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Discover Quality Contractors

In telling you what to look for in pressure washing contractor, we want to remind you that high pressure water can cause serious damage and should never be used as a means to clean the dirt and mold off of one’s home.

Your home is probably the most expensive possession you will ever purchase in your lifetime. It may cost tens of thousands or even into the millions of dollars, yet many people look for the cheapest pressure washing company they can find believing all pressure washing contractors are the same. This practice can easily turn into a very costly mistake.

Often the inexperienced or unknowledgeable, and at times even unscrupulous pressure washing contractors will roam through the neighborhoods going door to door or shouting from their truck asking if you need any pressure washing done?

They probably do not have pressure washing specific insurance and certainly not workmans comp which would make you liable if they get hurt on your property.

They typically have a small pull around pressure washer and nothing but a pump-up sprayer full of bleach as their only cleaning solution.

With pressure washing causing more damage to homes and other property than all other maintainence projects combined, you have to ask yourself if you would trust the most expensive investment you will make in your lifetime to just anyone that comes along.

Here are some tips and questions to ask a pressure washer to see if they are legit.

(I have actually been asked a few of these questions myself by customers that have been burned when they blindly hired the first pressure washing company or the cheapest one that come along.)

The first question to ask is, do they have a “Pressure Washing Specific Insurance Policy". General liability does not cover them for pressure washing. They may not even know that, or they just don’t care and want to save the expensive insurance, putting you at risk.

If you notice lots of ladders on their truck and the handle of the pressure washer is barely visible over the bed of the truck....this is not a good sign of a true professional contractor.

Ask if they have commercial grade trailer mounted equipment or do they have the same pressure washing machines that you can buy yourself from Lowes or Home Depot. Serious pressure washing companies will have made a large investment in their equipment. We, ourselves, have over $35,000 invested in our equipment. Many start-ups and part time companies or those just trying to make extra beer money will try to get by with a machine anyone can purchase from Walmart or any of the Big Box stores that cater to homeowners.

The next question is ask them how much pressure do they use? If they say 3,000 ~3,500 psi, send them packing! High pressure WILL damage your home!

Ask what cleaners do they use and how do they put them on? If they say bleach and Jomax in a pump up sprayer, they are about to kill your plants and damage your home.

Ask if they have a ladder high enough to clean the highest part of your house? If they say yes, they are not only about to damage your home, but they are putting you at risk as many accidents occur while pressure washing from a ladder. The proper way of cleaning a home does not require a ladder even up to fifty feet high.

This may sound picky, but do they come out wearing what is known as “wife beater Tee shirts” or otherwise dresses in unprofessional attire. This often indicates a lack of professionalism in themselves and in the cleaning they will be doing for you.

Here are a few signs and the answers you will get from a true professional contractor.

He will have a professional website and other professionally designed marketing material. He will come up with a truck or be pulling a trailer dedicated to pressure washing.

We have twin hot water machines in our trailer to optimize our customer service.

They may have a ladder, but when you ask them if they need it to reach the highest part of the house, they will tell you that do not need a ladder because they can clean that high from the ground.

When you ask them how much pressure they will be using on your home, they should say they will be using something less than several hundred PSI at the spray tip and that they would never use high pressure on your home.

When you ask them about their insurance, their response should be that they have a Pressure Washing Specific Insurance Policy and workman's comp. They will also say that they would be happy to have a copy faxed or emailed to you that day.

When you ask them about the cleaners they use, they should be glad to explain that what they are using are professional grade cleaners bought from locations that cater to the pressure washing industry and that they plant safe.

When you see a true professional pressure washing contractor, he will be neat in appearance and quite often will be wearing a uniform with his logo on the shirts.

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