Cleaned by Pete: what a power washer does: washing

Showing posts with label washing. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

The big Impact: "Sometimes seeing is believing"

The big Impact: house washing making a difference

We all like to do homes that are green and just growing with molds, mildew, adages and even mosses, it shows what we do makes a difference. When we are washing we see the dirt come off we see the difference we can make, but does our customer really see this change? When the house is just dirty?

"There is not any moss, or green stuff growing on my home it really is not too dirty". Usually followed by "So it shouldn't cost as much." Sometimes the house is just in need of a good washing all over which is hard to explain to a customer, each day, week, month and year a house gets a little dirtier and you never notice it, it's gradual thing. As the homeowner you probably do not really notice it as you pull into the garage to park. A good low pressure house washing will take care of these problem! We tell our customers this and most do notice the change the brightness of the home when we finish how well it looks and so on. If they could only see what was removed. The other day I had a chance to do just this. As the customer said the house had no sighs of green but the over all level of cleaning I was doing, could be see by all.

Cleaned by Pete house washing does make a difference.

This is the top corner of a three story home in Nixa MO where we left a large portion unwashed so our customer could see the difference for themselves as well as for the neighbors that were watching. Yes we did wash it just a bit later though. The customer could not believe how much brighter the home was when we finished. This worked as a good visual on this home but again you don't get this everyday, but it's fun when you do. Here is a spot I left on some gutter brightening for the same impact, came back after the photos and walk-a-round and finished the cleaning.

Gutter brightening leaving a small spot uncleaned to show the difference Cleaned by Pete can make Springfield MO.

Left this small area to give you an idea for the difference a professional clean can make, Cleaned by Pete Springfield Missouri gutter brightening.

This is what we do as "power washer" or what ever is the trending term now-a-days. My goal is to make my customers happy and do a job for them that most can not do, or have no idea how to do at a fair cost. If Cleaned by Pete can help you with your cleaning needs we are only a phone call away 417.459.7869 serving the greater Springfield MO area.

"Sometimes seeing is believing"

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

What Do You Want! :putting together a custom power washer

What Do You Want! :putting together a custom power washer. We all have different ideas of what we want to work with. We all have ideas to change our working equipment to be even better. If they only did this or that. Well the manufactures did not call me when they built it so it could fit just my needs. That leaves me to put a washer together myself the way it fits my needs.

Setting the stage I wanted a smaller footprint washer with power enough to do concrete and at the same time wanted reliability and a long-life for it and the components. Belt drives pumps turn at half speed this gives the pump drawing power and since it is not turning as fast you should double the life of a direct-drive washer. Belt drives are great but take up more space and with the pulleys and belt drive set-up. Added weight of the belt guards the tentioner brackets, the pulleys them selves and a larger stronger mounting plate to handle all this is something I was looking to avoid. I have had the "V-twin" over head valve motors and while proven I personally do not like them. I know right now some are ready to come to blows over that statement. More moving parts, a higher profile, and a bit top-heavy for my taste so to speak. This is what I am looking to solve in this build.

For the motor I picked the old Briggs 180* opposed flathead twin-cylinder motor. Very reliable lower profile a old work-horse of a motor. flathead motors have fewer moving parts and develop more tourk something I'm looking for. The 180* lay out means it is a smoother running motor also this is also a plus. To shorten up the footprint and still give the larger pump a greater lifespan I'm going with a RS500 gearbox to replace the belt system. This gearbox will now take the 3450 RPMs of the motor and reduce it to 1700 RPMs required by the pump. It will look much like a direct-drive power washer and take up much less room. I have chosen a K-5 unloader for this build simply because I had 2 sitting on the shelf. The last item is I wanted a big gastank nothing worst than running out of gas when you have 10 feet left to clean on a job. I happened to find this Sears Craftsman power washer and had the cage wheels and tank I had been looking for. An older gentleman bought it at an auction and never used it. I removed the pump and motor and mounted it on a old two wheel pressure washing cart a neighbor had given me and I'll try to sell at a later time. The pump I have a spare General 5.5 gpm at 3000 psi sitting here and will be using it for the build. Generals are good pumps and we have a part supply house here local with every part needed in stock to keep one up and running.

Cleaned by Pete putting together a new washer to serve the customers better with all the ideas and needs that I had to be filled.

Cleaned by Pete putting together a new washer to serve the customers better.

Have most of the parts to build up another power washer. Using the gear-box will give me a smaller footprint than the old belt drives but will still give me the longer life of the pump. 18 hp Briggs 180 opposed twin with custom manifold, General pump, K5 unloader, RS500 gearbox, large gas tank in a Craftsman frame. Have the sheet-metal and fan off the motor for the build. Have to see how it goes together now.

Well this is where I'm at today have most of the parts and fittings. I will start to build and see what I can create. I don't know if it will be better than others but I will only have one person to blame if it does not work out as I planned.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Perspective: what is an important or a big job?

Perspective: what is an important or a big job to each person is all in how one looks at it. While we clean and work to make money which helps our families and gets us to where we want to be. Sometime it is about a little more it was for me today.

Before the after sidewalk cleaning Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

Before the after graffiti removal, Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

To start with all job are important to a business man whether your a power washer or any other trade we rely on job and customers. While doing a job today this thought came to me. I was looking at it as a small job I could do in the rain. Make some money and get it done fast just a "bread and butter" type job. I was not seeing the whole picture though, please let me set this up.

I was at the desk today since it was quite cool and the rain was falling, I received a call on the phone. It started "I'm very sorry did I just call you?" I replied "No mam". In a what I could tell was an upset voice she asked if I could help with graffiti removal. I told her yes I did graffiti removal and she then said she had been call around to get it done that she had some foul language and signs on her side walk with an arrow leading toward her porch. We talked and then she said no one would take it because it was on the concrete sidewalk too small of job if they had to clean up the walk-ways too. She relayed no one would do both and I said I would run over since I was not doing anything else due to the rain and see what we could do for her.

I thought I would throw what I needed in the way of cleaners on the truck just encase. I knew I could do something but just what I didn't know till I got there.

I did a "mapquest" got the location and headed out. I saw several tags in the neighborhood and knew about what to expect. I got there and it was not as big as some I say the one across the street was twice the size. I was thinking no big deal here and gave her the price she seemed quite relived and asked if she added the steps, landing, walk up and front sidewalk how much more I gave her the price and she asked when I could do it. I said now it's not raining too bad. She could not believe it. Then she told me...

This is my first home I found it after it had been abandoned for some time. Due to the closeness to the college it was a rental and suffered from alot of neglect the landlord did nothing but collect rent. When it got to bad to rent is just sat there. She was very proud of the little home and the work she had put in to it over the last year. She told me it still needed more work but it was all her's and she was very proud of it. The graffiti or tagging to me was just another job something to clean but it was more to her it was an insult and she was wondering if she was sought out or if she was being made out as something she was not. The foul language was being directed at her. I reassured her there were other tags around and it was a random act I belied from other tags and graffiti I removed. She said the arrow leading up to the house is what upset her the most like pointing something out, that something was wrong with her pride she had for this first home. It was like her baby this is what she was working for and too great pride and joy in this home.

It made me realize each job is important but just how much and what it means to others we may never know. I take great pride in Cleaned by Pete what I have built and what I do. Why wouldn't others take pride and what the do and work on. As this lady taking the pride in owing and working on this home she was making for herself. I love working with my residential customers and take pride in their pride when I clean their homes and they just can not get over what a difference it makes. Now I'll have a different view on things too, maybe just a different perspective, walking in someones shoes so to speak.

It was very refreshing to see someone with so much pride in a home that when some "urban artist" took it upon himself to add some art to it, it upset the owner and hurt them in a way as such to almost cause injury to them. No job to small will take on a bit different meaning now to me.

Here are a few picture of what I did not a big job but a very important one none the less. I did not picture the vulgar langauage or tags left (not worth giving the "urban artist" any points or promote their work. Just to say it was in forest green spray paint and applied quite heavy here.

Tag / graffiti removal followed by a sidewalk cleaning Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

Cleaned by Pete

serving the greater Springfield area

power, pressure, house, and soft washing

417.459.7869

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

The Vacation Is Over

Winter is still here with us but our vacation time is about over and I will resume working on the blog here. Just to get things up to date, what have I been doing well here are some photos of some of the jobs we have done and a new video. The show some of the jobs we were lucky enough to have warmer weather to do and the new addition to the residential washing rig. I have added another twin Mi-T-M washer to it and am able to link the two together for water flow, the video shows the results. For now here are some photos, will be posting more soon on the new set-up. Cleaned by Pete, "Safely Soft Washing Springfield One Home at a Time"

Some work photos:

Removing transmission oil from a driveway.