The company that washed out used a dewalt 3.5gpm unit and downstreamed. Took them quite a while. The company prior to them used an articulating lift for the manpower and pressure washer then had an IBC tote on an articulating fork lift. I would not suggest this method. It looked very unsafe and we asked them not to come back.
That’s nuts. You would think if someone was in business doing commercial work they’d use something better than a 3.5 gpm Dewalt. I’m definitely going to upstream. That seems like the easiest method by far. Next up would probably be the 12v up in the basket with me and a 20 gallon mix tank. Xjet after that if it got me a strong enough mix.
I am not going to be there, and I won’t have a dime in your project, but I think this is sound planning. Imagine if you start and the wind kicks up, or some rascally kids decide to play baseball instead of being in school, day 1 done. Maybe some dude thinks it looks cool and decides to pull his car/truck right next to the tank to watch you work.
Side note, are you going to have cones out, or flag off a section around the tank, so no one decides to just stand/park there and watch then gets a SH and algea shower? I can think of 100 scenarios where you have to come down and tell people to move, slowing down your progress. Nosy/intrigued people are #1.
I would assume there’s more than one way of doing it but if a man lift is ticking by the day you would have to charge an arm and a leg to be profitable by just power washing it, I couldn’t even estimate the time it would take. Strong Chems is really the only sensible and profitable way of cleaning them. Owning a lift is another story but at $1200 a day you wouldn’t want to be messing around with just water. Would also depend on how dirty it is, if someone was to have these on a periodic maintenance plan a quick downstream would be cake money. Your right, now is probably the time to get the property in shape while you have the lift on hand, I could never imagine hiring one for some landscaping at home, you’ve thought about it at the right time 
Let alone a 3.5 gpm. 
I bet it would be no small task to go around and actually pressure wash the whole thing. Not to mention there would probably be more algae on it by mid-summer. I thought about seeing if they wanted me to apply some kind of algae preventative but a good product would really add to the cost. I’m tempted to buy a jug just to try in one spot so I can see if it works. I then might be able to sell them the upgrade next time. It was last washed in 2016 so would feel bad if I charged them another grand or two and it didn’t do squat. I guess weather comes into play on how long it takes to grow, though.
1 Like
Good grief, how much are they paying that you can eat the cost of a lift for a week at $2500??
If I didn’t need to cut the two trees down I wouldn’t rent it for a week. The trees are close enough to the house and leaning towards it so bad the only option is to cut it from the top down. I have a pair of climbers I use to trim trees but I don’t feel confident enough in my skills (or lack thereof) to climb up and cut the tree from the top down when there aren’t any branches. I still need a heck of a lot more practice. So, I’m not really eating the cost of the lift for a week. I’m just renting for a week so I can also use it at home. Those two trees would probably cost me $3-$4 grand to have cut down. It makes sense to get it for a week since this is my first water tower and I don’t know how long it’ll take me. Should take less than a day but will feel more comfortable knowing I still have the lift should weather come into play. I won the bid at $4k. It was last washed in 2016 at a cost of $4300 so I figured I’d come in a little lower just so I knew I’d get it. I wanted to get one under my belt just so I know if I should pursue more. Prices are public knowledge if you’re interested in seeing what Louisville paid.
1 Like
Disclaimer: I’ve never washed a water tower so take this with a grain of salt but… I did wash some jet fuel tanks at our local airport last year after we cleaned the terminal building. The tanks were pretty dang dirty, maybe not quite to the extent of the tower, but dirty nonetheless. I thought I may have to use my 12v, or bust out a brush, but instead I downstreamed straight SH with some extra surfactant and the grime came rolling off. The tanks I cleaned had a nice glossy coating of paint on them (should be similar to the water tower) and I’ve always found that gloss (or semi-gloss) paint cleans up extremely easily. If I were you, I’d have backup plans ready, but don’t be surprised if downstreaming cleans it right up, may just take an extra soaping or two to cut through that much. Here are the tanks
9 Likes
did you mask off around any of those fittings? some of those gauges are expensive.
Thanks for sharing that info. I’ll definitely try and down stream first. It would be nice if it works. The paint isn’t that old so it has a nice gloss to it.
I just called to reserve the boom lift. On their website it said it was like $900 a day or $2100 for the week. This is for an 86’ footer which I hope is tall enough. Anyways, on the phone he tells me it’s $500 a day or $1300 a week. It’s another $95 each way for delivery. I might just haul it back myself if I get done with it sooner since the place is only 20 minutes away. $1300 is half of what I thought it was going to be so that was nice to hear. I wonder why it’s half the cost of what the website says?
Because many of their customers that typically rent them aren’t currently working or are extremely slow. Construction took a big hit with this corony
1 Like
That’s because your getting a 70’ boom and a 16’ mr long arm! They just haven’t told ya…lol
2 Likes
Those things weigh a lot! They usually use semis to deliver them. Make sure you can do it safely. Also, charge what the website says for the cost and keep the rest for the handling of it. Typical business markup is 1.5 to double any rental cost anyway so they would get a deal at normal price.
I already finished it. Also, the bid was put in about 4 months ago so I can’t add any additional costs. Most cities take multiple bids per job so there’s no changing anything once your bid is in. I’ll update the thread when I get a chance.
2 Likes
What did you bid it? 10k is my guess…
Way high. I’ll give you a hint. You could knock one out in a day if you had your ducks in a row and played the weather right. I think i had about 10-12 hours total wash time. I think I could do one in about 6 hours tho. Faster with another guy on a hose. The amount each city paid in previous years is public knowledge so I knew about where to be going into the bid. I even went a tad lower just so I knew I’d get it because I wanted to try one. Since it was my first one I went into it being okay if I broke even. I ended making as much as I could’ve off of it though so all went well.
5 Likes
Get your trees cut down too?
1 Like
Cool so you did get some profit from getting the lift cheaper than the bid showed?
Edit: disregard might be too personal of a question, should not of asked that.
@jwils Make sure you either reply to that person’s post (not just the topic) or @ them in the post. Otherwise they won’t receive a notification. @marinegrunt
1 Like
