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Matthew wrote:

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A sprinkler can't dial 911 if you fall.
A sprinkler can't switch valves.
A sprinkler can't make more mix.
A sprinkler can't fetch your gatorade.
A sprinkler can't tell the home owner it's not a good idea to stand under the eaves.
A sprinkler can't see when the gutter is leaking or damaged.
A sprinkler can't hand out business cards to a pssing by neighbor who is intriqued by what's going on.

A sprinkler cannot replace a groundman, ever!

If you can't afford a ground man, then get out of the business.
$6-10 bucks an hour takes you from a "guy who can spray junk on my roof" to "a professional company who can give me the service I deserve."

Sorry if I stepped on some toes, but if $50 a roof breaks your business... You weren't in business for long anyway.

-- Edited by Matthew on Monday 7th of March 2011 05:26:38 PM

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Wow! These posts are all over the place! Here was my reply to the 1st one:
If you can't afford a ground man, then get out of the business. WOW! You must feel you have some serious clout! Give yourself another pat on the back!
$6-10 bucks an hour takes you from a "guy who can spray junk on my roof" to "a professional company who can give me the service I deserve." If you believe what you just said, you need retraining. It takes a lot more than that! And $6-$10 an hour? You must have a lot of turnover and a lot of untrained guys on your jobs! Who can do good work for 6 bucks an hour?

Sorry if I stepped on some toes, { No problem, as long as you can handle the replies you may get-like mine! } but if $50 a roof breaks your business... You weren't in business for long anyway. You seem to miss the point. It's not a matter of money. I DON'T CARE TO BE AN EMPLOYER and I think if I made it 20 years, I must be doing something right?

Tarps in 100 degree Florida weather will do more damage than a well controlled roof mix. But a combination of a well controlled roof mix [ I use a 2 gpm pump or 2 of them in tandem which = 3 gpm in reality ] What gpm are you pumping? Also, if you knew how to use tarps, you'd know you water the plants, put on the tarps and run sprinklers on the tarps to keep them cool. I have been cleaning roofs in SW Florida since 1991, so I'm somewhat of an authority on it, and you?

You don't start a Moving Company without a hand truck and dolly and you don't start a roof cleaning business without a groundman. That's not a very intelligent analogy,  do ya think?

You may not be able to hire a full fledged employee, but there is no excuse for working alone. I think you are talking through your hat my friend. You do business the way you choose and then tell other professionals they should do it your way too. Who the H_ll do you think you are? The Roof Cleaning King?

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Obviously, I disagree with you completely. I have over 20 years in this business, so I know you are wrong. It's all a matter of choice.

A sprinkler can't dial 911 if you fall. - that's true, so you need to learn to walk on roofs safely. Years of experience is what it really takes and the less "New guys in training" a business has, the less the chance of that happening. I never have a new guy in training-do you???

A sprinkler can't switch valves.
A sprinkler can't make more mix.
A sprinkler can't fetch your gatorade. These 3 are just laziness, not a necessity. Jees, how long does it take you to do aroof??? I can wait an hour or 2 for a gatorade if I was dumb enough not to take it up with me!

A sprinkler can't tell the home owner it's not a good idea to stand under the eaves. I tell the homeowner about that before I begin, don't you???

A sprinkler can't see when the gutter is leaking or damaged. I can, because after I clean a roof I have a garden hose attachment that hangs from the gutter and washes it out and because that when I'm done on the roof, I can see that and tell them. But I don't fix gutters. That's a gutter man's work.

A sprinkler can't hand out business cards to a pssing by neighbor who is intriqued by what's going on. That's my loss, isn't it? But with 20 years of customer base, I have less concern about that. As they walk by, if they want my attention, they will get it. It happens all the time!

A sprinkler cannot replace a groundman, ever! Wrong, that's just exactly what it does.
Chuck Bergman Roof Cleaning, since 1991 { Prior to that, from 1978 on, I cleaned roofs with a pressure washer, because I didn't know of a better way.

 

-- Edited by Bergman Roof Cleaning Port Charlotte FL 941-698-1959 on Monday 7th of March 2011 09:31:22 PM