Hey guys… finished my first job…
It was an absolute nightmare! First of all my solution of 3 gallons of 12.5 with 5 ounces of arm and hammer with oxiclean was downstreamed on to the vinyl and it just did not come off… this is the second house in a row (I did a family members for free for practice) where the solution did not eat away at the dirt and mildew and I was forced to take an extension pole with a light brush and brush the entire fridge house after my solution was on… SO FRUSTATING!!
Then midway threw the house wash that took me forever to do…the owner comes out and tells me that the water/solution is dripping down from a window on the second floor. I go to inspect…assuming that maybe I wasn’t supposed to be spraying in to the fascia/soffit area and sure enough the water is coming in threw the seal at the top of the window and the owner is quick to say that it is not my fault, has anyone had this issue? Do you have waivers that cover your ass from this kind of crap!! Anyways the solution wiped the paint right off of his desk sitting beneath that window. He was super cool about it , I checked the rest of the house and sure enough there was no more.
Frustrated to the point of man tears I retreated to my truck wanting to just pack up and leave. I had spent four hours before the house wash cleaning the tracks out of the windows, which I grossly under quoted. I dont think I will be cleaning tracks anymore for anything less then 25 dollars a track. Anyways I was able to calm down, still dont know why my solution is not fighting dirt. I always read on here about how the solution does the work… here I am scrubbing my ass off to get the vinyl clean. After a serious fiver I fought back and said screw this I can do this and jumped out of the truck. I went from nervous and feeling like a failure to pissed off and ready to prove that I could do this.
I had told the customer that I would get the gutters as well as the fascia and soffits really clean, they were black. I was able to get the black off the gutter but the fascia and soffit was a different story… I later found out threw research that it was “tiger stripping”… and explained to the home owner I would try my best. I scrubbed for 7 hours… this job took me three days for the following services
interior exterior window cleaning with track cleaning and screens (all windows were storm windows)
house wash
deck pressure wash
driveway clean
This job never ended…his driveway was full of sawdust and grime. To the point that it took me an our to spray it to the road… then I had to scoop muddy shitty dirt in to a costco leaf bag cause I couldn’t just leave it on the street. Not to mention the dirt from the driveway would hit the house and it made me have to basically rewash…
I thought I did an OKAY job, Customer came out and said Trev you haven’t taken a break in three days, we love the entire job, they paid me 200 dollars more (it was 575 originally canadian) and told me to go across the street to talk to a neighbour. Neighbour was in charge of some neighbour group and asked if I could be the one to clean all there windows and siding! That I come highly recommended… such a weird turn of events.
I need some help with my mix guys… this stuff isnt working… its just not coming off, do I have to scrub every house? I see videos and everyone just sprays there solution waits and then washes and it looks fantastic. It hasn’t happened to me yet!!
All and all I am going to grind this out, people sometimes hire me cause they like me and see me working hard but three days for the above mentioned services is embarrassing but hey its my first job…I didn’t damage any property, get hurt AND the customer was happy and I got a huge referral.
questions for you guys (sorry for the long post)
- better solution mix? I know I need a better solvent
- best brush for siding/gutters where to buy?
- BEST ORDER TO DO THE SERVICES I OFFERED ( I FOUND MYSELF HAVING TO RE DO SOME BECAUSE OTHERS RE DIRTIED THE PREVIOUS ONE! )
- And lastly… your favourite scotch… cause I could use a drink