$$$ per hour vs. total earnings

[the_GUNN_man]

I have always had a problem with people who say they make this much per hour. To me the most important thing is how much you bring home at the end of the week? You can have a guy who makes $70 an hour and works 20 hours a week. He brings home $1400. Then you have a guy who makes $45 an hour and works 40 hours and brings home $1800 a week. Which would you rather be? I will take the extra $400. I think too many people get caught up in the $ per hour. I think you should think $ per week. I know many people like high $ per hour and low # of hours worked. I am not saying you should work for less but if you charge a lot of money and can't keep busy and only work a half of a week then why not go down on price and get more hours in. If I am slow I will do stuff for less then I normally would. I don't try and say I need the extra $25 an hour to do the job or I am not going to do it but yet I sit at home waiting for the phone to ring for a high price job. When people ask how much should I charge for something I think it depends on a lot of things. If you are busy you charge more. If it is a job you really don't want to do you charge more. If you are only working a half of a week and the customer thinks your prices are too high then come down on it so you get the job. I have had a lot of people want something washed and I give then a price and they think it is too high. Do they go to the next guy? Sometimes they do. On the other hand I have seen many times that they never get it washed. It is then that I try and go back and work something out so I can get the job. I don't work for free but sometimes when times get tight a little $ per hour is better then no $ per hour. It takes skill to read a customer and try to determine how much they will pay. I would always give them a fair price for what you need to make your business work. I have my set prices. I do not go to a rich person's house and think I can charge them twice as much. I charge them what I would anyone else. On the other hand if I go to someone who lives in an average house I will charge the same and try to read them if they think it is too much. If I think I am going to lose the job I will come down. I do not keep coming down until I get the job. You have to look at a place and think to your self how much do I charge for this and what is the lowest I will do it for. It is the same when you go buy a car. The salesman already knows what his lowest is that he can go. He doesn't need to talk to a supervisor. That is a gimmick. They just want to make you feel good. So when you go down in price make your customer feel good too. If you think they won't go for your pricing go back and act like you are refiguring it and then tell them this is the lowest I can do it for. If you redo it more then once they will keep trying to get you to go down. Then they will see through it. On commercial jobs I don't negotiate as much because I know that most times they can afford it. When I do residential I will work with them more. I find that giving them all the measurements and telling how much per whatever that they see where the money is going. I always try to point out problem areas and things that are going to be a pain. That helps them realize why you charge what you do. I just wanted to know what other peoples views are on this.

 

[Larry L.]

Price is something you need to stop and think,just b/c you are slow doesn't mean you can do that job cheaper if you are not so busy.Your total overall cost will depend on how much you can charge for a job whether busy or not.By pricing it the way you say will only make you hurt more as in its cost to resupply your cost of doing that job.Not going to get into the extra 20 hours that you are talking about b/c of its many cost ways as to resupply.

It will only mean you'll work cheap when words gets around,it'll be harder to get jobs b/c the word is you will work cheaper.All the low end jobs the other powerwashers do not want b/c they already know they cann't make money doing it will be pasted on to you b/c you work cheap.This will keep you busy and out of their hair as they have you where they want you,busy and not making any money.The fault is yours,by lowering the price around you in a area doesn't mean your going to be # one in that area,it only means "hey so and so will do that for a wittle bit of nothing".By the other powerwashers telling some of their customers about someone that will do it cheaper doesn't hurt their business b/c they helped the account find someone do it cheaper as they know they will always be called first b/c of the fair pricing in a area.

anyway charge what you want,I know what it cost in my area to do a job and I can tell about how long a newbee,partimer and fultimer will stay in business by his pricing.

I'll tell you a story about a newbee here,what he has gone though and his plans as he's thinking was like yours,,later

 

[the_GUNN_man]

I know what you are saying but there really isn't any competition around here. The only other guy around here opened his own car detailing business so he isn't pressure washing anymore. Most of the people who think my prices are too high just never get it done period. Most of the time they don't even get anyone to do it. I am doing this fulltime. I am not going to sit by and let jobs go undone because I won't lower my price. As far as supllies go they don't cost me that much. Gas, propane, and chems? About only 5% of the job is supplies. I made $35,000 this year. I wrote down all my hours and it came up to about 650 hours worked. That is over $53 an hour not including materials and lift rental. I have brick jobs I do that I can make $120 an hour. I sometimes do jobs that only bring me $25 an hour. I am saying you can't say I will only work for $50 an hour. In my area there are people that power wash but the mostly stick to the mobile homes and small houses. All I did this year was put my name in the yellow pages, ran an ad in the newspaper, and wrote a couple letters to the local masonry companies. I did not go door to door, hand out flyers, make phone calls, leave business cards, give demos, etc. I am sure I could had hustled a lot more work. I figure that next year will be even better. The cost of living where I am at isn't really high so I don't need to hustle every last dollar. I don't think my pricing is bad. I get about 35 to 45 cents a sq. ft. for washing brick(not including surekleen and lift rental, that is extra). I get between .07 and .10 cents a sq. ft. for flatwork I have a 30" surface cleaner so it goes fast. I get get .50 sq. ft. for washing deck and $1.00 for wash and seal. Mobile homes I get between $90 to $120. I don't do hoods or fleet. I do wash some heavy equipment. I do that by the hour. Usually around $60. Houses I charge $1 a linear ft for 1 story, $1.50 for story and a half and $2 for two story per linear ft. I get about 75% of the jobs I bid on. I don't lowball by any means. I see guys say they wash brick for .15 a sq. ft. I don't see how they do it. When a company gets paid $1,000,000 for doing the masonry $5,000 to me for washing it isn't bad. but for people to do it for 3 times less then me is crazy. Maybe you missed the point I was trying to make. Should I was 3 houses this week for a total of $750 or wash 5 for $1000? The extra two houses shouldn't cost me more then $25 more in materials then the other two. I guess my post is geared for people in smaller markets where competition isn't so heavy. I under stand that where you are going up against 10 other companies you have to stay on top and get the big jobs. If I have time I will do the lower paying jobs.

 

[ron]

"i made $35,000 this year"
"worked 650 hrs"
"$53 per hour not including material's and lift"
What about OVERHEAD!
Time spent traveling.
Time selling and collecting.
Time picking up chems,mixing chems.
Book keeping time.
ect...ect......paying your TAX.
INSURANCE FOR THE TRUCK,maint cost's,buissness insurance,phone,ect....
Are you telling me you still make $54 per hour?
"i would rather take the EXTRA $400"
the way you posted this comment you are going to look bad.
If you were making $1400 in 20 hrs.,why on earth would you work the other 20 for $400?
If i were making $54 per hour in my pocket,i would work 20 hrs a week and go fishing the other 20.
$1080 per week and work 20 hrs.,where do i sign up.
As a matter of fact ill give YOU the $400 to work MY 20 hrs and just send me the $680.
Am i hired?
You need to focus on WHERE your making the bulk of your money and be the best at it. Stop jerking around with $1 per sq ft decks,that's crazy.
You should wash 3 houses for $750,not 5 for $1000,unless they are all in one spot. a good part of that $250 will get eaten up in travel,gas,time. Figure out why you cant get 5 at the higher price.
I understand your thinking.
Why not take a piece of the pie if i cant get the whole thing, It's better then sitting around.

 

[Larry L.]

Nope,not what I was saying,when you say about only 5% of the job is supplies your either carrying stuff on your back or your not counting the over all cost.
And yes I do understand where your coming from plus understand the low income area's as in the cost of living.Is your cost in operating your business about 5% in your area?,if so I need to move there sence they are no other powerwashers around.I have nothing againest the way you charge,it's your business,you know what you can live on and replace the cost of doing business in your area.I cann't drive to the store for a gallon of milk on 5%,it cost more to replace the brakes,the tire's,gas I used,Ins.,ect.,not counting the free wash job I missed up while doing so...over all cost.
Sorry I didn't mean for it to sound like you were not charging enough,I was only pointing out the over all cost not just how much gas it took for the powerwasher and chemicals used for a job.Thats not the way I get my prices nor should you,you'll see why when it comes time to replace your powerwasher or truck or new tires,ect..The over all cost is more then alot of the powerwashers realize,the phone bill,electric bill,ect. has to be counted when fulltime.
Anyway like I said charge what you want,you need to set down and figure "all" your bills and see whats left of the 35000 b/c of being fulltime........also I understand it doesn't take a hat full of money for some people to get by.

 

[Bill B]

Good replies! To take this a step further... I am closing on a business tomorrow. Outfit was doing $250,000 + per year gross, and NOT making a dime. Low pricing, too high overhead, etc. I will either increase gross and net margins significantly, or I will let the accounts go. Indeed, this company's lack of understanding of keeping both fixed and variable costs under control is very problematic. Everything has an opportunity cost. If I can make more (and enjoy myself more) per hour doing something else, I will do it.

 

[Larry L.]

A newbee here has made it alittle over a year and his thinking was like yours"it beats setting around".

He has moved another family in with him to help pay the household bills,his phone was turned off last week,he is behind in his truck payments plus other payments.But he is still getting by with handouts from the goverment,he knows he is going to get money back after the first of the year.His plans is to buy a new powerwasher with that money,he thinks if he has a new powerwasher he can make more money.All it's going to do is get him farther behind in his bills if he doesn't go up in his prices.He too figured like you did and still does,I cann't see him making it another year unless he looks at his overall cost.It want be long before his truck will need replacing,its a short wheelbase ford 6 light duty,its almost new but shot b/c of dragging the heavy load,he needs tires on both truck and trailer,he can only afford to buy chemicals from week to week.
He see's now he cann't make it on the way he was thinking"like you" but he cann't do nothing about some of his prices,he cann't go up and if he does some will stop using him "using him".I have helped and HELPED him,gave business to him only for him to lower the price,he too was just figuring the gas and chemiclas for the job not the overall cost.Like some have said you can talk until your blue in the face and some still want listen,when we talk now I tell him what he told me,you told me you could do the jobs that cheap b/c you figured it and it wasn't costing that much to do a job,you wasn't worried about the overall cost,you could make it,its your own fault I tried to tell ya.
anyway charge what you want,I'm only here to try to help point you in the right way as to what your real cost is.

 

[the_GUNN_man]

First of all I do pay taxes I do have insurance. What I make per hour does not include my chems, gas, propane, etc. I figure what I make per hour as pure labor. 75% of my income comes from washing brick. I am already booked for the first 6 weeks in spring from brick being laid this winter. I first got into pressure washing when I washed brick for the masonry company I was bricklayer for. Then after I moved on I just kept washing the brick for them. You are right about the Dutch around here. It is hard for some to come off any money at all. They expect you to wash there house for $20 and want change back. I have my accounting done for nothing by a friend in the family. I have relatives I store my equipment at. I have an uncle who does small engine repair. That is actual career so I get basically free labor on my stuff just pay parts. I have a free helper when I need it because my dad retired early and doesn't mind helping out. I usually take the whole winter off. All my phone bills, heat , electric, cable, bus. ins., everything is paid off through April. I think I do very well. I plan ahead. How do you figure Ada Mobilewash is my competitor? They are over an hour away. The ONLY work I do in Grand Rapids is brick washing. I am not worried about that because the two companies I deal with give me all their work. I do not go out of Holland for residential work. I have looked in the Holland Yellow Pages and there are a couple of people listed. There actually is 7. I know 2 of them quit and 1 switched to just car detailing. One of them only does restoring of old wood and stuff like that. There are usually 3 in the newspaper. I know and talk to them both. We all trade jobs. I take on more commercial work and I give the smaller stuff away to them. They like to do small houses and mobile homes. Smitty only does fleet work and I don't mess with that. His business is set up right at the truck stop. I have noticed most people in my area spealize in certain areas. I have quite a few good leads for next year. I have a lot of brick to wash along with the car detailing guy wanting to get out of the car lot thing. He was doing about 10 lots. Not too sure if I want to get into the car lot thing. It pays $2.50 a car but he said that it is a lot of hustle to make a lot of money. I have another painting company that wants me to wash for them. I told them that if they let me do their washing I will refer them to people who need painting done. My sister works for them. So she hooked that up. On top of that I have the manager of a trailer park that says he will get me alot of work doing mobile homes. When I talk of money I bring home I mean gross. It would take too much too list all deductions and all that so when I say gross figures I would assume that others who pay taxes could guess roughly what I mean in take home #'s. I am starting to regeret ever making this post. All I will say is I make more doing this then I would in a factory.

 

[the_GUNN_man]

Another thing is that you must think I do all my work dirt cheap. When I wash a school for $14,000 and it takes me one month to do it I don't call that lowballing. I think everyone keeps overlooking the fact that I say I do some of my work for a lower price. I am currently washing brick for $1.05 a sq. ft. That is no pressure washing. Just bucket and brush. My only on the job expense is brushes, surekleen, and the gas to get there. If I am not busy and I have some time to do cheaper jobs i do them. What is so bad about that. Maybe I should just sit around pass up all jobs that don't at least pay $65 an hour and have earned $20,000 this year. I hear of people strating out their first year and making far less then me. I plan to at least make $40,000 next year and hopefully more. I make enough that everything I own is paid for. I have no house payment, no truck payment, no equipment payment. I have three machines(2 cold-1 hot), 1 enclosed trailer, 1 open trailer, surface cleaner, 2 500 gallon tanks, and a 4x4 1995 chevy to pull it. I think I have done well. I have made very wise financial choices in my life and it has allowed me to get these things and not be in debt. I don't live in an expensive house. I don't have boats or motorcycles. I lead a simple life and that has allowed me to get ahead. I liked the pressure washing business and I hope to remain in it. Anyone who has ever been a bricklayer knows the hell it puts on your body. I just couldn't see myself doing that for the rest of my life. Made $20+ an hour doing that but the wear and tear on your body sucks. I was making $40,000 a year doing that. Wife wanted divorce so she left and said I could have evrything. Quite unusual but figured that she felt guilty about leaving and just wanted out. I have caught some lucky breaks. Not that I was lucky in my divroce but at least I got to keep everything that was mine. But as I was saying, sometimes between brick jobs I will have 3 to 4 weeks with nothing. In that time I will do work that won't bring me as much money in. I try and set limits for myself though. I try not to work more then 40 hours a week. When I was laying brick I was also washing and I worked 60+ hours per week. That is why my marriage probably didn't last. When I say I will lower my prices I mean by smaller amounts. I don't bid a $300 job and if I think I won't get it say ok $200. I will drop it by $25 to $50. It depends on the situation. I will never go low on commercial work. The reason for that is I can do someone's house for real cheap because it isn't a regular thing but if I was to go low on washing Walgreens then I have to do that every month and regret doing it until my contract is up. I am also careful about saying I will do something fo this price and then someone tells their friend and they expect the same price. I buy all my chems bulk so I save money there. The last brick job I did before this one I charged $4400 I was there for 5 days. Lift was $700, gas ran me about $100, sure kleen was about $75. There was a couple other small things. I had about $3500 left over. That is $700 a day. I don't think that is too bad. The only overhead I have is business ins., yellow pages, and newspaper ads. I do not count in my truck insurance because I would pay that even if I was working Walmart. I don't count expenses I would have if I wasn't poressure washing. I don't count heta and all that. As far as chems, gas, and propane go I figure that into the price I charge after labor. I don't use hot water when washing brick so I don't use a lot of propane. I don't include my cell phone because I had that too before I was pressure washing. I do take into consideration that every 2- 3 years I will need a new machine. although all I might do is fix it I still figure the price of a new one. I like to figure high. I don't like to figure on break even figures. That is where you run into problems. I do take into consideration maintenence on my truck and the etxra wear and tear on it. I have figured it all out throughly. I did well enough this year that I have all my bills paid through next April, I have all my taxes paid and have money to put away on top of it. I don't live week to week. I wish you guys would give me some credit here. I had noone to learn from and have gotten this far on my own. You guys have helped out alot. I have gained alot of knowledge from these boards. I still have a lot to learn. I did this part time for two years prior to this one. I liked the work and would like to stick around. I feel I have done well for myself and see next year being better. Heck I get to sit home all winter. How many jobs can you do that at? I thought about plowing this year but I didn't want to have to deal with the crazy hours. The good thing about doing this job is the time I get to spend with my son.

 

[the_GUNN_man]

You say you washed a building in 3 days with you and two guys for $7000. Well that is 9 man days for $7000. If you doubled it it would be 18 man days for $14,000. I had 20 man days for $14,000. Not much different

 

[the_GUNN_man]

I could never get $100 an hour for residential here. I can cleaning brick but not houses and flat work. They are tight here and I do what I can. I know that there are people that wash mobile homes for $50 a pop. I see their flyers. I charge twice what they do. I went to do an estimate on this huge house one time. It had to be 30 ft. high. I was thinking of around $500-$600 and the the lady asks me "well what do you think" I was thinking of how I would get up that high since the houses were so close together. She said could I do it for under a $100. I said no way. She said another guy told her $100. This job looked like it would take all day. I told her that I would be very interested to watch the guy who is coming out to do it. I don't think I am low in my area. I have compared prices with others in my area and I am close. To everybody on this board I am on the low side. To everyone in this town I am on the highside. I am saying the other washers think I charge too much. So I do what I can. I like the work and I am going to continue trying until I get it right. I have very strong financial backing from family so I am not worried about jumping in the water and drowning. I have made mistakes and I will make more mistakes. Maybe this post is what I needed. I was mad as hell when I first read what people were writing back. I would like to get more money but people around here are very conservative.

 

[ron]

Steve,you started this thread to see about people's opinion on working for less $$ to get more work.
I think the opinion is that if you do that just be carefull that you understand that there are consequences for this action.
You are now trying to defend your prices. You have no need for that because you have a way of getting x amount in your spending pocket. That is good.
Remember how meney people that read this and understand that the comments made here are to help everyone, not just you.
Every post stirs-up the thinking of someone else. Some thinking you may like,some not. These posts are for getting ideas and people to share what they know. If someone did'nt make people understand that your statement about your hourly rate ment, you might just have a boat load of compitition next year.
If you want to stay busy between your bread and butter work[brick cleaning] then fine. Just dont give it away because it will end up hurting you in the end.

 

[the_GUNN_man]

I am not trying to argue here I don't know why you start bashing me. I was only saying I am a one man show. I am not working with two other guys. I am sure with two other guys i could have had it done in a week. You don't have to start saying I am going to fail and stuff like that. I will never fail. I won't give up at it. I take your advise and whether you realize it or not it means a lot to me. How can I expect to get through life without getting kicked in the head a few times. It is all a learning process and I very much listen to everything you say. You don't think I don't want to earn the money you do? Most people had to work up to it. It is hard to open a business and charge top dollar and noone knows who you are. People will pay more for something they are familair with. You would pay more for a name brand tire then you would one you never heard of. But as your reputation grows so does the demand for your business and in turn your prices go up to meet demand. So now I know that I need to make a price adjustment and change around a few things. I am learning this all on my own. Did you have anyone help? What was it like your first year? Did you start making hudreds of thousands your first year? I don't think that 30 something g's for my first year was a bad starting point. I do know that next year i do need to earn more. Jobs in my town are hard to come by. Factories closing all the time. We have had about 5% of or jobs shutdown in this area over the last 2 years. I am trying to create something for myself and one day hope to make a job for another person and then maybe another. But first i need to get where I am comfortable. I am not like talking to a brick wall. That is unfair of you to say that about me since I listen very well. You might have taken what I said as me trying to buck everyone else. I was only trying to show my side and what I am dealing with in my town. Holland has about 40,000 people. It isn't big but not small either. All I am trying to do is learn to survive in pressure washing. Why I think I will make it is because I absolutely love the work. That is half of the battle right there isn't it? Shouldn't somebody do what they love to do? I hated bricklaying that is why I don't do it anymore. I made more money doing that then I am now but to me it isn't about the money it is about being happy. I am not greedy I just want enough to live on and be happy. I don't need to live in a $400,000 house or drive Hummers or sail on my sailboat. I am a simple guy with simple dreams.

 

[Larry L.]

lol,I think you just wasted your time,lol..j/k

Steve we joke a little on the board so do not take nothing to heart.

Justin just told you he has been there done that and I'm just now getting there,so I know too.

So,several of us are divorced,hopefully that doesn't make all of us smarter,ha.

I too have everything paid for but my story is different from yours,I gave alot of my business away,I down sized.And I down sized some more and some more until I only work 2 maybe 3 days though the summer months and work almost every working day thoughout the winter months.

I down sized so much I didn't or I forgot about that over all cost in replacing stuff,not the small stuff but the larger stuff.My prices are higher than anyone around me but I down sized to much to replace larger stuff like truck.Don't get me wrong the truck is still in good shape but its 10 years old,I cann't deduct so its costing me in the over all cost as in replacing.Now if I'd had been thinking of that over all cost when I was down sizeing I couldn't haveta work a few days to pay for another truck,pay as you go if you can,if you cann't it'll cost you more in the over all cost.

Some want see it until its to late,I had a excuse like you,I was blinded going though divorce,lol,......I can see alot better,better than I've every seen before,love my single life,I learned my lession in dat over all cost as it's cheaper to live the single life if ya stay away from them golddiggers,*LOL*

 

[melsmobile]

THE_GUN_MAN,

IF YOU HAVE ALL YOUR BILL PAID , AND YOU MAKE IT THROUGH THE WINTER YOUR DOING BETTER THEN MOST !

It cost me about 50% to stay in Business! to do it right.

And i use to be a brick layers helper on commercial jobs , and it dose suck , i dont blame you for looking for an better life!

Justin and Bigboy and Ron , there right about most things!

Mel

 

[Clean County]

Steve,
This is a good thread that you started and by no means take any of it personally. Use it to your advantage so your business can grow.

As far as trying to compare prices with a guy like Justin forget it. He seems to have more then one worker working for him so he will more times then not make more money then the Sole Proprietor which you are more or less. This doesn't mean that his quality of work is better then yours it just means that he is paying his workers whatever there hourly wage is and the rest goes into his pockets. The more workers one has the more they make unless they are bad at managing there company. Thats another story.

Always try to get more money but only you know for sure what kind of market you live in. Here in NY we can get alot more per hour because living is very expensive here which drives the price of everything up.

Also no one besides yourself knows everything about you so just take what there telling you and learn whatever you can from it.

Hey look companies like Fleetwash supposedly charge a lot less to clean then most individual contractors and you tell me which company is worth more. Fleetwash is probably worth a few millions.

Look at Home Depot. There prices are so much cheaper then most Mom and Pop Hardware Stores and look what happen. Mom and Pop Hardware stores closed up all over the place.

The point I'm making is don't get mixed up with what some are calling Lowballers. Get whatever you can per job and just because it may be cheaper then what others get it doesn't make you a lowballer. Not by a long shot.

The better you get at your work and the better you get selling the jobs the more money you will make. That is how it goes.

One more thing. I agree I would rather not work the extra 20 hours to make the extra $400 that you gave in the beginning post here but if I needed the money you bet I would do it. Anybody telling you any different there then they are just kidding themselves.

It just takes another Terrorist attack or two to make others realize that, and the word Lowballer would be a forgotten term for many years.

So like I said get the most money possible that you can get because only you know how high or low you can go to get the job and sometimes getting the job is of most importance cause it BRINGS IN THE BREAD. Also learn from what Guys like Justin and Ron and others are telling you because they might have been there before. Another words use everything here to your advantage.

Good Luck

 

[the_GUNN_man]

I have looked at everything people has told me. I think I am right on with my pricing. I find that if I search around I charge about the same. I am starting to see that it is my time spent on a job that is where it drives down my $ per hour. Alot of people say they do a mobile home in less then an hour. It takes me 2 hours. So I guess what I need to work on is getting my time spent on a job down. When I first did that school in the beginning of this year there was a couple days I spent more time haggling with things then I did washing. I noticed toward the end of the year I picked up some speed. I am trying to make as much money as I can right now regardless of time spent on a job. I personally think my pricing is on I just move to slow. I am very picky about a job. I bought a hose reel and that helped my set up tear down time. I need to get a few other things too. I bought a ball valve and that helped me not have to go back to my machine every time I need to change something. Also when I added my tanks half way through the year I stopped having to worry about my machine in bypass. I used to take 3 hours to do a mobile home. Now I do it in 2. Hopefully I can pick up speed and get it done quicker. I am just worried about doing a good job. When I was doing it part time 2 years ago I charged $40 for a mobile home and took 3 hours to do it. Now I chrage $90 - $120 and do it in 2 hours. So I think $90-$120 for a mbile is a good price since most people say they can do it in an hour or less. That would be $100 an hour or better. Sometimes I feel guilty if I get done too fast. I then think people feel I am ripping them off. My worst area is decks I really need to work on that. I am slowing gaining knowledge about the right chems. I Hve talked with the guy at Ready Seal and he has been a big help. I would really like to hang out with someone for a day and find out where I am being so slow. It would help give me ideas to pick up the speed.

 

[ParadiseProWash]

My thought on a two hour mobile home wash would be you must not be using the right chemicals. With the right chemicals you dont have to actually spray every inch of the home the crud will melt off there to the point you could actually use a garden hose and get it clean. Thats my two cents worth anyhow. One thing I would like to know is the gpm of your machine making you so slow. Anything less than 4 gpm just want do for speed. Just my two cents worth.

 

[the_GUNN_man]

My two cold units are 4 gpm and my hot water unit is 5.5 gpm. I x-jet on the chems. I use limonene for my house wash and I spray on some chlorine only where mold is really heavy. I go over every inch of the siding with my wand. Myabe I am doing something wrong. Mayeb I am just too picky. I go over each slat on the siding. I move to slow. I spend about 20 minutes setting up and another 20 tearing down. I soend an hour and 20 minutes washing. I know I need to improve my time.

 

[ron]

STEVE, I dont know your set-up but here is what i do.
I have a 275 gal tank and a 72 inc duel lance.
I show up with a full suply tank and my housewash chem all mixed.[citric cleaner,bleach,and Dawn]
I open the rear door,roll out my pressure hose off the reel,turn on the burner and downstream the chem from the front to the rear. I have added my wax to my supply tank,Then start washing/rinsing/waxing[all one step] from where i started.
A x-jet is a good tool but not needed for trailers and will slow you way down.
Set-up time 1 min.,break down 1 min. wash time plus surface clean the patio, 45 min. sometimes you can do one in less time[depends on if you do the roofs, i dont]