I've been on many large jobs where technicians were using quart-sized, hand pump sprayers as a means of chemical application. When I say that and picture it in my minds eye, it sounds crazy, right? In this post, I'd like to cover the ideas and options for coordinating application equipment with job size, for best efficiency and profitability. Hopefully, like we've done for PPE and product selection, this blog will lead to another selection guide to assist your supervisors and technicians in preparing for jobs so that you don't unknowingly suffer from inefficiencies that seem to be common place in our industry.
Small Jobs
I think of small jobs as tasks that are confined to less than 20-30 square feet in total. Think of things like the water leak under a sink where mold has formed on a couple joists, and maybe the inside of the cabinet, but it hasn't spread to the point that you're ripping out cabinets to expose 100 square feet or more of sub-flooring and/or flood cutting the walls to initiate drying procedures (that's probably more like a medium sized job). Another example of a small job is what we're doing with Severity Indexing. We're pre-testing one square foot areas of substrate to confirm products and procedures as a means of quality control, budget and the fulfillment of customer expectations.
The thought process behind what defines a small job and the small scale equipment used is:
Is a handheld trigger sprayer (or similar) the most efficient tool for the job?
Would something larger than a trigger sprayer require more time due to preparation and cleanup than the trigger sprayer?
Would using something larger than a trigger sprayer likely lead to more product waste or overuse?
If the answer to these questions is YES, then the job you're looking at is a small job and the right tool for chemical application is a trigger sprayer.
Now while we're talking about trigger sprayer and tools in general, let's go ahead and say that there can be huge differences in quality from one trigger sprayer to the next, just as there's a world of difference between store bought pump sprayers and our famous Heavy Duty Pump Sprayers. A great trigger sprayer is chemically resistant to acids, alkalis and oxidizers to maximize longevity, while providing great control at the nozzle to move from a stream to a mist. That's why we recommend using our proven Quart Sprayers. They come to you with our color-coded labels to prevent confusion on the job and to meet OSHA labeling requirements.
Medium Sized Jobs
As you might guess from how I've defined small jobs, medium sized jobs range from 30 square feet up to around 500 square feet. These are the water line leaks that have wicked to a couple hundred square feet of sub-flooring where you're flood cutting walls and tearing out cabinets to expose everything for extraction and drying but you need to quickly clean (REACT|EXTRACT™) the surfaces first.
From a fire damage perspective, this is the fire that was confined and extinguished quickly but that nevertheless lead to the need for soot and odor cleanup with a combination of Heavy Duty Pump Sprayers or Foamers, Premira fast wipe-downs, and probably a single station Dutrion fumigation to eliminate the smoke odor.
The thought process behind what defines a medium-sized job and the medium scale equipment used is:
Is a pump sprayer or foamer the most efficient tool for the job?
Would something larger than a pump sprayer or foamer require more time due to preparation and cleanup than the pump sprayer or foamer?
Would using something larger than a pump sprayer or foamer likely lead to more product waste or overuse?
If the answer to these questions is YES, then the job you're looking at is a medium-sized job and the right tool for chemical application is a pump sprayer or foamer.
Just as there are differences in quality with trigger sprayers, there are massive differences and quality and efficiency when it comes to pump sprayers and foamers including:
A great pump sprayer or foamer is chemically resistant to acids, alkalis and oxidizers to maximize longevity, while providing great control at the nozzle to move from a stream to a mist.
When it comes to control, a great pump sprayer offers selectable nozzle sizes to adjust both fan width and output, while the pump foamer offers selectable waddings and tips sizes to control both output and fan width.
A great pump sprayer or foamer offers replacement parts for every part of the sprayer or foamer unit to maximize longevity while minimizing cost.
That's why we recommend choosing our Heavy Duty Pump Sprayers and Pump Foamers (available as pump only or dual powered units). Not only are the units robust but they meet every criteria outlined above. They come to you with our color-coded labels to prevent confusion on the job and to meet OSHA labeling requirements.
Large Jobs
Large jobs start at around 500 square feet in size and go up from there. Like the small and mid-sized job, large jobs are characterized by how efficient the equipment is as compared to the job. Whereas set up and clean up are factors that inhibit the use of powered equipment on small and mid-sized jobs, implementing powered equipment on large jobs eliminates the inefficiency of hand-pressurization and adds benefits like quick connections, hose length, various lance sizes, dual and quad couplers and the ability to stage equipment outside the work space. If you have questions on these efficiency accessories, check out the BTM Electric Spray System page for visuals and explanations.
As far as job types where employing larger scale powered equipment makes sense, now we're talking about crawl space mold remediations, basement floods, attic or whole home fire damages, etc. In other words, the small inefficiency of equipment set up and cleanup is far and away offset by the productivity gained in the cleaning process. That's where testimonials like this are born:
"After years of utilizing Enviroguard products we finally decided to make the investment in the BTM electric spray system. With an upcoming 3,400 square foot crawlspace remediation project, we thought it would be a good opportunity to do so. A project that would normally take approximately 32 man-hours to perform, was completed in 5 man-hours. Our employees loved BTM sprayer; it was easy to use and easy to clean."
That's what good planning and equipment coordination does for you.
For consistency, let's nail down parameters of equipment selection for large jobs:
Is powered equipment the most efficient tool for the job?
Do the additional accessories offered by the selection of powered equipment multiply your productivity?
Would something smaller than the powered equipment inhibit your efficiency considering the set up and cleanup time involved?
If the answer to these questions is YES, then your job is large and will benefit from large, powered equipment.
Before we get to equipment recommendations, lets dial into one more detail: low pressure vs high pressure equipment.
Rules of thumb:
Low viscosity chemicals should be applied by low pressure sprayers. Low viscosity chemicals include:
Cleaners
Antimicrobials
Stain Removers
Water-thin Sealants
High viscosity chemicals should be applied by high pressure sprayers. High viscosity chemicals include:
Paints
Encapsulants
Waterproofers
Heavy sealants
Elastomerics
Low Pressure Application Equipment for Large Jobs - The BTM Spray System was built for efficiency. It includes two diaphragm pumps that can each run up to three PSG guns and everything is quick connected together. The PSG guns are quick connected to your choice of 6" through 79" lances to make reach in confined spaces and overheads easy. Since temps, surface porosity, and soil load load can vary throughout a job, a range of spray tips are organized into a color-coded coupler to eliminate waste time wrenching and losing nozzles.
The other side of Large jobs is the equipment used for extraction (soil load removal). In small and mid-sized jobs we spoke about the use of towels and Premira to facilitate soil load removal, for large jobs we're going to prioritize vacuum extraction by means of either a free-standing unit or truck mount.
High Pressure Application Equipment for Large Jobs - Last year we became a Titan Equipment Dealer. Like the low pressure BTM Spray System, the range of Titan Airless Equipment provides a wide range of accessories that enhance efficiency which we can walk you through. When selecting the right airless unit, you'll want to take into consideration:
The number of hours of use per year (approx)
The range of viscosities begin sprayed
The number of guns that can be operated at one time
We can help you with all of these and guide you to the perfect Titan Airless Unit and accessories for your operation.
Hopefully this blog post was helpful in illustrating just how important equipment planning and selection is to efficiency, quality control, and ultimately the meeting of your and your customer's expectations. Support and training are foundational to our company, so if you have questions, don't hesitate to contact us. We're always happy to make time for one-on-one, live support. Call us at 828-548-3900 or if you're a little shy, start by sending us an email at info@enviroguarddirect.com.
Equipment mentioned in this post
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