Hey guys, has anyone started washing part time while working a 5x8s schedule 40 hours a week? When do you do jobs? After work? weekends? I currently work shift work and am intending on washing on my days off in the middle of the week. But I’m going to have the opportunity soon to transition to a 5x8s 6:30am to 3pm schedule. How realistic is it to perform a residential job after 3 pm? Thanks!
What kind of equipment are you running ? How far are the jobs from work ? I mostly do commercial so weekends are best for me and my customers.
@DTpowerwash
That’s what I do. For the past 5 wash seasons I have been working a full-time job for the local town that works me 7am-3:30pm throughout the work week. Here in South Carolina during the spring and summers I can easily stay out until 7 or even 8pm if need be to wash any scheduled jobs. And then I wash over the weekends as well.
The downside to this is that it can put a strain on family life, for sure.
But it’s hard for me to give up the state level benefits that the town job offers me. They pay me when it rains, they pay me if I call out due to a sick kid. They pay 100% of my health insurance, etc. I’m in the process of changing jobs within the town that’ll have an even more interesting schedule that I’m hoping will allow for more wash time throughout the work week. But we’ll have to see how it pans out.
Just know it can absolutely be done.
Depends on how much daylight you have left. I can do a housewash in two hours or less, depending on severity.
Pretty much all of my jobs are gonna be 45 minutes from work. I’ve got a pretty good set up, not top of the line but not a chuck in a truck. 5 gpm 3000 psi BE, 20 inch SC, dedicated 12v softwash system, a variety of chems, etc. I plan to do mostly residential, at least for now
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do you bring your trailer to work in the morning or do you have a van/enclosed setup?
I have it all in the bed of my 6 ft pick up truck. It can become tricky in the winter months with temps dropping below freezing. I did a quick house wash yesterday afternoon but had to plug up the heat tape the night prior as well as last night to prevent everything from freezing. Truck stays outside each night.
Excuse the chaos you see in the photo. Only about 1/2 way complete with the rebuild of the set up in the truck. I pulled it all out at the end of December to replace a ball bearing that went out on the bed slide and have been toying with new ways to have it all set up. Yesterday’s job was last minute so a lot of the stuff is just thrown in there.
thats cool that you can fit all that in the bed, i still havent set up yet so i may consider that, be a heck of a lot easier to drive around town without a trailer
There’s pros and cons. There are several threads arguing each side of it, but here’s some key takeaways:
• Less tires, brakes, and license plates to keep up with in just a truck/van
• Maneuverability is better in just a truck/van
• If truck ever goes down for maintenance or due to an accident then so does your operation. A trailer would allow you to easily attach and detach to another truck/rental if needed
• Being able to detach a trailer from the truck allows you to use the truck for personal truck things like hauling the kiddos bikes, or picking up 20 bags of mulch for my personal yard, etc.
• A trailer can have signage attached to it and once the trailer is disconnected your truck is no longer a rolling billboard. My 2018 F150 is aluminum so I had to use vinyl decals on the doors instead of being able to throw magnets on that could be removed in seconds if desired.
• My particular HOA frowns on trailers being stored in my driveway so therefore I’d have to find a way to store it in the backyard each time I don’t need it.
There are some great threads on truck builds and trailer builds on this site so be sure to pick them out.
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thanks for that! yea as is life i guess theres pros/cons, great now i have more stuff to over think lol
We’ve all been there, no doubt. * But*, the important thing is to get something set up and get out there.
However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with sitting down and methodically planning everything out. It’s not how I did it, and it shows, but with 5 seasons under my belt I’ve found my niche and am I not interested in growing the business more than what it currently is (approximately 100-150 washes a year). Just know what you’d like to (hopefully) do and go for it.
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