I won’t have the “required” read time, because I just created an account. I have been reading the posts here for about a month, deciding on “if” I want to do this, and “what” I want to do. When i say what I want to do, DS houses, doing roof work, or doing surface work, or doing decks, or a combination of one or more. The “if” is if it is cost effective for me with the costs of equipment, and the potential revenue in my area.
I know my area fairly well, it is predominantly rural and tends to be lower middle class and lower class incomes. I would be up against every $99 house wash guy with a harry the homeowner pressure washer and pickup. The two larger areas around me have higher income levels and more density, but they already have some crews in their areas. I believe in word of mouth, so if I do the right job for the right price, people will call. It worked for my brother’s business, it will work for me.
Surface work would likely be commercial (mainly) as most people in my area have asphalt/blacktop drives, if they have something more than limestone gravel. Roof work could be a possibility, as many homes in my area have algea/mold on them (been doing a lot of drive bys of neighborhoods). Deck work would likely be the greatest source of revenue, as everyone has a deck around their house or pool, and most need work. This leads me to believe that the cleaning and staining of decks could possibly be the ticket for me. Plus I have prior experience painting (contract painted my way through college). I am not ruling anything out at this point.
Water in my area is ok, however, the more rural, the more likely it will be well water requiring me to either wait on site for water (bad idea) or bring water to the site. Some areas have bad water to start (hard water), which makes me think that bringing water to the site might not be a bad idea.
I have been experimenting on my own home so far, with mixed results. I come here, read more, re-read what I read before, and go back out and try it again. So far, cleaning my mothers siding was perfect. My house mainly went ok ish, with my equipment likely being my biggest draw back. My roof (only one section done) didn’t go so well. I don’t know if it was temperature related (was about 61 when i did it), age of crap on roof, or mix %. Oh, i was on the roof experimenting with a pump up sprayer and a hose. I have a small pw already, and have been pricing out belt drive units around 5gpm, but don’t want to jump into a heated 8gpm if this doesn’t work out.
I have a 10k trailer and pickup already, so those aren’t issues for me. I have equipment that I own, but don’t want to do that kind of work. I live in the northeast, so this is not a year round business. I am thinking of just making enough to pay off the equipment and make a little pocket money. I really don’t have to work if I don’t want to as I retired from a job at 50. I just don’t like the idea of sitting around, and the last two people I went to see about work made me laugh at their starting salary (with a 30 min drive to get there). It might sound crazy, but working away from my house would be great for my marriage.
So, once again, thanks for all the threads,lots of information to digest. I’ll be back to ask stupid questions.
