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Meady

  • Posts: 4
Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« on: March 02, 2021, 11:18:26 am »
Hello everyone, hope you're all well. I'm new to this forum, so would just like to say hello and thank you for the advice I have already found on here.

I currently have a window cleaning round which has been established for around 4/5 years but am now looking to expand my services. Quite a few of our customers are asking if we clean driveways or patios and I just don’t want to say no anymore.

From what I have read on here Rutland Pumps seem to be a good place to buy. I’m looking at getting a honda GX390 21ltpm, 20-22inch flat surface cleaner, 50m high pressure hose and turbo lance. Is this a good set up?

I suppose I just need to keep reading up on everything as I do want to get the correct kit (on a budget).

I was wondering what the best process for pressure washing is as I don’t want to waste my time doing things that aren’t needed. From my understanding (from watching many youtube videos, so please excuse me if I am misinformed) you generally go over with a flat surface cleaner, cut in the edges, rinse down, apply sodium hypochlorite, and rinse it off. If it’s block pathing you then go back to re-sand the joints.

I’m also reading some mixed reviews for sealing patios and driveways, so am unsure if I will offer this as a service. Is it worth it?

Thank you in advance for any advice,
Meady

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2021, 03:18:17 pm »
Yes most of that is good ben will sort you out  a good set up - but save yourself a few hundred quid and go lonchin they are every bit as good as a Honda .

Personally I wouldn't get a FSC - some will differ on this point - but unless its a light - weed free clean the FSC does not give an intense enough clean and it won't rip out weeds between blocks and pavers - turbo nozzle works better and quicker.

Get yourself some hypo for treating the surface afterwards and particularly stubborn areas of black spot - the times I have gone to places where others have previously cleaned and its still got lichen and blackspot on it and the customer told it can't be removed is very frequent - anything organic should be removed in its entirety.

We don't seal - its messy - time consuming - and for the most part useless - if its on a drive and its acrylic based it will pluck when cars drive on it - impregnating sealers will defend against oil but not stop weeds and moss coming back

hope this helps

Darran
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4362
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2021, 06:00:22 pm »
Yes most of that is good ben will sort you out  a good set up - but save yourself a few hundred quid and go lonchin they are every bit as good as a Honda .

Personally I wouldn't get a FSC - some will differ on this point - but unless its a light - weed free clean the FSC does not give an intense enough clean and it won't rip out weeds between blocks and pavers - turbo nozzle works better and quicker.

Get yourself some hypo for treating the surface afterwards and particularly stubborn areas of black spot - the times I have gone to places where others have previously cleaned and its still got lichen and blackspot on it and the customer told it can't be removed is very frequent - anything organic should be removed in its entirety.

We don't seal - its messy - time consuming - and for the most part useless - if its on a drive and its acrylic based it will pluck when cars drive on it - impregnating sealers will defend against oil but not stop weeds and moss coming back

hope this helps

Darran



I don’t understand why ones say a fsc will not do a good job we do some really bad block driveways with weeks up to a foot high we week kill leave it a week to ten days then strim  the remainder off then do with a fsc  it will remove 99:9 %of all the roots between the blocks we have been doing it like this for years we vary rarely use a turbo as they make such a mess and I find fsc much quicker , then go over the edges with a vario nozzle , we have a Briggs and Stratton V twin washer 21-23 ltr per muinit and 350 bar pressure .

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2021, 06:45:29 pm »
As with everything we work in different ways - I can't understand why you think a fsc is best - it's ok for light work - that's the experience I have gained over 8 years

I certainly don't want to be strimming and waiting a week - blast it all out 😁 - we way we work a turbo  gets it cleaner and quicker

I'd be interested to see some of your before in action and after photos of a heavy weeded drive/patio cleaned using a fsc 

Darran
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2021, 06:51:51 pm »
Just another question, as you weed kill - do you have a license for  spraying?

Darran
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Meady

  • Posts: 4
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2021, 07:11:33 pm »
I'm excited to start and try out all of this. Hopefully I will get things up and running soon.

Thanks for your advice Darran




Meady

  • Posts: 4
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2021, 07:13:04 pm »
Just another question, as you weed kill - do you have a license for  spraying?

Darran

So would you not fuss with weed killing? just turbo nozzle it straight out?

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4362
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2021, 07:22:20 pm »
Just another question, as you weed kill - do you have a license for  spraying?

Darran

Yes got the spraying tickets , the reason we weed kill first is if you just turbo the tops of the weeds the roots under the paving will re grow quite quickly , it only takes 5-10 muinits to spray the average drive we generally do it when driving home at the end of the  day most  of our work is  compact  so we arnt going out of our way , and we allow  for this in the pricing of the job  , we do pressure washing as an add on not our main work so all jobs are priced high as Ime not bothered if we get it or not .

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4362
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2021, 07:24:30 pm »
Just another question, as you weed kill - do you have a license for  spraying?

Darran

So would you not fuss with weed killing? just turbo nozzle it straight out?


We weed kill first if it’s bad ,if you dont the roots will re grow quite quickly the turbo cannot remove deep growing roots as they can be under the blocks ,

Meady

  • Posts: 4
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2021, 07:30:38 pm »
Okay, cheers Splash & Dash.

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #10 on: March 02, 2021, 07:59:57 pm »
Sorry will disagree - no need to weed kill  if you turbo as the turbo rips it right out - time is money and traveling around do extra work taking up time is not my thing  - p/w is not ad hoc I would say if anything  now window work is the least profitable area (p/h) but it's a nice have filler and keeps 3 guys busy full time 
We do hypo after so any weed remains would be killed - I get a rate of repeat work, and there's new version a weed regrowth - just happy customers wanting to keep the drive in tip top condition ( news the time for a fsc 😁 )

Darran


A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4362
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #11 on: March 02, 2021, 08:12:09 pm »
Sorry will disagree - no need to weed kill  if you turbo as the turbo rips it right out - time is money and traveling around do extra work taking up time is not my thing  - p/w is not ad hoc I would say if anything  now window work is the least profitable area (p/h) but it's a nice have filler and keeps 3 guys busy full time 
We do hypo after so any weed remains would be killed - I get a rate of repeat work, and there's new version a weed regrowth - just happy customers wanting to keep the drive in tip top condition ( news the time for a fsc 😁 )

Darran




Hypo isn’t a weed killer yes it will kill moss ,licken, algi , but it won’t kill grass , docks and other fibrous routed weeds you cannot remove the roots from under paving with anything you can blast out the top part of the weed with a turbo or fsc but the lower root stock will still be there and quickly re grow , by spraying  with weed killer first that goes down into the roots killing the lot ,  each to there own but that’s how we choose to work .

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #12 on: March 02, 2021, 08:37:25 pm »
Sorry will disagree - no need to weed kill  if you turbo as the turbo rips it right out - time is money and traveling around do extra work taking up time is not my thing  - p/w is not ad hoc I would say if anything  now window work is the least profitable area (p/h) but it's a nice have filler and keeps 3 guys busy full time 
We do hypo after so any weed remains would be killed - I get a rate of repeat work, and there's new version a weed regrowth - just happy customers wanting to keep the drive in tip top condition ( news the time for a fsc 😁 )

Darran




Hypo isn’t a weed killer yes it will kill moss ,licken, algi , but it won’t kill grass , docks and other fibrous routed weeds you cannot remove the roots from under paving with anything you can blast out the top part of the weed with a turbo or fsc but the lower root stock will still be there and quickly re grow , by spraying  with weed killer first that goes down into the roots killing the lot ,  each to there own but that’s how we choose to work .

Correct, our experiences are different  my method works for, as yours works for you

Darran
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #13 on: March 02, 2021, 08:40:01 pm »
BTW - don't forget those photos 👍👍👍👍

Darran
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4362
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #14 on: March 02, 2021, 09:07:19 pm »
BTW - don't forget those photos 👍👍👍👍

Darran

I will get the lads to take some generally they forget 😂😂😂 we don’t do stuff on the scale that you do as I said earlier we do it as an add on it’s not our main income , our main stuff is window Cleaning that’s ware the money is for us we do a lot of large commercial stuff  now I have plenty of pictures of that as I have taken them 😂😂😬

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #15 on: March 02, 2021, 10:19:44 pm »
excellent - stick them up on what have you cleaned today thread - I love seeing how well others are doing

Darran
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4362
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #16 on: March 02, 2021, 10:53:57 pm »
excellent - stick them up on what have you cleaned today thread - I love seeing how well others are doing

Darran

If you have an email I will send some through to you a lot of the commercial stuff we do we arnt allowed to put pictures up on social media .

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #17 on: March 03, 2021, 03:33:31 pm »
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4362
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #18 on: March 03, 2021, 08:30:43 pm »
darran@oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Emails sent let me know of they don’t come through 👍

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4362
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #19 on: March 03, 2021, 08:34:56 pm »
darran@oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Emails sent let me know of they don’t come through 👍

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #20 on: March 03, 2021, 08:48:34 pm »
What is the licence & ticket mentioned to apply weedkiller? I would like to see what one looks like.

My mate/assistant worked for the council, he drove a quad bike around spraying weedkiller on verges (and around anything the lawnmowers couldn’t reach) He did various course both at the council depot and he went to the local agricultural college I asked about his licence and he didn’t know what I was talking about.

I know you can attend courses but to qualify for a ‘licence’ (not just have a certificate of attendance) I don’t know of any
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #21 on: March 03, 2021, 11:14:55 pm »
Weed removal services will need to be carried out by professionals that are qualified to do so. Commercial use of professional weed killer without a weed killer licence can result in prosecution.

The recognised industry qualification is the NPTC Level 2 Award in the Safe Use of Pesticides (aka PA1 and PA6).

Professional is anyone spraying as part of their job orpartofaservice - you can spray your own property without a licence

I believe you can spray the "organic" alternative - water/salt/vinegar mix (and yes it works) without a licence

Darran
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #22 on: March 04, 2021, 06:43:01 am »
Again the mention of a ‘licence’  I can pull out my driving licence and show you the plastic card that says ‘driving licence’

Can anyone who has a licence to spray weedkiller show me an actual licence.  If I employ someone to apply weedkiller before I clean can I ask to see their licence, so I know they are legally allowed to do the job.

I know the actual qualifications required my point is the idea you get a physical licence
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #23 on: March 04, 2021, 03:14:55 pm »
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4362
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #24 on: March 04, 2021, 03:48:57 pm »
Again the mention of a ‘licence’  I can pull out my driving licence and show you the plastic card that says ‘driving licence’

Can anyone who has a licence to spray weedkiller show me an actual licence.  If I employ someone to apply weedkiller before I clean can I ask to see their licence, so I know they are legally allowed to do the job.

I know the actual qualifications required my point is the idea you get a physical licence




It’s not a licence but rather a qualification that needs renewing every 3 years I think it is bit like first aid at work certificate .

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #25 on: March 04, 2021, 09:39:44 pm »
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #26 on: March 04, 2021, 09:50:33 pm »
Sorry did you need thanking   :D

 But I asked to see the licence people keep mentioning. not a certificate,  I know you get a certificate. But likes been said it not a licence

Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Kev Martin

  • Posts: 6954
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #27 on: March 05, 2021, 07:06:31 am »
Sorry did you need thanking   :D

 But I asked to see the licence people keep mentioning. not a certificate,  I know you get a certificate. But likes been said it not a licence

Does it matter Mike?
"Natural Stone Restoration Specialists" Tel: 0121 773 9129
www.tilinglogistics.co.uk | www.marblelife.co.uk  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Tiling-Logistics

Smudger

  • Posts: 13164
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #28 on: March 05, 2021, 08:05:21 am »
Cynically speaking I think Mike may be spraying pesticides  ;D

Mike - I would have have thought common courtesy would have prevailed when some one did a bit of research on your behalf - perhaps that’s just me tho

Darran
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #29 on: March 05, 2021, 02:32:37 pm »
Sorry did you need thanking   :D

 But I asked to see the licence people keep mentioning. not a certificate,  I know you get a certificate. But likes been said it not a licence

Does it matter Mike?

Kev, the reason I made a point about is the bullpoo spoken on Facebook,  I was reading post were a guy was saying how he gets his licence out to show customers he’s a trained applicator of weedkillers .....but it’s a load of crap he’s a Walter Mitty. There is not a physical ‘licence’ but he got the idea that there was because people mention it and it’s never challenged.

Smudg’ we do spray weedkiller but like I mentioned my mate has taken the courses required ( but Splash mentions above about retaking it after 3yrs so I will have to look into that)
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #30 on: March 05, 2021, 02:37:11 pm »
Also.....

I did  researched the requirement to apply weedkiller (specifically the legal requirements) and couldn’t find an actual law that states you need a specific qualification,  what it did say was it had to be done by a ‘ competent person’ but didn’t define what ‘competent’ actually was.
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4362
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #31 on: March 05, 2021, 04:05:37 pm »
Sorry did you need thanking   :D

 But I asked to see the licence people keep mentioning. not a certificate,  I know you get a certificate. But likes been said it not a licence

Does it matter Mike?

Kev, the reason I made a point about is the bullpoo spoken on Facebook,  I was reading post were a guy was saying how he gets his licence out to show customers he’s a trained applicator of weedkillers .....but it’s a load of crap he’s a Walter Mitty. There is not a physical ‘licence’ but he got the idea that there was because people mention it and it’s never challenged.

Smudg’ we do spray weedkiller but like I mentioned my mate has taken the courses required ( but Splash mentions above about retaking it after 3yrs so I will have to look into that)


My certificate is dated and it’s 3 years you are then supposed to do a refresher course for the updates and legal changes etc , to be honest I think it’s just another way of getting more money out of the working mans pocket .

Kev Martin

  • Posts: 6954
Re: Starting a Pressure Washing Business
« Reply #32 on: March 06, 2021, 07:05:58 am »
Sorry did you need thanking   :D

 But I asked to see the licence people keep mentioning. not a certificate,  I know you get a certificate. But likes been said it not a licence

Does it matter Mike?

Kev, the reason I made a point about is the bullpoo spoken on Facebook,  I was reading post were a guy was saying how he gets his licence out to show customers he’s a trained applicator of weedkillers .....but it’s a load of crap he’s a Walter Mitty. There is not a physical ‘licence’ but he got the idea that there was because people mention it and it’s never challenged.

Smudg’ we do spray weedkiller but like I mentioned my mate has taken the courses required ( but Splash mentions above about retaking it after 3yrs so I will have to look into that)

OK I understand now, I didn’t know about the Facebook bit.  Cheers
"Natural Stone Restoration Specialists" Tel: 0121 773 9129
www.tilinglogistics.co.uk | www.marblelife.co.uk  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Tiling-Logistics