Brightening Up a Home with a House Wash

Brightening Up a Home with a House Washing

It is hard to tell a customer that you can brighten up their home with a washing. How do you tell them your home can be brighter and look better when it does not have the green or black growth on it?

That "green meanie" photo Cleaned by Pete

Just giving it a good cleaning can give it some wow factor back to the home. Unless they are watching you work they really do not know how dirty of dull their home was. As hard as it is to tell them that it is harder to get a photo of what we see when we clean. I was moving hoses today and had a look at the home and saw what I thought would make a good photo. It is not that cleaning the "green meanies" photo or the "big money shot" we all like to post. Just a regular house washing we all do and see each day. It is not the best but does show a brightening of the home adding curb appeal. I here people say all the time "my house is not dirty" just because it does not have green mold and mildew growing on it, does not mean it can not use a good washing. I don't know if I caught the entire idea in this photo but it does show a good impact.

About 1/2 way through a house washing, you can see that the home is much brighter and is making a statement. House washing removing dirt and contaminates from the siding on this home, Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

Cleaned by Pete

serving the greater Springfield MO and surrounding areas

417.459.7869

Selling Your Home? invest in a good external cleaning

Selling Your Home? invest in a good external cleaning.

Cleaning your home will be the best investment you can make. It will return more than any other improvement you can do on it. Cleaned by Pete spent today getting a home ready to be put up for sale. That first impression is the one that will last when people see it. If your home has the area's typical spotting on the siding of black algae and mildew, or the green mold and golden algae blooming on your driveway or sidewalks Cleaned by Pete can remove it. Leaving it ready for prospective buyers and agents to look at. Cleaned by Pete also whitened the gutters and fascia. You only get one time to make a first impression, making it count the most is what you should be looking for. 

Better know a s curb appeal what is the prospective customer for your home looking for? Most of us really don't know that is why we hire an agent to sell and bring in clients looking to buy. I do know if you see something dull and dirty it stick in the back of your mind, you immediately downgrade it, the home falls into the bargain basement idea only to be looked at again if you can't find anything else. 

Washing, cleaning, whitening and brightening, around the house will pay off. A agent once told me they can get 3% more for a clean and well cared for home, that has that "pop", "cub appeal" or what ever draw the client to the looks of the home. 

Here are a few shots of the work we did on this home that will be going up for sale.

Does your home's siding show algae, mold or mildew spotting? Does your concrete show "Golden Algae" in bloom, green mold growing or "black Algae" taking root in the pours. Are you gutters and fascia more gray then white? Cleaned by Pete can help you with some much needed curb appeal. Photo Nixa MO.

Before the house washing Cleaned by Pete Nixa MO.

Before the concrete cleaning Cleaned by Pete Nixa MO.

Green mold, "Golden Algae" in bloom and "Black Algae" in the pours of this concrete driveway and side walk. Cleaned by Pete will remove and kill it, Nixa MO.

Before the house washing Cleaned by Pete Nixa MO.

Before the house washing Cleaned by Pete Nixa MO.

After a concrete cleaning and house washing Cleaned by Pete Nixa MO.

After a concrete cleaning and house washing Cleaned by Pete Nixa MO.

After a concrete cleaning, gutter / fascia and house washing Cleaned by Pete Nixa MO.

After a concrete cleaning, gutter / fascia and house washing Cleaned by Pete Nixa MO.

Dirty concrete being cleaned Nixa MO Cleaned by Pete.

Dirty concrete being cleaned Nixa MO Cleaned by Pete.

Dirty concrete being cleaned Nixa MO Cleaned by Pete.

Let Cleaned by Pete work some curb appeal magic on a home the return on your cleaning investment will pay off.

Cleaned by Pete

serving the greater Springfield and the surrounding area in the Ozarks area

417.459.7869

On a side note I thought I would add to the blog entry I had the twin linked pumps running together today and gave the 24" surface cleaner a new 3 bar head. 24" of surface cleaning power being pushed by the twin Mi-T-M power washers at @ 3000 psi at around 8 gpm. Made short work of the driveway and sidewalk with great deep cleaning results. Just another improvement on our equipment to help serve our customers better and more efficiently.

Cleaned by Pete added a 3 bar head and is pushing it with the twin pump set-up to better serve our customers.

Cleaned by Pete added a 3 bar head and is pushing it with the twin pump set-up to better serve our customers, faster, deeper cleaning, more efficiently cleaning concrete.

 

Wash'n Wednesday: the "small job dilemma"

 Wash'n Wednesday: the "small job dilemma"

Wash'n Wednesday found us with lots of small jobs but jobs are jobs. Our customers and their word of mouth advertising is worth more to me than turning down jobs simply on size. I'll set aside a day now and then and lump them into one day. Today was that day. Customer service is our #1 goal telling someone that their job is to small or that there is not enough money in it for us to do is something I avoid doing. One happy customer will bring in more just by telling others we help them make a difference. If you can do several of these smaller jobs in a day or after a day's work, can you still make it worth while? I did get a neighbor to book some cleaning with us and handed out several cards while doing the days work. So in the long run it may payoff even more in the future. I know we as power washers need to draw a line somewhere and that is up to each person or company to do and decide. Yesterday after a house washing I was asked if I could clean or wash a 5th wheel camping trailer and if so how much I was there and had everything on board to do it since I do a small bus fleet from time to time. I shot them a price and soon as I finished the house washing I was over to wash the camper. Now would I have driven out just to clean a camper? It would have to be priced higher than what I did it for yesterday. Being close and having everything made it a nobrainer. Again how small if they are will to pay a fair price then I will do it.

I also find it just fun doing something different than what we normally do. I like residential house washing and love to be busy but a change now and then is good for the soul. Getting out there and seeing what you can do not having the normal time constraints is also nice. You can try out new things and techniques to see what works better. Never know when you'll find a new idea that will work for you in the future. Learning and growing your business and experiences.

  From Billings, Ozark and Springfield MO it was "Wash'n Wednesday".  Just got in from a day, about the area. Odd jobs today were a painted, textured and distressed drive-way cleaning. I was contacted over the phone for the drive way cleaning it had been painted, textured and distressed about 7 to 8 years ago. Owner put the home on the market wanted the stains lifted and do what we could to make it look better. Then had to clean beams inset in the front of a home. The biggest problem was the height of what needed cleaning. Had the whole neighbor hood out including several mowing services watching me clean this one, owner was very happy to have them finally cleaned. Then some fertilizer rust stain removal seems the crew had gotten a little heavy and sprayed the home's siding and garage door. Our house washing mix lightened it but Cleaned by Pete went all the way and removed even stains that were left on the home and door. Home owners were amazed at the results which have been there since last year.

Here are some pictures and a short clip showing you what Cleaned by Pete can do. Working on the painted, textured and distressed drive-way using our adjustable height surface cleaner. Knowing the proper pressure and height to use is where the years of doing this come in. To much pressure will cut or remove the paint, distressed or textured areas or could chip off the top layer all together.

Drive way cleaning Ozark MO.

A painted, textured and distressed driveway to look "old world" heavy stains including oil and rust along with algae, moss and mildew, owner asked, "Do what you can I know its' in bad shape". Cleaned by Pete pressure & power washing did what we could. The painted and distressed areas were hard to clean with out removing it.

You can see this drive-way was quite a challenge but it turned out OK and helped the homes curb appeal once the oil stains, mold, algae, and mildew were removed. This is our adjustable height surface cleaners, I use it for decks and special jobs such as this painted, textured and distressed drive-way.

Cleaning painted concrete in Springfield MO Cleaned by Pete 417.459.7869.

Cleaning painted concrete in Springfield MO Cleaned by Pete 417.459.7869.

Finishing up the concert cleaning the paint and distress look made this hard to clean. Too much pressure will damage the surface, to little will not get the best cleaning. Our adjustable surface cleaner works great for this.

Fertilizer "rust" removal Billings MO.

Fertilizer stains to be remove, the front garage door and side of the home was covered with fertilizer rust stains. Seems the folks the did their fertilizing and plants got a little heavy on spraying the walls. House wash lightened it to what's in the first picture but Cleaned by Pete got that off also home owners were amazed at the results.

Fertilizer stains, looks like embedded rust in the vinyl. It can be removed, Billings MO, Cleaned by Pete.

Fertilizer stains to be remove Billings MO Cleaned by Pete.

After cleaning the stains they are removed from this vinyl siding.

Side walk and stoop cleaning Springfield MO

Sidewalk cleaning in Springfield MO.

Front stoop cleaning for some curb appeal Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO.

Front stoop cleaning for some curb appeal Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO.

Fence cleaning for some curb appeal.

Cleaning up the fences on the side of the home giving it some more curb appeal. When selling a home first impressions are important let us help you with that.

A littler fence restoration and cleaning in Springfield MO Cleaned by Pete.

Beam cleaning Ozark MO 

The height was a problem for other but Cleaned by Pete was able to get the job done right. The owner said it was 20 feet to the top of the bottom beams.

Cleaning beams on this home, not a hard job but the height had stopped everyone. Cleaned by Pete pressure & power washing did this using a step ladder and our regular equipment and attachments. It is 20 feet to the top of the bottom beams or that is what the homeowner told me.

Some wood restoration in Ozark MO Cleaned by Pete.

Some wood restoration in Ozark MO Cleaned by Pete 417.459.7869

No jobs are too small call:

Cleaned by Pete 

Serving the greater Springfield MO area

417.459.7869

What's new at Cleaned by Pete

What's New

Sitting back and just working is not for us at Cleaned by Pete, we do all our own maintenance and up keep. I will also do any rebuilding of our pumps and motors if needed. If you keep your oil changed and all other maintenance on a regular schedule your equipment will last longer. This not only keeps your overhead down but also helps the motor running at peak which saves gas and oil. Keeping your pump up keeps it at a higher efficiency moving the most water and keeping up the PSI making its' cleaning power at the top.

Another thing I do here is build new units, if a need arises I will seek out what is needed and build a new unit I just finished one today. Cleaned by Pete has been doing more concrete cleaning lately. We started in the power washing business washing concrete, business fronts and sidewalks. The recession set in and a lot of business took a hit to save money and keep the profit line higher several let their external cleaning go or tried to do it "in-house". Today these businesses are coming back. Our residential customers are more concerned with that black algae and mildew growing on their driveway and sidewalks. Keeping your concrete cleaned has several benefits: looks, safety, and health being the top of the list.

If you see something growing on your concrete you know it is forming a layer or growth this growth gets slick anytime water is present. From rain to a heavy dew you are at risk of slipping and falling, and you need not put your customers or visitors at that risk. Cleaning and killing off the cause of the problem is what we do. Give that concrete some grip with a cleaning form Cleaned by Pete.

Looks: just having us clean your sidewalks and entrance makes your business or home more inviting and if your selling it has more "curb appeal". Your customers get a feeling that says you care and keeping up appearances it's important to your business, a good place so shop or eat.

Health with environmental change and strains of algae and mildew that is always evolving we are now seeing black streaks on our roofs and concrete. Some strains have become resistance to older cleaners. Cleaned by Pete keeps up with new cleaner and brings that technology to you. Some people are bothered by mold, mildew and algae to some it is more a health concern than just an eye sore. Let us help you with this concern with a cleaning.

In order to help you with these problems. I would like to introduce you to two new pressure or power washers I have built for cleaning concrete and patios. First one is a higher powered unit to enable us to use our to largest surface cleaners more effectively. Getting a "deep clean" helps us to root out that organism growing in the pours of your concrete. With this new washer we can get more water pressure to the point it is need.

Portable high pressure unit built for concrete cleaning, Cleaned by Pete your concrete driveway and sidewalk restoration cleaners.

Portable high pressure unit built for concrete cleaning, Cleaned by Pete your concrete driveway and sidewalk restoration cleaners.

Portable high pressure unit built for concrete cleaning, Cleaned by Pete your concrete driveway and sidewalk restoration cleaners. While you can buy a unit like this I prefer to build our own so I can customize one for the needs and want here in our local area.

This addition to our line of washers is to insure you, that you're getting the best cleaning you can when you use Cleaned by Pete.

The second unit we are adding to the lineup is for patio and areas we have had trouble or that were time consume getting to in the past. Hauling a washer to remote or backyard areas sometimes is quite impossible with the lay of the land or landscaping getting to that needed area, that needs the cleaning took several trips and time. Getting that washer, tools, hose, and supply lines there took time  and energy so to help I came up with this. A washer that is gas powered and will carry the high pressure hose, the supply hose, a cleaner tank, an adjustable flow setting for the cleaner, tools needed, on pneumatic tires, and a easy to move cart all in one unit all on-board and taking one trip to get it there and setup. Just think everything needed in one trip to and getting your cleaning under way quicker leaving little to no invasion on your yard or vegetation. While not quite complete, it still is needing the hoses attached and the new pump plumbed in here are some pictures. This is again something you may be able to buy but this custom made unit is all set up and designed to fit the needs of our customers and us here at Cleaned by Pete.

This will be Cleaned by Pete's self-contained patio and remote washer.

Two hose reels, gas motor, high pressure pump, chemical / cleaner tank, pneumatic tires and a easy to manoeuvre cart Cleaned by Pete is building this unit to aid in getting and cleaning those hare to reach areas.

Portable high pressure unit built for concrete cleaning, Cleaned by Pete your concrete driveway and sidewalk restoration cleaners.

Cleaned by Pete is always adding, updating, and building new power washers to help us to better serve you, our customers. Give us a call at 417-459-7869 and discuss your cleaning needs with us.