Pressure Washing Owners
Attention: pressure washing & exterior cleaning company owners
Winter slows your rig down. Restaurant kitchens never stop cooking.
Pressure Washing Owners: Turn the Restaurants on Your Route Into Year-Round, Recurring Hood Cleaning Accounts
Austin Davis runs a power washing company in Austin, Texas. He says he added 45 restaurants in about six months, and some of the first ones had only called him to wash their walkways. Samuel McGuffin started with "one truck, one pressure washer, one certification." He says he cleared over $100,000 in hood cleanings in his first six months. Watch the 89-second video. Then scroll down and see EXACTLY how they did it.
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Austin Davis, power washing owner, Austin, TX. Tap play: 89 seconds.
Our Founder's Top 4 Student Stories. Watch One and You'll See Why
Four owners. Four different starting points. One thing in common: they got trained, they got certified, and they went to WORK. These are the four stories Chris Daskalakis put on the front page of our website. Press play on ANY of them.
From "Just a Guy With a Truck" to the Keys to Over 50 Restaurants
"We have a box in our hallway behind me that has keys to over 50 restaurants."
Samuel McGuffin, Hood Professionals
"I'm in the Right Place, Right Time and the Right School"
"as a one person uh business I have I have a very stable clients with a stable income"
Konstantin Vinogradov
First-Time Business Owner. 45 Clients in 8 Months
"My clients call other clients because we are doing a really, really gorgeous job"
Zozan, Canada
From No Customers to 120+ and a Hospital Contract
"We've gone from no customers to over 120 customers."
Raymond Robinson, Titan Tech Sleeve
Their results, reported in their own words. Not a promise of yours. Your market and your work decide yours.
It's January and the Phone Hasn't Rung in a Week. Here's What Austin Went Hunting For
Picture it. The rig is clean. The trailer is parked. The phone hasn't rung for a house wash in a week. Driveways can wait until spring. Decks can wait. But your crew CAN'T wait. And neither can your truck payment.
Austin Davis knows that month. In his words:
"in next year cleaning space you kind of you know everyone has winters um whether you know slower times we'll call it."
Austin Davis
So Austin and his partner went hunting for work that doesn't care what the weather is doing:
"we really wanted reoccurring commercial work and then it just became like how do we get that you know do we find reoccurring uh power washing work? Do we find reoccurring window work? like where can we find that?"
Austin Davis
Now here's the part most pressure washing owners NEVER think about. The answer was already on his route. It was inside the restaurants he drove past every single day. Right above the stove.
Austin's company already did commercial window cleaning and power washing. Here's how he sees the hood work:
"But this just adds another sector of value to your business, right?"
Austin Davis
And it's not a one-time job. Austin explains the difference:
"it's one thing to do one job and do it once and then you may or may not ever see that customer ever again."
Austin Davis
A restaurant hood is the OPPOSITE. The kitchen cooks tonight. Tomorrow. The night after that. Summer, winter, holidays. The grease comes back. So the work comes back.
Every Restaurant on Your Route Has a Grease Problem. And a Second Enforcer Most Owners Never See Coming
Walk into any restaurant kitchen at 9 p.m. The fryers are still hot. The flat-top is still smoking. Every bit of that smoke gets pulled up into the stainless hood, through the ducts, and out a fan on the roof.
The grease rides along with it. It coats the filters. Then the hood. Then the ductwork. Thick. Amber. Sticky. And here is the scary part: grease BURNS.
That's why commercial kitchen exhaust systems fall under a fire-safety standard called NFPA 96. It covers the hood, the ducts and the fans. Some kitchens are inspected every month. Others every three months, every six months, or every year. And the local fire department enforces it.
But the fire marshal isn't the enforcer restaurant owners should worry about most. Chris Daskalakis, founder of MFS Trade School, explains who is:
"no matter what jurisdiction and state you're in, the one entity that will always enforce the NFPA is the insurance companies of those restaurants. And if the restaurant owners don't know this, that inside their policy it says that they must abide by local, national, and NFPA codes, then if there's a fire, the insurance company is not going to pay that claim."
Chris Daskalakis
Read that again. Break the code, and the insurance company may not pay the claim. THAT is why restaurant owners can't ignore this. And THAT is why this work doesn't stop when the weather turns.
Now think about the SIZE of this. According to the National Restaurant Association, there are more than 1,000,000 restaurant and foodservice locations in the United States. And restaurants are only the beginning. School cafeterias. Hospitals. Hotels. If they cook with grease, they can have the same need.
8 Minutes and 31 Seconds That Show What You're Leaving on the Table Every Time You Drive Past a Restaurant
We made ONE video that puts the whole opportunity on the table. The grease that never stops. The kitchens that never close. The inspections that are already on the calendar. Fair warning: once you see it, you will never look at a restaurant on your route the same way again.
Watch for the moment it all adds up to "a MASSIVE recurring business opportunity hiding in plain sight." Then ask yourself one question: who is cleaning the hoods on YOUR route right now? Because every month you wait, somebody else is.
And when you do the job right, your next visit is already on the calendar. Christopher Carr, who owns a window washing business, explains:
"Once you clean them once and you do a good job and you give them a price, like your hood sticker that you put on the hood when you finish says when they when you're coming back."
Christopher Carr
THAT is the difference between your driveway customers and a restaurant. One calls you when they remember. The other has your next visit PRINTED on its hood.
45 Restaurants in About 6 Months. Wait Until You See Where Austin Found the First Ones
Austin Davis isn't a hood cleaner who got lucky. He's a power washing guy. Like you. Residential, commercial, "all the typical exterior cleaning niches." He got his MFS certification in late February. By late March his crew was, in his words, "boots on ground."
Then he says something that should stop you scrolling:
"We've added 45 restaurants in the last like six months."
Austin Davis
FORTY-FIVE restaurants. In about six months. From a company that was already busy washing everything else.
Hard to believe? Fair. You don't have to believe it yet. Austin tells it himself, on camera, in the video below. And the number isn't even the best part. The best part is WHERE those restaurants came from. It's not where you'd guess. He reveals it at 2:56.
Watch the whole thing. It's 7 minutes and 32 seconds, and it's the closest you'll get to riding in Austin's truck and asking him how it REALLY went.
- 0:19 "We've added 45 restaurants in the last like six months."
- 1:29 Why he went looking: winter and the search for recurring commercial work
- 2:56 The walkway calls that turned into hood cleaning accounts
- 3:30 The lunch trick that gets him in front of the manager
- 4:26 "I knew nothing"
- 5:23 His warning to anyone who thinks they can just wing it
- 6:50 How a hands-on learner got through the online course
His advice, after six months in:
"if you're going to do it, do it the right way. Go through a good training course where you can get certified. Obviously, MFS is great."
Austin Davis
Austin's results are his own, reported in his words. Your market and your work decide yours.
The Customers Who Called Him to Wash Their Walkways. And What Two of Them Asked For Next
Here's the payoff from 2:56. A few restaurants called Austin's company to pressure wash their walkways. Nothing special. Then:
"Like two of those restaurants actually turned into hood cleaning."
Austin Davis
The rest he found by walking in. Not with a flyer. With LUNCH:
"we walk in there, it gives us an excuse to have a little lunch meeting for the day and then we we go for the ask to talk to the manager and more than half the time to my surprise it's been man we've never been happy with our hood guy. We the guy never shows up. It never looks good."
Austin Davis
Read that last line again. The guy never shows up. That's your competition. You already run a business that shows up. That's HALF the sale, before you've sprayed a single hood.
The Hospital That Asked a Window Cleaner a Question That Changed His Off-Season
Christopher Carr owns a window washing business. He wasn't looking for a new trade. A customer handed it to him:
"Following our yearly window cleaning for the local hospital here, we got asked if we knew somebody who cleaned kitchen hoods."
Christopher Carr
He called Chris at MFS. And Chris did NOT promise him the moon. Christopher remembers the call:
"he said, 'Well, I can't tell you you're going to succeed 100%. But if you put the work in and you learn to do it right, there's money to be made.' So, I pulled the trigger"
Christopher Carr
So what happened next? In Christopher's words:
"we did about I'd say maybe around 60 70,000 in hood cleaning. As far as the number of clients that we've received since, you know, getting certified, probably around 40 50 customers, and every single one is a repeat customer."
Christopher Carr
And this one HITS HARD for every exterior cleaning owner reading this:
"We're busy during our window cleaning season. We're busy during our off season."
Christopher Carr
And why the work keeps coming back:
"If you do a good job, they have no reason not to call you."
Christopher Carr
Watch for: 0:00 his numbers, 0:43 the hospital ask, 3:29 the job where he was "way out of my depth" and what Chris did about it.
Why an Owner of Five SERVPRO Locations Calls This "a Business Inside of a Business"
Benjamin Weaver runs five SERVPRO locations in central Pennsylvania. Same story, BIGGER scale. His customers kept asking:
"we were approached about, you know, whether we could do the hood range cleaning. And after looking into it, um, realizing that you really needed specialized training and, uh, a level of certification and knowledge that we just didn't possess"
Benjamin Weaver
He got certified in August 2023. He says a dozen or so clients now use his company for this service alone, and it opened doors with companies that had NEVER hired him before. His summary:
"There is doors to be open with this service that you can enter is a business inside of a business."
Benjamin Weaver
Watch for: 1:07 "Where should I price this?" and 2:05 the phone calls with Chris "while I was literally on roof."
A Cleaning Company in Puerto Rico Went From 8 to 10 Clients to About 40. In 3 to 4 Months
Tanya runs the office at a kitchen cleaning company in San Juan. Before the certification, she says, restaurants kept them at the door. Then:
"Before the certification, it was very difficult for people to say, 'Hey, yes, come and clean.' We went from having anywhere between 8 to 10 clients to in a period of three or four months, we had about 40."
Tanya, kitchen cleaning company, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Same company. Same crew. The certification is what changed the answer from "no" to "yes, come and clean."
And one more owner, from a Google review. Jose Rivera, New Jersey:
"gave me the confidence needed to tackle this addition service to our pressure washing business in New Jersey with peace of mind."
Jose Rivera, Google review
Their numbers, not a promise. Your market and your work decide yours.
"Just a Guy With a Truck and a Pressure Washing Company"? Samuel Turned That Into the Keys to Over 50 Restaurants
This story starts on the OTHER side of the counter. Samuel McGuffin and his business partner owned a restaurant. Their hoods needed cleaning. So they did what every restaurant owner does. They called someone. Samuel tells it:
"it was like pulling teeth finding somebody to come in. They were like, 'Yeah, we'll come in. Uh $2,700.' I'm like, 'We have a 4ft hood.'"
Samuel McGuffin
One quote. One four-foot hood. And instead of paying it, they asked a dangerous question: what if WE were the ones sending that quote?
They had no idea where to start. Samuel doesn't hide it:
"We had no idea how to do it. Like we were completely like deer in headlights."
Samuel McGuffin
"we were so scared cuz we're like, we're throwing our money away."
Samuel McGuffin
They found MFS. They got certified. They opened Hood Professionals in June 2023. And what happened next, in Samuel's own words:
"By December, we had already cleared over $100,000 in hood cleanings in the first six months. For a new business, that's insane."
Samuel McGuffin
Now here is where this gets REALLY good. Samuel says the first six months were only the start:
"that if you look at the number for a new business that started with no foundation, one truck, one pressure washer, one certification, six months, $100,000. And that's insane. Times it by seven is what we did last year in hood."
Samuel McGuffin, Hood Professionals
One truck. One pressure washer. One certification. Sound familiar? You ALREADY have the truck and the pressure washer.
And this one is for YOU. Samuel talks straight to pressure washing owners:
"You know, if you're just doing pressure washing jobs now and you're thinking about getting into this industry, I'll tell you that like you go from being just a guy with a truck and a pressure washing company to a legitimized business that holds the keys to millions of dollars worth of restaurants and responsibility for operations."
Samuel McGuffin, Hood Professionals
And it makes your pressure washing business look bigger, too:
"If you take this on and actually make it a part of your life and you're and you're like, okay, we're going to also do hoods and restaurants and clean restaurants and provide this commercial service, it that much more gives confidence when somebody calls you for a softwash."
Samuel McGuffin, Hood Professionals
Why Restaurants Pay That Kind of Money (It's Not What You Think)
It isn't because the work is glamorous. It's because the restaurant owner is buying something a squeegee can't give him: a trained professional whose work has to stand up to the fire marshal's inspection AND to his insurance company. Samuel puts it this way:
"The customer is going to pay for white glove service if you offer white glove service. But if you're a guy in a pickup truck who shows up and is like, I'm going to slap a sticker on this thing and wipe it out and, you know, spray a half butt and get out of here, you know, yeah, you can charge $400. But those people are not maintaining customer relationships."
Samuel McGuffin, Hood Professionals
Most restaurant owners can't find anyone reliable. Samuel learned it from the customer's side. Austin heard it from the managers he met at lunch. That gap is your opening. A certified company that shows up and does it right.
Watch for: 0:00 the $2,700 quote, 0:52 "Times it by seven", 5:49 white glove vs. the guy in a pickup truck, 8:15 his message to pressure washing owners.
And Samuel in 37 seconds:
A note on the $2,700 and the $400: those were one quote and one example, not typical prices and not what you'll charge. Pricing depends on the hood, the ducts, the access and the market, and we teach you how to price each job.
Samuel's numbers are his company's own sales, reported in his words. Not a promise of yours.
The Hood. The Appliances. Then the Nightly Cleaning. Watch How Konstantin Grows His Restaurant Customers
Here is the part that turns a hood customer into a BIG customer. Konstantin Vinogradov got certified in hood cleaning AND appliance cleaning. Now he walks into a restaurant with more than one answer:
"But, the thing is with a hood and appliance, I'm able to offer a package deal for the restaurants and I can kind of like be a one-shop solution for a lot of things that the restaurant need to be done."
Konstantin Vinogradov
And then a restaurant client asked for MORE:
"I picked up another client that I'm uh so uh another client 6 months ago. So, I've been doing them And now they are hiring me to do a janitorial work."
Konstantin Vinogradov
Hood. Appliances. Nightly cleaning. That is how a route gets valuable. And it's why we teach more than hoods: cooking appliance cleaning, nightly restaurant janitorial and pizza oven cleaning, so one restaurant can become MULTIPLE services.
Konstantin's results are his own, reported in his words.
You Already Know How to Spray. Here Are 5 Mistakes That Can Cost You the Account on Night One
You're probably thinking: I've got the rig. I've got the hot water. I've cleaned WORSE than a hood. Fair. You're closer than almost anyone. But listen to Austin, who had been power washing for six years, talk about walking into a restaurant kitchen:
"anyone can get a squeegee and attempt to go clean a window, but if you're going to do this, you can't just walk into a restaurant, obviously, without certifications, without training, and attempt to do this. you could blow up the kitchen, right?"
Austin Davis
Here's what changes when the job is over a cooking line instead of a driveway.
Mistake #1: The wrong machine. In our hands-on training, the instructor shows a spin jet that won't even turn on a weak machine: "Anything below 4,000 PSI and this spin jet will not spin." Christopher Carr bought the hot-water pressure washer with the diesel burner that we sell and says "it is perfect."
Mistake #2: The wrong chemistry. Benjamin Weaver thought he had it covered:
"I said, 'I think I have strong enough chemical.' He's like, 'Nope.' I said, 'What's the He said, 'What's the pH on your chemicals?' I told him. He's like, that's not even close."
Benjamin Weaver
Mistake #3: A flooded kitchen. The water and grease can't end up on the cooking line or the floor. Eddie, who owns Southernmost Pressure Washing in Key West, says the hands-on class taught him how to "funnel and drape over uh restaurant equipment uh clean up everything from start to finish."
Mistake #4: Tripping the fire-suppression system. Every hood sits on top of one. A student who pressure washes at night said the most important thing he learned was making sure he doesn't trip the fusible link:
"I don't trip that [fusible] link and, you know, ruin my business. I mean, if that happens once, who's going to call you?"
Pressure Washing Student
Mistake #5: A bad bid. Austin came to us wanting to know "how to price based on what it is you were cleaning, like the amount of hoods." Every kitchen is different. A bad bid is money you never get back.
None of this is hard once someone SHOWS you. All of it is expensive to learn on a customer's kitchen. That's exactly what we teach.
Stuck on a Roof With a Problem You've Never Seen? Every Owner on This Page Made the Same Call
Here's what nobody tells you about a certificate: the real test starts AFTER class. On a real job. With a real problem. And every owner on this page tells the same story. They got stuck. They called Chris. He picked up.
Samuel says it better than we can:
"Or if you have a question, the best part about Chris is you can call him and he will tell you the answer."
Samuel McGuffin, Hood Professionals
Christopher Carr ran into a piece of equipment he'd NEVER seen:
"We had never done a pollution control unit, never come across it. I came across it and was like, 'Holy cow, I'm way out of my depth. I have no idea what I'm doing.' Called Christos. Hey, what do you know about pollution control units? Okay, send me the model number and I'll tell you exactly how to do it."
Christopher Carr
Benjamin Weaver runs five locations and still made the call from the job:
"I've had many one-on-one phone conversations while I was literally on roof with uh the owner of MFS Trade School, Chris, and uh he has been very helpful. Most owners of large companies don't make themselves available like that."
Benjamin Weaver
Scott was already NFPA 96 certified when he called. Here's what ONE call was worth to him, from his Google review:
"because of his advice, he saved me from loosing about $8000 on a job that I'm bidding."
Scott, Google review
And Paul Hemak, in his review:
"Christos gives you his personal number, him and his team are always there to give you advice and guidance"
Paul Hemak, Google review
Who's Actually Teaching You (Hint: They Do This Work)
- Our courses are taught by a retired government-bonded contractor and private fire inspector with 25 years of industry experience. When we teach NFPA 96, you learn from REAL fire-inspection work, not from memorized rules.
- Our assistant instructors work in hood cleaning or own hood cleaning businesses themselves.
- Since 2014, we have trained and certified more than 3,000 students, including pressure washers, window cleaners and janitorial owners.
The Trade, the Systems and the Business
- The whole exhaust system: hoods, filters, ducts, rooftop fans, access panels, hinge kits, grease pads, make-up air.
- How to protect the kitchen: plastic draping, funneling, working around the fire-suppression system.
- The business side: pricing, estimating, forms, digital inspections, bid proposals and public-entity bidding.
- How to sell it: talking to restaurant owners and managers, marketing, landing the first accounts.
- More services from the same kitchen: cooking appliance cleaning, nightly restaurant janitorial and pizza oven cleaning. One restaurant can become MULTIPLE services.
Two Ways In: Online Like Austin, or Hands-On in Sanford
- Hands-on, at our 4,000-square-foot facility in Sanford, Florida, on two fully working exhaust systems. Seats in each hands-on class are limited by the physical space in the facility, so ask your coach about the next class.
- Or online, the way Austin did it, with hours of close-up video. Austin calls himself a hands-on learner, and he says "it made it a lot easier and I felt a lot more comfortable going to my first job."
- Then one year of unlimited phone support and ongoing mentorship after class, with Chris AND our business coaches on the other end of the line. The certificate is NOT the finish line.
Don't Take Our Word for It. Hear What Happened Next, in Their Own Words
More owners. More real videos. Telling it their way. Press play on ANY of them.
More Owners, in Their Own Videos
Eddie owns a pressure washing company in Key West. He came to Sanford for the hands-on class.
He does commercial property maintenance by day and pressure washing at night.
Ángel says his customer base grew 35% to 40% after he got certified.
From Google Reviews (306 Reviews on Our Google Business Profile)
"I have owned and operated my business for 5+ years. Deciding to partner with Chris and MFS in the certification process was the best decision I've made since day 1."
Quality Hood and Duct LLC · Google review"The MFS Trade School has been a such a profitable asset as I continue to grow my business. Every time I am on a job and have questions or concerns, Christos (and everyone else at MFS) is quick to respond professionally to anything I have for them."
Brandon Rapitta · Google review"even after I got certified Christos has been there when I need him if I have a question or want help finding leads and government contracts he's always available to help find the lead and fill out the bidding sheet"
Carlos · Google review"They show you the ins and outs of the entire exhaust system so that you don't go into your first job blind"
Paul Hemak · Google review"MFS has helped grow our business from the training and experience passed along, to google SEO that helps optimize our online presence to reach potential clients."
Jonah Mathis, Hood Professionals LLC · Google review"I left feeling confident, ready to get started, and excited to build my business."
Alex Echevarria · Google review"the class material is important, but the person giving the class, is in many ways, more important."
Scott · Google reviewStop and look at what they just told you.
KEYS to over 50 restaurants.
8 to 10 clients, then about 40.
REPEAT customers.
BUSY in the off-season.
A call answered from a ROOF.
These are THEIR words.
The 9 Questions Pressure Washing Owners Ask Before They Call. Answered Straight
"Can I use the pressure washer I already have?"
Maybe, maybe not. Hood work needs hot water and enough pressure to drive the spin jets that clean inside ducts. In MFS training: "Anything below 4,000 PSI and this spin jet will not spin." Tell the coach what you run today and ask what you'd need to add.
"I don't have time to go back to school."
Austin took the online course. He says he finished it "in like two or three days" and passed his test with a 94. If you'd rather learn on real systems, the hands-on class in Sanford puts you on two working exhaust systems.
"Will this really fill my slow season?"
Restaurants cook all year, and cleaning is scheduled, not seasonal. Christopher Carr's company is "busy during our window cleaning season" and "busy during our off season." How much it fills yours depends on how many accounts you land.
"How do I get restaurants to hire me?"
Start with the ones you already serve. Austin's first accounts came from walkway customers and from walking in at lunch, asking for the manager, and listening. We also teach sales, marketing and how to talk to restaurant owners.
"Is it really recurring?"
Yes, that's the point. Austin: "if you can have them on a agreement type schedule, uh, not only covers your peaks and valleys, but it also adds value to your business". Christopher says every one of his 40 to 50 hood customers is a repeat customer.
"What if I get stuck on a job?"
You call. Every owner on this page did. One year of unlimited phone support comes after class, with Chris and our business coaches.
"Do I really need to be certified?"
Benjamin Weaver, after reading NFPA 96 himself: "It literally says that you need to be certified." Restaurants, schools and their insurers want to see it. Ask the coach which certification fits the work you want to do.
"What about liability?"
It's real, and it's why the training matters. You learn to protect the kitchen, avoid the fire-suppression system and document every job with photos and forms. Benjamin: "There's liability with this service… I would much rather have the training and the knowledge knowing what to do and what not to do".
"What does it cost?"
That depends on the course, online or hands-on, and the equipment you already own. A business coach will go through it with you on the phone, and that call is FREE. Financing is available.
Your Next Winter Can Look Different. Your FREE Call Starts It. The Next Yellow Highlight Could Be YOURS
You already have what most new hood cleaners have to buy or build: a truck, a rig, a crew that shows up, and commercial customers who trust you. What you're missing is the training, the certification, and someone to call when a job gets strange.
Now imagine this page a year from now, with that yellow highlight sweeping across YOUR words. Your restaurants. Your repeat customers. Your busy off-season.
It starts with one FREE call to a business coach. No cost. No pressure. Just call and the coach will guide you through it. Have these answers ready:
- What services you sell today, and roughly how many commercial customers you have.
- What equipment you run now.
- How many restaurants are already on or near your routes.
The coach will tell you which course fits, online or hands-on in Sanford, what equipment you would need to add, and how other pressure washing owners landed their first restaurant accounts. Financing is available.
One more thing. Hands-on seats are limited by the physical space in our Sanford facility. Ask the coach which class still has room.
Every month you wait, somebody else becomes the hood guy on your route. Maybe it's the guy who never shows up. Or maybe it's YOU.
If you hear a little voice saying, "I need to see what this could become for MY company," don't ignore it. Don't just watch somebody else's success story. Start exploring YOURS.
Call a Business Coach: (888) 793-7422
Rather we call you? Leave your name, phone, state and what you do now, and a coach will call you back.
Student results on this page are their own, reported in their own words. They are not typical results or a promise of yours. Your market, your pricing and your work decide your results.
P.S. Remember Austin's line about the managers he met at lunch: "we've never been happy with our hood guy. We the guy never shows up." Somewhere on your route there's a restaurant manager saying the SAME thing right now. Call (888) 793-7422 and find out how to be the one who shows up.
P.P.S. If you skipped ahead, scroll back up and watch Austin's 7-minute video first. Then call.