I just joined a few days ago, i have a contract job that ends in 2 years and i want to start my own pressure washing company when the contract is up. I have a friend that started his own a few years ago and luckily hes willing to help me get started/shadow him.
I’m reluctant to start my own company until my contract is done as i am out of the state half the year, usually 3 months at a time. seems like a hard way to build clients being gone half the year.
Been scrolling thru the residential and commercial forums mostly and i have learned a MASSIVE amount so i just wanted to say thank you all that contribute!
Welcome! Sounds like the perfect arrangement to get started…unless you’re in a short wash season area, and gone the best of those months… @Dallsheep can tell you all about that sort of scenario.
@BradenC Welcome to the forum. South Carolina has a long wash season with our typically milder winters. I usually still wash a handful throughout December and January, but the season really kicks off for me once pollen comes to a stop. There’s a few of us on here from SC so depending on where you are I’m sure we’ll run into each other eventually.
I’m no longer gone the rest of those months. This year I was off work from April through September doing my washing. I am currently absolutely grinding in shipyards because I have a third baby on the way and need the insurance. In march, I go on paternity leave and will take that as long as I can and continue this next summer with the business.
The plan is to hopefully be able to quit my maritime job and also buy a brand new Toyota sienna hybrid for my better half this year.
I remain open to working for my job, but have had to deal with the psychological issues of making more than 20x more an hour pressure washing vs my job. I’m not better than anyone else but sheesh I notice the discrepancy in pay when working for others instead of myself now!
Customer accumulation will be paramount to your success. I finished my 2nd year so I am not a pro, but accumulate every customer or interested person and keep their info so you can touch base with them later down the road. Much easier to ask a returning customer vs pay to acquire a new one.
Don’t even think about it. You’ve got the perfect job, with the ship stuff, on a couple of weeks and then off a couple. I’m sure you’ve got great benefits, that you’ll probably never have on your on, plus the retirement benefits. Try to live off the shipping and use all the pw money to accumulate assets, both fun and real investments.
Oh man. I wish that was the case. I think Ive probably taken a 30 percent pay cut in the 9 years I’ve worked there while losing a lot of my benefits package. Our retirement is tiered and I’m the last and worst tier that gets no pension, so it’s all investments i make though they DO match up to a certain percentage.
Alaska marine highway is having huge retention issues. They are offering 5k signup bonuses for new employees. But that’s what happens when you chip away at all what I mentioned above year after year, and offer wages at 30-50 percent lower than industry standard down south. It’s a real mess.
I got a job offer for a ferry system down south in Washington a few years ago that had pension, benefits, and started me out at 55 an hour and in 3 years id be at 68. The missus and I had a serious talk about moving down south and taking the job but ultimately she wanted to stay up here because of her family and friends support system.
Ironically, her best friends husband ended up taking that job i passed on and they moved to Washington, along with our other good couple friends who got a job with them as well.
That job offer was a catalyst for me starting the PW business as I wanted more income/a way out of this maritime work while still living close to her family.
I eventually might have a chat with management about potentially working half the year with them but I’m not sure. I hate to use the term toxic work environment but man, they really make it hard to want to work for them. I have a lot of leave accumulated so I will take paternity leave this upcoming summer and kick the can down the road another year and see how I feel.
It’s considered a state job isn’t it. Most state jobs have decent benefits, if not great, especially re health insurance. How the heck did they give you a pay cut, no one cuts wages these days, especially govt jobs, lol.
Union negotiations have been terrible every contract renewal. I could gripe about how bad the job is but I doubt you have the free time to listen
I try to be active with the union and ran for negotiation committee but didn’t win the last go around so I’ve been trying to change things and not just be ungrateful and complaining.
It’s been tough to work here for quite some time and to be honest, I don’t see an end to the bad times in sight, so eventually I’m going to have to pull the plug on this or try to work somewhere more friendly…maybe the DMV…
Hello, I am a high school teacher (trades) located in mid Michigan and run a cabinet refacing business on the side. My website in case you want to see what I do: https://www.cabinetcraftsaginaw.com.
I love remodeling kitchens as a side gig for teaching, most of the jobs are in the summer with one or two during the school year. I had been looking for another trade to run in between jobs, after school or on weekends and did some handyman work. I liked doing the jobs, but I didn’t like looking at my van and figuring out what I would need on the job site each day. I like knowing the job and having the tools ready to go. As I looked at handyman services pressure washing came up a lot. My only experience has been around my own home with an electric washer. And I really enjoy doing it, although it’s very slow with an electric. I really love how quick the progress happens as crud flies away before your eyes.
I am looking forward to learning a lot on this site and hoping I can make a go of this this spring/summer. I really like the idea of showing up and completing a job in a few hours versus a week or two for a kitchen remodel. My hope is to be able to fill open days with two or three pressure washing jobs and come home with an extra $300-500 each time. Does that sound realistic? I want to start with flat concrete surfaces, and possibly learn enough to do siding and decks as well. Eventually I would like to get into roofs but I don’t want to shoot for the moon just yet.
Welcome & thanks for teaching the youngsters! You’ve definitely found the right place to gather your knowledge. My suggestion would be to decide up front what services you want to offer in the long run so you can build your rig based around what your needs will be - but definitely use the search bar & learn all the right methods first. A simple set up can take care of almost everything residential besides the roof & the more you are able to invest on the right rig will determine how efficient you can be. Probably 2% of the calls I get are for flat work only & when they are, I show them the full menu. Also have to figure out things like how customers are going to find you & why they will want to hire you.
Hi, Im Darren from Charlotte, NC. I’ve been in the pool repair business for 24 years. During that span I have cleaned countless pool decks and hard scapes. I have used a pressure washer for 100% of the jobs. I have recently set up a 12v 7gpm soft wash system. Between watching videos and reading this forum I have come to the conclusion I have much to learn about the cleaning industry. Hopefully with the guidance of many I avoid most of the trial and error, I look foward to learning as much as i can from all of you.
My name is Daniel and I am starting my exterior cleaning company soon as spring starts here in Ottawa, Canada.
I decided to pursue this route back in October of 2023, and since then I have spent dozens of hours learning about this industry in every way I can. I learned recently about this forum and how helpful it has been to some, so here I am.
I’ve already bought my 4gpm honda washer and unger pure water system, and am picking up my twin-axle trailer tomorrow. I also have an amazon cart already populated with everything else that I need.
I have 2 main questions right now that I am hoping to get an answer for.
First, When it comes to hose reels, I see some people have their hoses plumbed to them, and others don’t. I could not find a good video online explaining the pro’s and con’s of either choice, so was hoping to get some input; specifically, what functionality do I stand to lose by not plumbing them? because the way I see it, if I do not plumb the hose to the reel, I can in theory use even an air reel, if its cheaper.
My second question is in regards to local pricing. There is a company in my area called softwash butler which is super big and I look up to them. I want to contact them for general advice/pricing questions but I don’t know what I have to offer them in exchange for the information.
