One setup, two guys- does it work?

Residential
1

i have one setup for power washing (4gpm, 4000 psi, surface washer etc.). i’m doing house washes, pool decks and patios, decks etc.

i’m wondering if a two-man crew can work effectively with one set of equipment. my window cleaners work as two-man crews, so it makes sense to keep them together on pressure washing jobs if it’s not a waste.

if so, how do you divy up the labor? what does the guy who’s not using the machine do? is this an efficient way to work, or should i just stick with a one-man/one-setup plan?

Any tips on how to handle this?

2

buy another machine, an 8gpm rig, they will make you a bunch of money after that

3

Two men on the job could complete a small house wash in two hours. It would take fifteen minutes longer if it was just one man.

Fast forward - one man soaping with your current 4 gpm, the second man rinsing with the 8 gpm JC mentioned - same house 45 minutes. Then you’re only one step away from one man, one hour.

4

ok, nice answers. but i don’t have an 8gpm machine. i’m working on that…

so, for what i have now, any tips on the most efficient way to use two guys?

5

Send one home.

6

I agree with Tim on this Caleb.

If your set up is as it should be, there’s really no point to a 2nd man, unless it’s some sort of tax break thing.

7

Not really. Both guys need wands in their hands. One can be rinsing while the other one applies the soap. 2 guys per house works best for us. What you see in your window cleaning is 2 guys using tools to clean the windows. Powerwashing is the same principle. Both guys need the right tools and in this case they both need a wand in hand.

8

Yea you can be putting his wages toward another rig because unless ones soaping and ones rinsing I don’t see the need for two guys on site…

9

thanks for the above answers. it seemed like that was the case, there just isn’t much for the second guy to do if he cant be using a wand like the first guy. i just wasn’t sure if there was something i was missing.

so, one guy for my current rig.

continue to pile up $ for bigger/better equipment. that seems like the mantra around here.

10

I use 2 guys with one machine. One guy runs the gun and the other pulls hoses, rolls up the water hose, puts stuff back, etc. I could probably make more money just running one guy, but for the few dollars more, it’s worth it to me. I’m not saying it will work for you, just saying it works for me.

11

To be more clear, no.

Sell and perform more work, the money for the equipment will take care of itself. I don’t think anyone here would put equipment acquisition ahead of sales and business management.

12

And that is exactly what we did when we started. In six years, I’ve probably been on less than three jobs by myself. But I’m old, and tired. And those hoses get heavy, even the one wire with electric reels. But we ran two guys because that’s the way that I wanted it, not because it was most efficient. It was not more profitable but it made more sense.

Still, it took us only weeks to figure out 4 was too slow. Within a month of starting, we had tied another 3.2 machine into our 4. Then picked up a couple of Craigslist 4’s and hooked them together. So we had four machines (running as two) with two men. We eventually ended up with an 8 and a 10 with two men. That right there is efficient.

And then I got fired off the truck. My son, who is a full partner, suggested that I go back in the office and sell some more work. It takes him longer by himself than it took when he and I washed, but not that much longer.

But I fully agree, two men on a rig can be very efficient.

13

Tim, in all honesty, we had 3 machines with us and I would usually have 3 or 4 guys (sometimes including me and some not) and they would have all the machines running while I supervised/did office work/etc. Since we had our trailer stolen and we are down to one machine, and we are trying to make due and there is always something we are trying to improve on so I usually have the other guy changing or working on something while the other guy is working now. We are currently working on getting a trailer built and starting over with rebuilding again.

14

It makes for better moral, keep your guys happy and they will make your bank account more happy. I always have a guy with me, I will leave him here and there to do an estimate, work on this or that. It’s safer too, I heard a story the other day where a guy went blind after a high pressure accident. Can you imagine if you were by yourself.

15

And I agree with this also, but only because Jeremy utilizes higher GPM equipment. Time savings because of faster wash time justifies this.

16

I can attest to the other quotes. I would wash and the other guy would pull hoses and make sure I didnt get hung up on anything. It worked and we had a great system but now with 2 8gpms (Thanks Guy for the advise on that) we can wash a 2500 sq foot house so fast now. Its worth getting the other machine if you can. With one machine last year all I could handle was 4 houses a day and I was whooped. Now with 2 8 gpm the most we did was 10 in a day. Straight humping. haha

17

No need for 2 guys on one house wash. Jmo

18

No not for just 1, but 5,7,8 a day? Yea it’s a very good idea.

19

I agree today was 4 houses with 3 driveways washed and 2 had gutter clean outs. I was home a little before 3. Work smarter not harder.

20

Exactly. If your only getting calls to do 1-2 house washes a day then 1 guy is fine. Multiple house washes like we did today in the rain where we did 6 different jobs with 3 house washes among them then 2 guys is a must.

If you don’t have the work load then 1 guy maybe your best bet.