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Why Have A Professional Power
Washing Contractor
Clean Your Home
The president of the National Association of Real Estate Appraisers
says keeping your home's exterior clean can increase its value
by 5 to 10 percent by giving it a good first impression. Your
home should be power washed every year or two, depending on
the area you live. Areas with a lot of trees, busy roads, railroad
tracks and airports are going to produce more contaminants than
other areas. These contaminates can and will rot, decay and
cause premature failure of the building materials that make
up your home, costing you future repairs, replacements or renovations.
Having your home properly cleaned will save you money in the
long run by stopping the damaging effects of dirt, mold and
mildew. Having your house, mobile home, concrete or deck cleaned
by a quality, trained professional power washing contractor
on a regular basis can increase the value of your home or business
and help protect what may be your largest investments.
Safety Concerns
One large advantage of hiring a professional power washing contractor
like Soluble Solutions, LLC, other than a job well done, is
to avoid the possibility of becoming injured while trying to
"save a buck" and doing it yourself. In the same way mechanics
have specific tools for certain jobs, so does a professional
power washer. Your automobile isn't fixed with the same wrench,
while your home or business is not cleaned with one wand, one
water pressure or one application. Having the right person with
the right tools makes a difference especially when it comes
to safety.
Hiring a professional alleviates the use of ladders by the home
or business owner. Falls from even low heights can create seriously
painful or disabling injuries. Credible estimates by the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission state that these accidents
create 65,000 visits annually to hospital emergency rooms.
Eye injuries are also possible whenever power washing. OSHA
estimates that at least 1,000 eye injuries occur in the American
workplace every day. These injuries result in more than $467
million per year spent on medical treatment. Workers suffer
irreparable damage each year, 100,000 of these injuries will
be disabling because of temporary or permanent vision loss.
How is that possible? The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) conducted a survey regarding eye-injury accidents.
In 3 out of 5 incidents, people were not wearing any form of
eye protection. Almost 70% of the accidents studied resulted
from flying or falling objects. Others were caused by objects
swinging from a fixed or attached position, like tree limbs,
ropes and tools pulled into the eye while working.
Homeowners are often times encouraged to use chemicals in order
to remove stains or mold from surfaces. Chemicals that are not
usually necessary when proper technique water pressure and heat
are used. Often a homeowner does not have easy access to such
resources, therefore they sometimes attempt to "make do" with
what is available or recommended to them. In doing this they
become much more vulnerable to eye injuries as a result of spills
and splashes while opening or stirring chemicals. OSHA states
that coming into contact with such chemicals, accounted for
one-fifth of all eye injuries.
Another common injury as a result of trying to do too much with
too little are, Pulled or strained back and neck muscles which
take time to heal and can result in missed work as well as doctor
or chiropractor visits. When cleaning gutters, people can snag
clothes or jackets, which can result in falls. Equally, folks
often cut their hands while handling the sharp edges of aluminum
gutters and downspouts while manually scrubbing. With proper
technique and attachments, not often readily available to the
average customer, gutters can be cleaned easily, safely and
more efficiently.
Here at Soluble Solutions, LLC, we prefer to handle all the
would-be hazards of the job so you don't have to, ensuring your
safety. We have the proper knowledge and equipment necessary
to deal with all your cleaning needs. Before you set out on
a Saturday morning to simply power wash something, take a minute
and think. Do I know how much time this will take? Do I have
all the proper tools to do a professional looking job safely
and efficiently? Am I possibly putting my home, deck or worse...myself
and others at risk by not being aware of the capabilities and
limits of my own machine? If you're not sure, then you may need
assistance from one of our trained, courteous staff and let
us show you the right, cost effective way, the Soluble Solutions
way.
Do Brick Walls Really Need
To Be Cleaned
Even the most diligent home or business owner rarely considers
the need to clean older brick surfaces. Brick, after all, seems
just about permanent. But cleaning bricks enhances their appearance
and adds to their longevity and preservation.
Walls encrusted with years of dirt and grime are subject to
masonry decay at a far more rapid rate than clean walls. The
discoloration and surface grime accumulation on brick occurs
over a period of many years, so a home or business owner is
often unaware of how substantially the appearance of a brick
wall has been impacted.
The major cause of masonry decay is moisture. A wall that is
heavily painted or coated with surface dirt does not allow the
natural evaporation of moisture contained within the masonry.
Some hygroscopic staining materials may actually add moisture
by drawing it from the surrounding atmosphere. Stained surfaces
allow more surface area to be exposed to damaging atmospheric
and other pollutants and may actually react with gases in the
air to form corrosive materials which may dissolve or wash away
acid-soluble cementing binders.
Another component of proper cleaning and removal of mold, mildew
and moss is for examination and inspection. Removing these hindrances
can expose already failing mortar joints and damaged bricks
as well as small entrance points for bugs and rodents. Allowing
for repair or renovations in order to stop the cycle of decay.
Mold and Its Effect on Wood
Mold requires nutrients, water, oxygen and favorable temperatures
to grow. Nutrients for mold are present in dead organic material
such as wood, paper, leaves or fabrics. Mold can also derive
nutrients from some synthetic products such as paints and adhesives.
Mold requires moisture, although some species can obtain the
moisture they need from the air when the relative humidity is
above 70%. When temperatures needed are no longer present such
as winter months, they remain dormant or inactive. They begin
to grow once again when the temperature allows and is more favorable.
Research has shown that temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit
will kill most mold and mold spores.
Under proper conditions, a variety of molds can form on wood.
Research by Oregon State University revealed that Douglas Fir
sapwood was colonized by more than 45 species of fungi within
six weeks of sawing. Of the mold species identified, none were
Stachybotrys, which is commonly referred to as a "toxic mold."
Molds that grow on wood typically discolor the wood through
production of pigmented spores that can be green, yellow, orange,
black and an array of other colors. The discoloration is usually
confined to the surface of the wood.
Decay fungi may also grow when wood products such as decks and
fences are exposed to chronic moisture. Decay fungi, unlike
molds attack beyond the surface of the wood into the structural
polymers of the fiber, reducing its strength. Generally, decay
fungi invade wood only after prolonged exposure to moisture,
such as what occurs with untreated wood decks, plumbing leaks
or seeping from outside water sources.
In order to combat this problem, many homeowners have gone with
pressure treated lumber. Promotional literature promises lifelong
performance for pressure treated wood. The Forest Products Laboratory
and other research groups have shown that treated wood stakes
placed in the ground for more than 40 years remain rot-free.
But young pressure-treated decks, many less than 10 years old,
are being shoveled into landfills. A recent technical report
in the Forest Products Journal indicated that the average pressure
treated deck only last approx. 9 years. Why? Lack of protection.
Pressure treating does make wood rot resistant. But, it doesn't
make wood water-resistant. Pressure treated wood still soaks
and looses moisture. And as a result, the wood moves, cracks,
twists, bends, cups and virtually tears itself apart if not
properly treated. Water repellant and sealers helps keep wood
dimensionally stable.
With a yearly dose of maintenance, you can greatly increase
the life of your deck. Securely fastening any loose boards with
long corrosion-resistant screws and sealing your deck yearly
will keep the boards looking bright and will minimize the uptake
of water. As a result the boards will have fewer cracks, splits,
cups and twists.
Just the Facts
While this information is aimed at businesses in general, the
concepts also apply to homeowners as well. I encourage you to
stop and think after reading these facts and statistics, could
I be doing more to encourage business. Could I make my business
more attractive or appealing? Could I be exuding a more professional
image and enhancing what is already being done?
Do you realize that people often "judge" your business by what
they see first? Most restaurant managers for example know that
a customer who has a pleasurable dining experience is three
times more likely to return. A recent article in Nation's Restaurant
News surveyed 20,000 dining patrons and discovered that cleanliness
was rated second only to food taste as the #1 reason to frequent
a food establishment. First impressions are obviously important.
In the same regards, golf courses are just another example of
where visual impressions are important. An article published
in Golf Traveler surveyed 10,000 corporate golfers and again
discovered that pristine maintenance was rated second only to
the challenge of the course as the #1 reason to frequent a golf
course.
Responsible, savvy managers and owners put themselves in the
position of the patron. They look around and see what the patron
would see as they are parking the car, or walking up to the
establishment. Are my sidewalks appearing grungy? Do they have
gum and oil spots on them? What does my signage look like? Are
my buildings clean and appear neat and orderly? Do my trash
dumpsters omit offensive odors? Are my shopping carts clean
and working properly. Are my golf carts dusty and scuffed up?
Do my awnings needs attention? The applications will vary, but
the objectives are the same.
Yes, service and quality is vitally important. But if you have
would-be patrons approaching your establishment or business
and getting a first impression of not being organized or not
being clean. We feel that it might be a hurdle hard to get over,
possibly never getting the opportunity to impress them with
your goods and services. One example that we often refer to
is the United Parcel Service. I encourage you to look closely
the next time you see a UPS truck. Look at its appearance. More
than likely it is near spotless. Unless however, it is on a
sloppy, wintry day perhaps, but otherwise they are always neat
and clean. Why you ask? It's because someone at UPS decided
to make that a priority. They obviously understood the importance
of a clean professional image and wanted to project that image...a
competent, "can do" image, to the public.
At Soluble Solutions, LLC, we are here to assist you in maintaining
or achieving those goals. We don't claim to know all the aspects
of your business, but we do know "clean" and would welcome the
opportunity to work with you or your company to rectify any
situation where applicable.
Sources: The University of Massachusetts; Building Materials
and Wood Technology; Western Wood Products Association; OSHA
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