end. As for my washing, I’m probably way slower since I’m still trying to get my process down and that will without a doubt decrease as my experience increases. But i am impressed. You guys definitely have it down to a science it sounds.
1 Like
It does, but what’s going to break, a $20 flower pot? A $75 bench? I’m not too worried about some patio furniture.
I don’t move stuff. It’s their property. If they don’t want it wet or soaped, they know to move it. We tape doorbells and door locks but that takes about 30 seconds. I don’t tape outlets unless the cover is off. 45 minutes max on the house shown in the pic or I will lose my mind at myself or my guys. Way to much work to do to be moving furniture, much less putting it back. But, what works for me may not work for others. That’s a $220 job for me. For others it might be $500 and can warrant more customer interaction.
1 Like
All works out. $200 an hour.
3 Likes
The difference is you probably hit that mark every day and I only hit it on a good day. 
2 Likes
Last week a property cancelled but i filled it with 78 house washes and gave everyone Thursday and Friday off. There is a lot of work around here.
2 Likes
The flip side is in the winter I’ll be lucky to scrape up a 3k week and that doesn’t cover much payroll lol. Grasshopper and the ants
Omg. My goal is 50 house washes for the year. Depressing.
2 Likes
Don’t get depressed. It took 20 years of being in business to be able to make a few calls and book some work. When I started that would have never happened. I also didn’t have payroll to meet and a bunch of trucks to keep busy
Then was better than now most days.
What made you get out of fleet? Seems like it’d be a good way to keep the guys busy without much thought.
Fleets are nights and weekends for the most part. You only get 52 Saturdays a year. I lost to many to the Fire Dep’t. I wasn’t going to lose anymore to washing when I could be fishing or hunting with my sons. Plus, reclaim was the big buzz word back then, not that it isn’t now.
3 Likes
