Hello, new guy here. I’ve been reading over the site and am starting to grow my business. I only do flatwork at the moment but am planning to venture out into house washing. What I wonder about is how those of you in colder climate’s deal with PWing jobs. I live in Missouri so we don’t get a ton of snow but we do have a few months where it’s freezing or below, ice storms, etc. Where do you draw the line job wise? I’m trying to anticipate warm windows and cold water interacting, spraying water but the homeowner being left with a sheet of ice for 2 months as a result, etc. I want to maximize my year with as many months as I can but I don’t know if there is an industry standard for temps or the like. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Where at in MO?
Southern MO. about 70 miles from the Arkansas line. We do most of our work south of here. Thanks for the quick reply.
Sweet. I’m in KC. My kid brother is at Missouri S&T and I had family who owned land off one the lakes in Licking, MO.
As far as winter, this year I’ve been tucking away acorns so I can take 3-4 months off, but last year I worked with KC Custom Closets a few days a week. I’d prefer to not do work in the winter so I can hunt a ton, but other folks here do Christmas lights, snow removal, etc. there are quite a few threads on it if you throw some search terms in the little magnifying glass in the top right hand corner.
If you decide to do Christmas lights somebody will inevitably try to sell you a “licensing package” or “start up help”. Save your money. It’s Christmas lights. I bought a $10 Udemy course, listened to a couple podcasts/YouTube videos and everyone’s saying the same thing: It’s not complicated.
I’m also in MO but as long as your working above freezing you should be good to work in the winter. Just take inconsideration of extra dry time due to tempature. I dont see many people working that time of the year in my area though.
Show me state representing! lol Thanks for the reply. I do this as a side job after my fire service job to pay for medical bills. I also run an outdoor clothing website a friend and I created. But neither of those are lucrative (yet) and I have medical bills for my son so I started pressure washing driveways and the like. Funny thing is, I kinda like it (instant gratification of the work, especially on driveways) and it works with my insane FD schedule. I don’t plan to work all winter so I may do what you are doing and take time off for deer and turkey and the holidays. I work too much as it is. lol
I hated doing my own christmas lights so I won’t be venturing into that world. Maybe I’ll work into Nov and see how the temps are and cut it off till march’ish?
Most of my work would be done in the morning/afternoon but your point about extra dry time is a valid one. Would hate to leave a skating rink. lol Thank you for the reply.
what surface cleaners do you guys like to use brand name wise? I plan to upgrade from my little home depot one to a nicer one for next year.
Lots of gutter cleaning. Not much money but it makes payroll
That’s how it worked last year. Residential fell off a cliff the day before Thanksgiving (that was my last job of the year), had a handful of small commercial gigs, and then business took off like a rocket in late February/early march.
Just fyi… upgrade your surface cleaner ASAP. You’ll do better work in 1/4 the time if your machine is suited for it.
There’s a ton of info on surface cleaners in the forum. Not all are created equal and it all depend on the machine. The search can make all your dreams come true.
I have a good pressure washer but it’s by no means a commercial machine. This all started when Was helping my folks out and cleaning their driveway and a bunch of their elderly neighbors wanted it done as well. I stumbled into a good business that worked well for me. I have a 2800 PSI honda pressure assure, 3 GPM, cat direct drive pump. It works well for flat work but I know a better surface washer would serve me well. I’ve god an ad on craigslist and have some door hangers I use and will be getting a sign up to put in the yard of the jobs while I’m working.
What kinda sucks is that I’d love to upgrade to a little trailer set up, at least get to 4GPM but since I’m doing this for medical bills, it’s tough to justify spending more money. I’ll keep chugging away until I have too. My research had me convinced to get a hammerhead but then I started stumbling onto a LOT of comments about how much that unit sucks and that a whisper wash was better. Of course those are REALLY expensive compared to the HH so I’m back to square one on that.
In the words of Kip…YESSSS!!! (that was a napoleon dynamite reference in case I just dated myself) lol
Whatever… I still carry tater tots in my pocket a decade later.
lol…well played.
