Jet washing patio/drves

[turkeywild]

Evening all been thinking ov starting to do drives/patios cleaning and reseal my question is do you use customers water supply or use your own tanks any info be great 👍

[richyrich]

I use customers outside tap, otherwise you'll need a big tank and unnecessary expense of using own water, etc. 

Nobody expects you to bring water. If ever they do- tell them not eco friendly to transport heavy load.

[doobin]

It's official- the recession is here!

 

Seriously, branching out in to patio cleaning is a sure sign of a recession. 'Easy' trade with low entry barriers.

 

 

If you're sure you want to do it.... Customer supplies water, if you have a decent pressure washer (ie, of the standard required to call yourself a pro), you will need a buffer tank. Customers hose fills this, presure washer draws from it. Whenever you're not washing, the tank is refilling. This deals with the usualy (though not always) mismatch in flow between a domestic water supply and what a 13hp 16 litre a minute pressure washer wants. Most common is a wheelie bin with a ballcock and hose fitting at the top- simple, cheap and effective.

 

You'll want a hard surface cleaner (whirlaway) and for a proper job a wet hoover to remove the waste water/muck. Otherwise you'll just end up with dirty pools against borders etc.

 

I don't actually offer this service, I just send a guy out on a couple of the commercial contracts and only because they begged us. The whirlaway is more useful to me for keeping the yard clean outside the workshop doors.

 

Regarding sealing- I know nothing about this other than you need to take good advice, pay good money for the right product and test a small area first. If you get it wrong it will cost you big time- which is why most pressure washing outfits only have a mobile number!

[Dan Maynard]

6 minutes ago, doobin said:

Regarding sealing- I know nothing about this other than you need to take good advice, pay good money 

Local driveway company (seemingly good reputation) were sealing an imprinted concrete driveway they'd laid at a house I was at to do a quote. They had a big four nozzle gas torch on the go up and down the concrete to get it super dry, struck me that wasn't a cheap job to do. You could see the cylinder icing up so they'd used some gas on it.

[Stere]

Noticed many a time that using a   washer has worn  concrete and tarmac slabs etc

 

Roughs the surface up abit then more moss etc grows.

 

Unless actual chunks are flying off people don't seem to notice.... 🙂

 

 

[lux]

17 minutes ago, doobin said:

It's official- the recession is here!

 

Seriously, branching out in to patio cleaning is a sure sign of a recession. 'Easy' trade with low entry barriers.

 

 

If you're sure you want to do it.... Customer supplies water, if you have a decent pressure washer (ie, of the standard required to call yourself a pro), you will need a buffer tank. Customers hose fills this, presure washer draws from it. Whenever you're not washing, the tank is refilling. This deals with the usualy (though not always) mismatch in flow between a domestic water supply and what a 13hp 16 litre a minute pressure washer wants. Most common is a wheelie bin with a ballcock and hose fitting at the top- simple, cheap and effective.

 

You'll want a hard surface cleaner (whirlaway) and for a proper job a wet hoover to remove the waste water/muck. Otherwise you'll just end up with dirty pools against borders etc.

 

I don't actually offer this service, I just send a guy out on a couple of the commercial contracts and only because they begged us. The whirlaway is more useful to me for keeping the yard clean outside the workshop doors.

 

Regarding sealing- I know nothing about this other than you need to take good advice, pay good money for the right product and test a small area first. If you get it wrong it will cost you big time- which is why most pressure washing outfits only have a mobile number!

He's not wrong, theres more to it doing it properly than most customers think I suspect. 

 

We watched across the street from our tree work as a bunch of guys jet washed a block paved drive and blasted all the sand out of it, cleared up got there money and buggered off. 

 

Id imagine they change their mobile number fairly often....

[Steven P]

water supply.. if I was a customer I'd say if there is an outside tap use that else supply your own - trailing a hose through the house isn't the best impression if you are charging suitably to do a good job like the sealing and sanding

[eggsarascal]

You’ll never make money pressure washing with a tap fed washer, as @doobinsaid, you need a storage tank. I turn up with 500L onboard and fill up from the customers tap as I go, still have to stop when I runout of water. A domestic tap, on average deliveries about 15/L a minute, not enough. You need flow, not pressure for cleaning.

[doobin]

2 hours ago, eggsarascal said:

You’ll never make money pressure washing with a tap fed washer, as @doobinsaid, you need a storage tank. I turn up with 500L onboard and fill up from the customers tap as I go, still have to stop when I runout of water. A domestic tap, on average deliveries about 15/L a minute, not enough. You need flow, not pressure for cleaning.

Are you using your jetter pack to pressure wash? That must be a sweet setup! Something like 40 litres a minute?

 

I keep thinking about getting one for the yard, would make even lighter work of muddy machines than the 13hp 21 l/m honda unit.

Edited April 7, 2023 by doobin

[eggsarascal]

2 hours ago, doobin said:

Are you using your jetter pack to pressure wash? That must be a sweet setup! Something like 40 litres a minute?

 

I keep thinking about getting one for the yard, would make even lighter work of muddy machines than the 13hp 21 l/m honda unit.

Yes I use my van-pac, it’s an old unit now but still going strong. It’s 32L/min at full tilt powered by an old B&S V twin.