Hey guys I am new and I just wanted to say hello and thanks in advance for all of the help and happy to have such an awesome resource.
I live in San Antonio Tx work for a rebar company doing manufacturing, fabricating and hydraulic maintenance… started cleaning windows on the side about 6 months ago and randomly got a call for a bid on pressure washing and cleaning the grill vent filters of a local burger joint. I bid low because I wanted the work and they own about 15 restaurants in the area. Got the bid and so started looking for a pressure washer… of course I bought one too small (i know what you guys are thinking. ) 3100 psi 2.5 gpm and a 12in surface cleaner. I got my but kicked the first time. I thought it would take me 4 to 6 hrs ended up working all night 2 nights and having to go to work at 6 am the next morning… ill be going back on Tuesday with a better game plan to hopefully cut my time down to 6 hrs( I know thats still alot). I am just going to stick it out for now until I can afford the RIGHT equipment. The customer was really happy with my work none the less and wants to talk about me doing the other stores and they will have 15 more in 3 years he says so I am happy about that ( not counting my chickens before they hatch we will see what happens). I cleaned 30 grill vents, power washed the drive through and side walks. I used zep industrial purple degreaser ( we use that alot at my job to clean hydraulic gunk) it worked pretty good on the grease but not on the tire marks. I didn’t use full strength on those so I will try next that next time. I know I really need hot water and a better set up so I am going to rely on chemicals and longer dwell time for now.
So yeah that’s my experience thus far… I am open to any tips and pointers along with any criticism … Thanks alot yall. I know I need a better set up for sure 13 hp honda with 4gpm 4k psi is what im looking at and hopefully within a month or 2 can get that
Well 1 I bid so low that nobody else would be dumb enough to do it and 2 I am kinda excited about it …hopefully can quit my job one day soon and start doing this full time @awesomewash2
Your brand new to pressure washing and your starting off with reraurant/grills ??? Man that would be way to much risk for me to take when I started out… First word of advice., load up on the insurance.
Seriously though here is how you could do it. Charge them a one time cleanup fee of 3x what it would cost to do a place and use that as you initial cleanup fee. Then go back to a monthly or bi-weekly cleaning fee. You should be able to downstream EBC in a light concentration and pick up all the grease instantly. If they want 3 month cleanings charge them you 3x rate.
Dont let the price scare you, you can get 1 gallon jugs and 5 gallon buckets.
Fo sho… document everything. I think you have to use service labels that seal off access panelsand all kinds of stuff. There’s a guy in Texas who does exclusively vent hoods. I can’t remember his name off the top of my head, but in his breakout session at the Huge Convention he mentioned how huge the liability is and there’s a standard set of rules for vent hoods. If you don’t follow them to a tee and the place burns down from grease in the vent hood it’s basically your butt. I’ll find my notes from the convention, but, personally, wouldn’t touch another vent hood without at least the fire code/cleaning regulations.
