I’m staying out of all that stuff! I will say that i disagree with a surface cleaner on a deck, but to each their own!
Chris I understand. And I hope you take this as a constructive critique because I like your get up and go, determination and aspirations to improve your family’s future. BUT, you’re a very active member on a professional cleaners forum. Posting Youtube videos about how you did something is not setting a good example for an aspiring pw or a homeowner who might see this who may think it’s alright or the right way to clean a deck or siding for that matter.
I realize you got your new machine, but that doesn’t mean you go around blasting the hell out of everything.
You have a responsibility to others who are newer than you are to show the correct way to do things. You’ve posted 2 videos in past 24 hours that if you were my employee I would have fired you on the spot or if I were the homeowner would be seriously thinking about suing you.
Secondly, you need to reconsider your clients. If the client can’t afford to do it right and even if you agree to do the job for less than what it’s really worth, don’t shortcut your work or process. You saying, well it was was a crap house and they can’t afford it, then you need to make the decision whether you want to help them out or pass. But using the correct chemicals and/or methods is a process and just because you agree to do the work for a wrong price doesn’t mean you sacrifice the correct way to do things or your integrity.
Either do a job right or don’t do it at all. I can assure you most anyone on here that’s been doing this longer than a year has lost money on a job. But don’t get in the habbit of taking shortcuts, using cheap products that don’t work as well or doing things incorrectly and rationalize it to yourself that the customer didn’t pay enough to do it right… It’s a downward spiral that you don’t want to get into.
Seriously, do you want some young aspiring washer who is really trying to learn the business to maybe run across your video on washing that deck and think that’s how to do it? And then they go out to some clients nice cedar deck and do that. So just be careful what you post. And if you don’t know how to do something, ask and learn, don’t just blast it.
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What did I do that was worth suit? I didn’t furr the wood and it was exactly what the customer asked me to do. The deck you see in the video was under a maple tree and sh wouldn’t have made a big difference. The customer stated she just wanted the black stuff blown off so she could use deck paint on it. I offered to clean it with softwash and she turned it down. She said she had another guy that was going to power wash it for her so she could paint it but he was busy for a few weeks and it was stopping me from washing the house.
I respect you and appreciate all the advice you have given me! I know softwash if the key but this was not something the customer was willing to go for.
I’m so lost at what I did that was so bad? The tip I was using for the deck was way oversized and I’m sure I was running less than 2k psi with a good distance to the deck.
When I say I offered to clean it with softwash I mean using pre and post treat. Still rinsing with the pw.
The other 2 decks she had me wash at her house were deckover paint that had some flaking going on. She wanted the flakes blown off so she could roll on new paint. Again I don’t think she will actually do it but I could be wrong. She was a single middle aged mom and it looked like yard and house upkeep were not in here timeline. The other 2 decks that I washed for her were simply washing the dirt off and stripping off the large flakes of paint on the deck.
I know everyone said run from deckover paint but when the customer says they want the flakes removed so they can use the same paint on it I don’t see the problem. If she had asked me to strip those decks so she could use stain I would have ran away.
I feel like I let a mentor down! Really thought I was doing it right…
The other 2 decks, that’s fine. I don’t care about those.
You’re missing the whole point. Over the next several years that video may get thousands of views, including potential customers. Is that how you want them all to think that that’s how you clean a deck?
Every single job you do, you need to look at it as if it were your house and how you would do it if it were yours. I tell all my customers, once I clean their property it’s mine now. I’m just letting them live in it. And that’s the type of customers you want. Always do every job to best of your knowledge and ability, even if not the nicest homes, they’re important to the people that own them. It’s their castle. It’s just a difference in philosophy. If you want to run a production line, that’s fine. But I think over a few years you’re going to lose your enthusiasm for the work. If you want to do homes and jobs you can be proud of, then it’s a different mindset.
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I tell ever customer (and mean it) that I’m not happy unless they are happy and won’t take a penny until they are. I never said and you never implied that she was not a good customer. I feel like the statement I made earlier kinda implied that but it’s not what I fully meant. Hard to convey a sentiment across a screen. I could have been more descriptive and said she was a single mother with limited time and income to start with. I mistakenly chose the easy road and downplayed her home.
She wanted her house washed and for me to wash the deck at her daughters house across town. I knew she was in a budget and gave her a deal on the housewash since she needed the decks done too. The 2 deckover decks were never offered for softwashing as we both know SH won’t remove paint chips.
The other deck (one in the video) I told her needed to be pre and post treated and she kinda clammed up when I told her it would be $125 for the deck. She said she would think about it and called me 3 days later saying she wanted the housewash done in a few weeks and she had found a guy who would just pressure wash it. So here I am with a customer that may end up with a surface cleaner on her decks from another guy. I told her I can get rid of the black stains on the flooring with just the pressure washer for $75 if she let me get it all done st once. No blasting it off was not ideal… I was careful and didn’t furr a thing. I know there’s a wrong way and a right way. But I don’t think what I did was absolutely wrong.
Yes I could have let the other guy do the job and it not been my problem if he messed it up.
Also deleted my comment about the customers property. It is not right of me to post something like that in here about a customers home. I apologize to all! It was not proper and was the low road to take in a conversation to justify why I did a job how I did it.
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You were going across the boards and not up and down.
