Misting system to replace ground man?

[Bergman Roof Cleaning]

Chuck you wrote  "The original poster got an answer from me that he can make use of until he has enough work to hire a full time ground man "So thats it? He should just accept your answe? He can't get a better idea from someone else on here? As far as spraying 20% unnecessarily? Again Chuck who said it's not needed? I don't let it just flow for no reason Chuck but I sure ain't wasting time mine or the homeowners fo 20 bucks. So Chuck tell me you are saying the cleaner we are using causes pollution?

I don't care to go back and forth on this, it's silly.

How do you hire a guy for 3-4 hours occasionally and,as the original poster said "There's insurance, workers comp,FICA, the whole bit. Just because you pay him 10-12 bucks an hour, you are really paying a lot more than that. I am running a totally above board, legit business. Taxes, insurance, everything."

He only wants to do honest, above the table business. Anyway, lets just leave each other be. I'm done.

[Bergman Roof Cleaning]

Thanks crappiecrazed, It is tough being legit. I have one guy that does the roofs on my whole street. There is no way he is paying taxes or anything. He sells a maintenance program at like $50 a pop. He just goes on the roof and sprays some SH, and leaves. He initially cleans the roof for $150, then comes back every year and sprays the roof and charges $50. I told my neighbors I do that and there is no way I could do roof maintenance for $50 and make money. So I can't even get my neighbors as customer! This is crazy around here. They cut lawns for $50 a month!

You are being wise not to try to compete on that ridiculous level! You will be wasting your time!

No roof should be cleaned, no matter how small, for under $200.00 and the average shingle roof should run around $325.00 here in Florida and Tile $450

[Bergman Roof Cleaning]

Wait Chuck, I don''t run a legit business? How do you make such a statement? I am so legit I have an accountant,pay sales tax every three months and I have workmans comp. Is that legit enough? I can hire someone for five minutes if I want and its legit, so please don't imply that I am not running a legit business. Before you are done I would like you to explain how our system is pollution as you stated earlier...or are you just going to say what ever you want then stick your head in the sand when somone has a better idea then you?

I'm not gonna play your games forever. All I meant by polluting, was based on your saying to save 20 minutes you would pump an extra 20% mix on the roof. The SH turns into salt, salt is a pollutant to vegetation. Try growing something is highly salt impregnated soil. It also ends up in the ground water. Again, it's not DDT but it's still a pollutant and we should show some common sense in our use of chemicals. I never said anything about YOU not running a legit business-you have quite an imagination! I said [maybe I'm wrong, as I have no employees?] that all those legalities would come up with each guy you hired for a 3 or 4 hour day and the OP said he wanted to be 100% legit. You are just looking for trouble with me and I've wasted all the time I care to on your silly "turning of my words" on me. Goodbye

[Bergman Roof Cleaning]

Do you know nothing at all?

Yes, our "Go Green" competitors say SH is dangerous, so do our pressure washing competitors. I don't know what chemicals they use, but I know that with chlorine we bath in it, clean with it, swim in it etc. So to counteract their scare tactics, I tell the other side of the coin-It does turn back into salt. I never said the words "nothing to fear?" Unless you started in this business last week, you should know that our mix is something for professionals to use with caution and that a responsible professional is going to care how much he pumps on a roof and not have the "if I can save 20 minutes, I'll pump an extra 20%, which you said. Homeowners shouldn't try this at all. You strike me as ignorant and just looking for trouble and I hope everyone else can see that too. You can talk to yourself from here on, knowing that you can cut me down all you like, without my defending myself to you. You remind me of what life for kids is like in school-I WILL NOT PLAY ALONG ANYMORE. I'M DONE PLAYING WITH CHARLIE! "SORRY CHARLIE"

[Bergman Roof Cleaning]

Charlie, I wasn't going to reply to you again, but you need to reread my original post, where I was trying to help this new guy get started. I AM THE GROUND MAN SINCE 1994 MY SON IS THE ROOF GUY. IN BUSINESS HERE SINCE 1989. I said "I have done hundreds of roofs alone through the years" But I was talking about prior to 1994 and during those 5 years, I pressure cleaned roofs until around 1991.

 

You have lost track of what my original reply post said. Here it is:

Having a GOOD ground man is the best way to go.{GOOD IS THE KEY WORD}

Now that I am older than the hills :-) I am the ground man and my son does the roofs. Actually, he's worked for me since 1994 straight through! I don't smoke, take breaks or make calls when it's my job to care for the plants. Still, most jobs I set up a sprinkler or 2, while I work the harder plant areas by hand.

I have done hundreds of roofs alone through the years. I did each roof 1/2 a roof at a time. Ran sprinklers on the 1st half for at least 15 minutes before I went up on the roof and 15 minutes after that side was done. Then move the sprinklers and do the other half the same.

If alone - 1st thing, set up whatever hoses you can and start running good quality, long range "step in the ground" sprinklers.

Have them run across the tops of the plants. At the same time, they are flooding the roots.

If there are gutters, use a drill and take the elbows off the downspouts and put a heavy duty garbage bag on each one.

Get down off the ladder every 10 minutes and check everything and if a bag is filling, put it in an empty 5 gal bucket.

If no gutters put tarps on all the plants and flood the roots with the same sprinklers.

Will plants die? Ya, I'd say out of every 15 jobs, there will be plant damage in a few places.

It really all depends on how much water hits the plants and how little roof mix you can keep from coming off.

In the end, rinse out the gutters and take the runoff with you in buckets and rivet or screw the elbows back on the downspouts.

Remember, a ground man is not a magic cure for plant damage. Often, he's like a sprinkler that stops working to smoke cigarettes, make cell phone calls and step back under a tree for breaks, when you can't see him. Properly placed sprinklers never stop working for a minute. If you try it alone, just remember-all the ground man ca do that you can't do yourself, is water constantly-he's not throwing fairy dust on the plants. So work at limiting how much runoff occurs and WATER WATER WATER and when you think you watered plenty, do it for another 20 minutes after you are done. Plants feed when they need to. If they have already filled up on your sprinkler water-they are full and won't suck up your runoff mix.

But, ideally, get a ground man who doesn't smoke [anything] take away his cell phone and explain "YOUR JOB IS TO START WATERING PLANTS FROM THE MINUTE WE ARRIVE, UNTIL I SAY IT'S TIME TO STOP"

I've had more great sprinklers than I have had great ground men and I've had quite a few of both!

Also, if you are new, you can go back tomorrow, look things over and water again!

 

Now, sorry for getting angry and nasty with you, you are right, you did make me angry. Now can we start over again and drop this? After all, we both had the misfortune of being given the name Charles, which didn't work out so great for me, until I changed to Chuck. :-)

[Apple Roof Cleaning (813) 655-8777]

Yes, no doubt I need a ground guy. I turned down a tile roof today because of it. I'm pretty sure an employee costs more than 10-12 bucks an hour. There's insurance, workers comp,FICA, the whole bit. Just because you pay him 10-12 bucks an hour, you are really paying a lot more than that. I am running a totally above board, legit business. Taxes, insurance, everything. I am not ready to hire someone right now, so I'll just have to do shingled roofs and have my buddy help me(don't want to try tiles with him), until I can hire someone to help with tiled roofs. I'm actually getting pressure washing and gutter cleaning jobs right now so hopefully very soon I will start doing all roofs with a new dedicated ground guy.

Dude, ever hear of Craigslist > I put an ad for a groundperson/roof cleaning trainee, and within 2 hours, I had to end the ad! I had literally 35 applicants. I asked for a resume when applying, and you would not believe the qualifications of people out of work!

Often, you have to pay groundspeople under the table, many have child support  problems,  and some are collecting unemployment or disability even, and a paycheck can mess them up.

[Bergman Roof Cleaning]

Chuck my bad as well,no hard feelings. I am going to miss the exchange with you...

Thanks, we both went overboard.

Maybe we can have an exchange in the future, about something we can back each others thinking up on! :-)

[Bergman Roof Cleaning]

Dude, ever hear of Craigslist > I put an ad for a groundperson/roof cleaning trainee, and within 2 hours, I had to end the ad! I had literally 35 applicants. I asked for a resume when applying, and you would not believe the qualifications of people out of work!

Often, you have to pay groundspeople under the table, many have child support  problems,  and some are collecting unemployment or disability even, and a paycheck can mess them up.

 

Dude, ever hear of Craigslist > I put an ad for a groundperson/roof cleaning trainee, and within 2 hours, I had to end the ad! I had literally 35 applicants. I asked for a resume when applying, and you would not believe the qualifications of people out of work!

Often, you have to pay groundspeople under the table, many have child support  problems,  and some are collecting unemployment or disability even, and a paycheck can mess them up.

I get sick a lot and when I need a ground man, that's what I do too. I have for the last 3-4 years, when I couldn't work. Like I had said earlier, I've had more bad ground men than bad sprinklers. One of the guys I hired -the best hired worker- robbed one of my customers and disappeared. { She did owe me $60 so he told her I owed $60 to him } and talked her into writing him a check. He added a 3 in front and cashed it for $360. The bank agreed the teller should have caught that and it didn't cost her $ just wrecked her nerves for a while! Another-also a good worker- said he hurt his back on my job and I had to pay him, not to turn me in for hiring him, without workers comp. That got ugly and we almost fought-even though I was 63 and he was 30. There most certainly are guys you can get on the spot on CL cheap, but you never know when you are getting a crook or a guy wanting to live off of you, because you didn't pay WC on him. In a pinch, I will do it again, but boy am I cautious now! That's still no protection. Charlie said he was set with being ready to hire anyone and automatically put them on his payroll-THAT IS SAFE [except for a crook who robs a customer] but I am just a father and son business, so there's nothing I have to cover him on. I assume many of us-like you Chris- are not prepared to hire a guy for a day or 2 off CL etc and fully cover them-above the table. The fact is, the risk involved is great, even though the cost is cheap. The real danger of getting hurt watering plants is almost zilch, but anyone can say "I hurt my back picking up the hose or I tripped on your chemical hose, yada yada yada. The fully legit way, still has an element of danger, as these guys waiting for a $10 an hour job to pop up [there are plenty, in a few hours I have to stop my CL help wanted ads too and I'm not near a big city, because I have 10 replies] can not be expected to be a high % of real honest working men. Most are permanent "between jobs" drinkers or dopers, or guys who live off of their wife/girlfriends.

I have been pretty sick now for a month and hired 2 different guys. The 1st one my son said, spent most of his time in the truck on the cell phone or smoking cigarettes under a shade tree and he got sick of yelling for him. I ended up with "top" plant damage on that job and had to go back myself while sick and use a hedge trimmer to get rid of the brown and water for a half hour, to be sure it was solved! The 2nd one was similar in workmanship, but every day he had to get done work after a couple of hours for every reason under the sun-after 4 days of work, he told my son to tell me he was moving away. I just ran into him[2 weeks later] and he ain't moved. We didn't speak of it, just "hey how ya doin" Another guy I had for 1 day, came back to my customer after work-an old lady -late 80's-who's husband had died that month and told her that while working there with me, that he noticed her house needed painting badly. Without calling me, she hired him. I found out later his price started out at $2000.00 + paind and ended up at almost $5000.00. She talked to me about it AFTER he was done and gone. I checked the house and he had painted 2 walls and her pool deck. I called him and he said "The rest looked pretty good already" I threatened to call the cops on him and he "reminded me" that I had hired him under the table, so there would be trouble for both of us. I've had other, less interesting situations with these "hire a ground man for a day" people, but you get the point. If you can do it like Charlie does and not have the legal worries [except a guy who just wants enough time to collect unemployment off of you] then that's great. Those of us who need a guy on rare occasions are playing with fire every time!

Chris, you must have had some of this kind of stuff happen through the years? Got any stories?

Charlie, maybe you can help and tell us how much it costs and what all you have to do, to be set up legit at all times, to hire a guy now and then?

[Bergman Roof Cleaning]

PS: If this discussion is open to the public, I suggest it be moved.

[Apple Roof Cleaning (813) 655-8777]

PS: If this discussion is open to the public, I suggest it be moved.

There is no closed sections of this forum right now, but I am seriously thinking about making one or two of them, for members ONLY! 

[Central Iowa Roof Cleaning]

Nothing better than a good ground person. I have been through 5 of them and ended up with my better half best ground person I ever had.

I did the days by myself and never again. We do mostly cedar which requires a lot more solution and thus much opportunity for over spray.

[Advantage Roof Cleaning]

I use a ground man for nearly every job. On occasion I will do a job myself if the roof is flat so I can walk on it and have the garden hose on the roof with me. That way if there is over spray I can quickly re-wet the ground while on the roof. A ground man is cheap insurance against damage to the landscaping and the property especially with stained wood siding. Also my ground man helps in setting up and cleaning up to shorten the job time. The ground man also serves as a safety buddy. In some regards the ground man has a more important job that the spray technician. If a spot is missed on the roof, you can always go back and hit it again. But if you kill the grass or landscaping or worse, bleach stained wood, re-watering it will do no good.

[Bergman Roof Cleaning]

Nothing better than a good ground person. I have been through 5 of them and ended up with my better half best ground person I ever had.

I did the days by myself and never again. We do mostly cedar which requires a lot more solution and thus much opportunity for over spray.

This is a large part of the problem with a ground man. Bruce went through 5 and now, like me, is just a family business.

The job of ground man, is not likely to be a big money maker, so for "most" guys, it will be temporary and they will not give it their "all" So, you have a lot of constant hiring, firing, quitting, advertising for another guy, training - on and on. That's why I decided to stay small, so my son and I can do it all. When I can't make it, we use some tarps and high quality sprinklers very successfully.

Now that our rain season is here, it will be a piece of cake, not harming a plant.

[Apple Roof Cleaning (813) 655-8777]

This is a large part of the problem with a ground man. Bruce went through 5 and now, like me, is just a family business.

The job of ground man, is not likely to be a big money maker, so for "most" guys, it will be temporary and they will not give it their "all" So, you have a lot of constant hiring, firing, quitting, advertising for another guy, training - on and on. That's why I decided to stay small, so my son and I can do it all. When I can't make it, we use some tarps and high quality sprinklers very successfully.

Now that our rain season is here, it will be a piece of cake, not harming a plant.

I have been a 'big roof cleaning company' and once ran 4 trucks! All it did was make me chew off my nails, and shit blood.

Now, I am happy to say, we are a FAMILY company! I have family employees who actually give a dam about saving plants! 

My advice is to stay small, and do quality work.