I’ve never been asked to use bull sh*t chemicals. never used dawn alone for a cleaning, would it even do anything? i informed her it wouldn’t come out as good, but i really don’t even know if it’s worth it? quoted $150 for the deck. originally planned to pre-treat with SH + elemonator and 1000psi surface clean. Maybe just ditch the useless dawn and surface clean alone?
Dawn is a degreaser. It won’t do anything for organics. If there aren’t any organics you don’t need SH.
Going forward I would start calling everything “detergents” or “soaps”. Most people hear the word chemical and they instantly think it’s something bad. Nobody wants “chemicals” sprayed all over a place they eat and swim. I bet if you told the lady you’re going to use bleach I bet they’d be completely fine with. Heck, they’re more than likely swimming in it anyways. Message back and ask if you can use bleach instead of dawn and see what she says.
Most here will agree to never let a customer dictate your process.
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@marinegrunt is right.
I’d also say something like, “to be safe, how about I schedule it for a day / weekend when you’re out of town. No trace of my cleaning solution will be around by the time you get back”
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That and once you apply it the SH will be inert within 4 hours. Not to mention you rinsing it.
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@TexasPressureWashing the whole “extremely sensitive to chemicals” part does worry me. last thing i want is to risk the safety of a client. i know it breaks down into basically salt and water after time though. i’ll try to inform her and see what she says. the worst part about thumbtack is how easy it is to scare away a lead. all they have to do is back out of our chat and click right onto the next guy.
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Agree but it’s about educating them. Bleach is in their tap water, their pool, etc.
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Tell them they need more chlorine in their pool…
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$150 sounds very low…
ehh not too low. i’m working my prices up from my noob days. before i found this forum i would’ve ran over it with my ryobi ■■■ box for $80, plus business has been slow.
Walk away.
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First question I would ask is what chemicals are used to keep pool water clean, is most likely either pool bleach or salt. If they use pool shock you are good to go. If they use salt (sodium) is the beginning of bleach, sodium hypochlorite. No one can tell you how much to price, only you know your market and competitors but personally $150 sounds a bit low. The owner doesn’t know how busy you are. I have an hourly rate in mind and quote my jobs accordingly. Not saying I never deviate, you may want more business from a particular person/area etc but what happens next time they call you, will you be ready to justify a higher price. “I wasn’t busy the last time i washed it” wouldn’t be a good response.
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“Extremely sensitive to chemicals”… has a pool… just let them know you’re using the same thing they treat their pool with. (unless it’s a salt water pool)
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Turns out even salt water pools use chlorine, just a fair amount less than regular pools. I always thought they were devoid of it also, until my friend who recently got a pool told me about it.
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gotcha. i got to $150 because i figured it should only take about an hour to an hour and a half at $100/hr. Looking back now, especially because of the house/area she’s in, i probably could’ve gone as far as $250/300. if after i further explain how we use SH and she still declines, i’m probably just going to walk. this is new concrete too which i don’t have much experience with, i’ve read some horror stories here where even 1000psi will take the cream off in some cases.
You are low for the area you are working in. I’m in Southlake and do a lot of staining in Trophy Club/Roanoke. I do a fair amount of cleaning and sealing pools etc too so I can tell you they will pay more. It’s already been covered but 'Cleaning Solution" that you mix on site based on what their unique situation is works pretty well. When they are sensitive, I tell them I’ll be using pool shock for your application since some of this will get in the pool and we already know it doesn’t effect you or something to that effect. Good Luck
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You stated in another thread that your 1 story house wash starts at $300 and 2 story house wash at $400. If you’re that high for house washing your flat work numbers should be priced higher. In time you’ll find what numbers work best for how your equipment is configured. I would price that pool deck for around $250-275 if that’s all I was showing up for. Don’t give in to their “rules” on how the job should be done or they’ll take advantage of you in other ways too.
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welp, i live and i learn.
I understand, usually on here you seldom have anyone local to give you feedback on pricing. Granted you I’m higher than most. Good luck to you.
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Charge as much as you can, pride yourself on being expensive. People that call you have money, no such thing as being “tight this month” and wanting some cosmetic exterior cleaning done that’s not how rational thinking works lol.
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