Cleaning The Nguyen House in South Orlando
Good things come to those who wait.
I originally met Mrs. Nguyen in early December but it seemed as if fate were intervening to prevent our estimate. Catastrophic tire failure and the ensuing stress of dealing with this issue delayed our expected meeting time. Mrs. Nguyen was very understanding and patient and allowed us to reschedule for the next day. This was a great relief to me personally as safely transporting the vehicle to a store that had the tires we needed in stock and the means to change them on such a heavy vehicle was no easy task. These are the occupational hazards of owning such equipment; the costs are substantial, but the effort required to lessen the loss in productivity is the real killer. Anyone who struggles to understand the cost of services needs to look no further than an overhead that includes multiple forms of insurance, labor, chemicals, equipment, maintenance, and training. But I digress.
Once we finally had the chance to meet Mrs. Nguyen proved to be one of the most prepared clients I’ve ever spoken with. She truly understands the ins and outs of her property, which was expertly and painstakingly maintained at a high level. It is a medium-sized light-colored stucco home with a traditional asphalt shingle roof that was black from Bacterial buildup. The actual color of the shingles was not apparent from just looking at them. The apparent color ranged from black to dark gray. Mrs. Nguyen assumed that gray was the color of the roof and wanted it to look the same all over. I informed her that it was probably an entirely different color as this roof had not been cleaned since long before her recent purchase of the home.
Property Washing Walkthrough
During the walk through of her property, she went over the specifics of what she wanted to be cleaned. The front and back driveway was composed of pavers and covered in yellow mold and weeds. The aforementioned roof needed a full cleaning as well as the windows and stucco. All surfaces were covered in various forms of organic buildup: spiderwebs, bee hives, molds, lichens, algae, pollen, and dirt to name a few. The ever-present gloeocapsa magma bacteria that produces black streaks were everywhere. There were several challenges to completing this job that she wanted me to be aware of. The first issue was the 10 security cameras on the property which she was very concerned about protecting. There was also the issue of the windows themselves, which were a much older model with years of wear on them. Her concerns were that too much pressure would damage the windows or chemicals and water would fry her electronics. I discussed the number of precautions that we could implement to protect her property, left her with an estimate, and wished her a good day.
Our Amazing Customer Service Sells itself
I heard back from Mrs. Nguyen a week later and she informed me that she decided to go with our company over the others she obtained estimates. This was largely due to my assurances to her that we would protect her home and maintain good communication with her during the process. We booked the job for just before Christmas then fate intervened once more. Bad weather crept up on us and forced us to postpone until after the holiday. Once the cleaning day after Christmas finally arrived I was very motivated to complete this job, and do it well, before anything else came along to delay us. I don’t believe in superstition but maybe it believes in me. At any rate, Joe and I arrived ready to work.
Once the job started I wanted to give Mrs. Nguyen zero reason for concern and aimed to prove our thoroughness. Joe spent the first 90 minutes of the job watering every single plant on her property, every single blade of grass, to protect it from any possible chemical over-spray later. During this watering, I went to every single camera with a ladder, blue painter’s tape, and plastic bags and wrapped each of them. During the cleaning we never directly sprayed the bags either per her instructions; this was an extra precaution taken to be safe. When a client tells you multiple times that they have a concern, taking that concern seriously is a big part of the job. It’s their property. As a contractor, I may be financially responsible for my work and the repercussions of ignoring advice, but they are the ones stuck living in the middle of a mistake if it happens. On the positive side, I LOVE having the opportunity to show a client how much I care; the extra steps taken to show our professionalism, personal accountability, and the pride we take in what we do.
Driveway, Pavers, and Roof Cleaning
The job had its challenges once the cleaning started. One side of the home had poor drainage that had to be accounted for. Many potted plants need to be moved multiple times to clean under and around them. The pavers on the driveway were littered with weeds that required pressure washing to remove. Some things went exceptionally well, such as cleaning the roof on one pass and discovering that the actual color of the shingles was light brown. The before and after photos illuminate this difference better than words ever could. It’s amazing to see the transformation that a truly dirty roof will have almost immediately. This process is so effective and works so quickly. Once the chemical interactions have begun, you can see the color change in seconds. Once you wash it all away and let it dry it sinks in again that you have transformed this home. Only a new roof produces a better result, at 20x the cost and time commitment.
After the job was done we spent some time on cleanup, removing the blue tape and bags, then returning potted plants to their original positions. While packing up the equipment we also took the time to wash the plants with our unique plant wash, which fertilizes the soil while neutralizing any residual bleach. This is an essential step in the process, as it ensures that the cleaning is strong enough to be effective without causing plant damage. This allows me to offer a 100% plant guarantee, where as long as I follow my process plant damage is almost impossible. A job like this goes to show that attention to detail, combined with the effort to see the job through to completion without cutting any corners, is essential. Lots of operators have the proper equipment or chemicals to get the job done, and may even have the relative experience; what sets my company apart is near surgical attention to detail and unwillingness to compromise on quality.
