I recently decided to start a new division of my landscape company with an eye towards paver cleaning and care, though I am virtually certain that we’ll do all sorts of “hardscape” cleaning and maintenance. We’re mainly going to start with the residential market here in Las Vegas… though due to extensive commercial contacts I know we’ll move in that direction as well in short order.
Money is always an object, but less of a concern for me than wasting money on equipment that’s just going to be obsolete in short order… I’d rather sacrifice somewhere else than “waste” money.
My thought was to start with a very good portable hot water unit as opposed to going whole hog and having a skid mount unit on a trailer with as many bells and whistles as I could get…
But one thing I keep coming back to is that we’ll probably be doing a lot of work in backyards that aren’t really accessible by vehicle. Some runs can be pretty long as well, and we may be looking at distances that exceed several hundred feet away…
So I guess my question would be… Is there a unit out there that, even though not the perfect set up, would work well enough and be portable enough or should I just go whole hog with several hundred feet of hose?
Don’t know why you feel the need for heat when cleaning hardscape but maybe your’e not mentioning something. Several hundred feet runs is not a issue. Just get a Honda belt drive cold 4 gallon machine
If you doing most back yard stuff like patios, pavers and walkways i dont see why you would need a hot water. Thise are mostly for commercial projects that get alot of oil and gum on them. You can get that machine surface cleaner, hoses and chems for less than $2500 total.
Since I’m obviously not a pro I had maybe wrongly presumed that hot water was just that much better for really good cleaning. If that’s not the case… does hot water offer any advantages (even small ones) for basic residential cleaning?
Most of our focus and marketing resources are going to be targeting pavers in residential settings… driveways, walkways, and back patios, etc. Most of those pavers are obviously mostly in areas where they only really see foot traffic, and thus don’t get that dirty… driveways though would be my main concern in being able to do a great job. I know that the chemicals and a good surface cleaner are going to do their job… my concern would be that it wouldn’t be enough. Am I wrong or just too concerned with that? Even on plain old gray concrete that needs to look almost perfect when we’re done?
The next step would be commercial, though that might be more of a ways off, so a better set up with hot water could wait a bit I guess.
My other reason for wanting to use hot water was almost purely from a marketing/branding standpoint. It’s about creating the perception that you are a professional company, providing a professional service, that they can’t do themselves, and that none of the other Joe Schmo’s running around with Home Depot Pressure Washers can do either.
It’s maybe a little difficult to explain in a message board post but… paver care and driveway/concrete cleaning isn’t really that big of a market out here. People do it, and there are little companies here and there (mostly handy man types), but it’s just not something that gets done a lot… and that’s what my goal is to change. People only don’t have it done because they don’t know that it’s something you should have a professional do, like cleaning your carpet.
To a degree I’m trying to create a market by changing the perception.
Now if I can get the ball rolling on that without having to drop $20,000 in equipment right out of the gate all the better.
How water is not a bad idea on pavers you going to seal . It help get it to a better prepared surface . Running several hundred feet of hose is normal. Spending 20k is rediculous . You could do it for half that.
Dont take my advice to serious im still a rookie, but ya you could get grease spots from grills up and oil from cars in driveways. Hot water will make that easier and you can do hot or cold with it.
