Good Neighbor Podcast for the Greater Chattanooga Region

Mastering Window Cleaning and Pressure Washing with Troy Regan

September 11, 2024 • Scott Howell

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Chapter Markers

  • 0:01
  • Local Business Spotlight
  • 9:52
  • Window Cleaning Techniques and Misconceptions
  • 21:12
  • Expert Window Cleaning and Pressure Washing
  • 26:55
  • Supporting Local Businesses in Chattanooga



Discover the entrepreneurial journey of Troy Regan, owner of Perfect Pain Window Cleaning and Pressure Washing, as he transitions from firefighter to business owner to support his family's homeschooling dreams. In our Good Neighbor Podcast episode, Troy opens up about starting his window cleaning career in high school, partnering with his father in California, and eventually moving to Chattanooga. His story is filled with dedication, family values, and the determination to build a successful business from the ground up.

Get an insider's look into the professional techniques behind window cleaning and pressure washing. Troy dispels common misconceptions and shares why high pressure isn't always the best solution for various surfaces. You'll learn about the critical role gallons per minute play in cleaning, the challenges posed by different types of glass, and how calcium from sprinklers can damage your windows. This segment is a treasure trove of practical advice for homeowners aiming to maintain their properties safely and effectively.

Finally, let's celebrate the importance of supporting local businesses in Chattanooga. Troy details the top-notch services his company offers, from window cleaning and concrete washing to holiday light installation, all delivered with meticulous care and professionalism. As host, I, Scott Howell, extend heartfelt thanks to our listeners and encourage everyone to support local businesses. Nominate your favorite local spots for future episodes, and remember, every day is an opportunity to make our community remarkable. Tune in for an episode filled with inspiration, practical tips, and a call to support our local economy.

https://www.perfectpanewc.com/

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Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Scott Howell.

Speaker 2:

Hello good neighbors, and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast for the greater Chattanooga region. My name is Scott Howell and I'm your host today. This program is brought to you by the Friends and Neighbors Group of the Chattanooga area as well. You know, a lot of people ask us what's the Good Neighbor podcast all about? What's your theme?

Speaker 2:

Well, we just have a desire to bring an awareness to the residents living in our communities regarding the locally owned and or operated businesses that are. You know the locally owned and or operated businesses that are, you know, that are operating right there in their neighborhoods or in the close proximity or maybe somewhere across the region. Just to let you know who is operating in your communities and your area, that, if you need their products and services, that you know who to reach out to. You know a lot of times we forget and, living in this day of corporate giants, we forget that you know, locally owned businesses are the backbone of our communities. We took all them away, there wouldn't be much left, and so we want to support them and do all we can to encourage you to support them as well.

Speaker 2:

Every local owned and operated business has a story to tell. Owned and operated business has a story to tell, and here at the Good Neighbor Podcast, we just want to help them to tell it loud and proud to all you good listeners out there. And today we've got one of our good neighbors with us. His name is Troy Regan and he is at Perfect Pain Window Cleaning and Pressure Washing. Troy, thanks for being on the program with us today.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, thank you Scott. Thank you Scott. Uh, uh, enjoy what you do and uh, uh, absolutely the backbone. Um, we're out there working hard and, uh, you know, trying to make a living and going, going above and beyond, um, you know, the normal eight to five.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. And and what y'all do is a wonderful service because, hey, just tell it like it is. There's a lot of us don't want to get out there when it's 100 degrees and pressure wash our house. Right, that's right. So, hey, troy, before we get into talking about the business part, is there anything you'd like to share with us regarding you and your family?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'm married to my beautiful wife, samantha Regan. We've got our first son. He's two and a half. I got into this business so she could stay home and raise him and homeschool him, so we're really just living the American dream on your son.

Speaker 2:

That's, that's a wonderful thing Getting to start a family and, uh, that's an awesome opportunity and and kudos to you for making a way that she could stay home and and and raise your child yourself, and kudos to her for being willing to do it. You know, having that desire to do it as well. So, uh, that's one thing that I had the opportunity of having a mother at home. So I know one of these days your children will appreciate it. Yep, they will appreciate that. Well, Troy, let's just dive into talking about perfect pain, window cleaning and pressure washing. What I want you to do is I want you to share with us not only your business and what you offer, but I want you to tell us about your journey, what brought you to this business, and just kind of tell us your whole story.

Speaker 3:

You got it, you got it. I'm 41 years old. I started cleaning windows in high school, so it's been, you know, over 20, 25 years. High school job cleaning windows had a bunch of friends doing it and one day my boss decided to come by and meet my parents. My dad owned a catering company at the time. He was a very successful entrepreneur and my window cleaning boss left his receipt book at our house when he was meeting them. And my dad looked through it and put two and two together and left the catering business and asked me if I would teach him how to clean windows. And I did, and he ran with it from there. And that's when Perfect Pain Window Cleaning was established, I believe 1991 in California, and me and my dad worked shoulder to shoulder for 10, 15 years Owner operator. We didn't get big, we didn't get corporate or franchise, we just went out every day and cleaned windows.

Speaker 3:

And in 2019, me and my wife decided to move from California to Chattanooga and on the drive out here I thought you know what? I don't want to clean windows anymore. I've been doing it a long time. I want to do something new. Uh, so I decided to get into the fire service and, uh got on with Katusa County fire department, uh, full time um for three years. And that's when, um, our son Jackson, was born in in 21. And she came to me and said you know, I really want to stay home, I want to raise her son. I don't, you know, I don't want him to be raised by other people going to school. And can we, you know, figure out how way to make this work?

Speaker 1:

And.

Speaker 3:

I thought, okay, because when we made the plan of life, it was her job and my job, and this is what we're going to do.

Speaker 3:

And I wasn't making a lot of money at the fire department and she was doing pretty good at her job, and I thought I don't know how we're going to. You know, uh, make this combined income work. And uh, it just dawned on me one day to start cleaning windows on the side, and so I I let my friends know and my first uh friend, jimmy, uh said, hey, you want to do our house? And did one, and it turned to another, and turned to another, and next thing I know, I was booked up and it came down to, you know, leaving the fire service, which I did leave in 21. And then we've been at it full time now. So that's a short version of the story.

Speaker 2:

Well, I guess a curiosity question. You said you came in 2019. Now recently, in the past few years, we've heard of a lot of folks moving to the Chattanooga area from California and different places, but we kind of know why the real estate market is driving a little bit of that. But what drove you and your wife to decide to move here?

Speaker 3:

I'd always enjoyed the outdoors, the forest, the less population, the creeks, the streams, and so when we came out to visit her family that lived in East Brainerd, I just fell in love with the outdoor stuff. And then the people you know, that southern hospitality, the fact that people, would you know, pull over on the side of the road when the hearse went down there was just a lot of good culture.

Speaker 3:

And we're coming from California. There was a lot of good people, but it just wasn't. It didn't feel like home. It didn't feel like somewhere we could settle down and raise children and have a lot of the same beliefs that I do believe the people out here in the South do believe in.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's great, we're glad to have you. We always like it when we hear people move across the country and they're kind of kin to our ways, you know.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're not to our ways, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

We're not looking to change, you know.

Speaker 3:

No, no, we're just getting in line and we're not. We're not. Transplants for refugees.

Speaker 2:

So your wife had family here. That was one of the things that helped you become familiar with this area, so that's, that's great. Well, so you know you talk about. You started cleaning windows on the side. How did the pressure washing come into it?

Speaker 3:

I actually went to work for a company, a local company here, and they did pressure washing and soft washing and so I learned, you know how to do it. And then when I started the company, I really wanted to have like a complete exterior cleaning services so we can come in and we can do clean all the windows, we can clean the driveways, do house washes, roof washes, you know the whole package deal. And so I think that's what really separates us apart from the other companies, because a lot of there's not a lot of companies that do both.

Speaker 2:

Well, and you mentioned that you and your dad started a company in California, but you're using the same name, right? So it was just kind of a perfect fit for you to cross over and bring the family name over to Tennessee, right?

Speaker 3:

Yep, yep, absolutely yeah, and he couldn't be more proud.

Speaker 2:

That's great, is he still?

Speaker 3:

in California. Yeah, they moved out here too. Oh, they moved here too.

Speaker 2:

Okay, Is your dad still involved in the business? Uh?

Speaker 3:

he just coaches me, you know, okay, all right.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's great. Nothing like having a good coach, right.

Speaker 3:

That's right, that's right.

Speaker 2:

So I want to ask you a little bit of something we experienced lately ourself. Of course, you know we didn't know about your company, but we didn't know about any of the companies at the time that we did this. But so we had a pressure washing experience when we hired somebody to come and pressure wash our house. And it was pretty obvious, when they left they didn't know what soft washing was. Uh, they, they damaged our home. Uh, could you kind of talk to us about that a minute? But just because my experience, I'm thinking it might be something that needs to be shared with other people.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so the first. The first thing is uh, people use the term pressure washing. We never want to put pressure on anything that's um softer or or that we put in so much money into. Everything on our home has some sort of coating on it, whether it's the vinyl siding, the gutters, um, you know, you name it. So we're not going to come in with pressure to try to clean something, because it's actually it's not the pressure that cleans, right.

Speaker 3:

A lot of times people will go to Home Depot, they'll get a pressure washer, they'll go home to start doing the concrete, and what they don't realize is they're not really cleaning the concrete. What they're actually doing is they're removing the top layer of it. Actually doing is they're removing the top layer of it. So what we do is we provide a product that we use that cleans the concrete or house or whatever it is, and then what's really getting into the cleaning process is our gallons per minute. And so with our machines, we're, we're running, you know 8, 12 gallon per minute machines, when most machines at home deep are only running you know 2.5 um, but everything to the clean wise.

Speaker 3:

We know what are we here to clean. Are we cleaning organic growth off the house, or does the customer have an oil stain in the driveway or is there a rust stains from the patio furniture? So everything we get into there has to be some sort of process. We're not just coming in with pressure to try to remove something because in the end it's going to be causing, it's going to cause damage.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, that's what happened on our house. They obviously used pressure on everything and knocked some of our siding off and knocked some of it loose, and it was bad. It was really bad. So thank you for sharing that with us, because I found out the hard way. That is important.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, and a lot of guys that are getting into into it. They go get a pressure washer and then they show up and they try to pressure wash someone's house and you just cause damage. Yeah, and then later on the next professional company that comes in, they've removed the um finish off of that and now you can't clean it because the dirt and the grime has actually got into the material.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm sorry to say that may happen to us the next time as well, but lesson learned right, well moving forward. We'll know next time. Now, do you also do commercial as well as residential?

Speaker 3:

We do, we do. Yeah, we just got done doing the Lazy Boy over in Dayton. We've done a lot of big churches here in town. I'm actually trying to put a bid in right now. If anyone hears this and can help, I do have a warm introduction but to do the aquarium downtown.

Speaker 2:

Oh, wow, yeah, Okay, yeah, that's nice. That would be a good job for you, wouldn't it?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely yeah.

Speaker 2:

Now let's talk about the window cleaning part for just a good job for you, wouldn't it? Absolutely yeah. Now let's talk about the window cleaning part for just a moment. When you clean windows, you clean residential as well as commercial, but residential is a little bit more painstaking, I guess, than a lot of commercial jobs, isn't it?

Speaker 3:

It can be yes.

Speaker 2:

I guess what I'm thinking about is you've got the smaller windows, you've got more trim, more of some. Some of the newer windows have the panes in the glass, but some don't go right. Correct, correct, yeah.

Speaker 3:

And I mean all that. With all that being said, it's just the way that we're going to tackle it and having the right equipment. What really the education that needs to be is is the type of glass. As you know, of everything these days, everything has gotten cheap, right. So now this glass that's being made, it's not being correctly made in the exact heat that it needs to be in cooling, so a lot of times, this glass has a lot of imperfections in it so you need to know exactly what you can use on this glass.

Speaker 3:

Um, you know whether there's silicone on there or paint overspray from the new construction? Um, is there water damage from a sprinkler that's been hitting it? Um, so that's really a lot of it. Is no one? Uh, knowing the glass, having the right tools and um, and then letting the customers know? You know what we can clean. A lot of times we just come in and it's just a general window cleaning, right, we're just using a little bit of soap, a little bit of squeegee and a little bit of elbow grease, and if that won't remove what's on the glass, then we have to be a little bit more aggressive with it.

Speaker 2:

I never thought about that. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, go ahead.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we always let the customers know, you know, as we walk through with them and we do a sample window to let them know what to expect, so that we're not saying, hey, this is a, you know, a hundred dollar window cleaning job and then giving them a $500 bill because we did this, this and this. Uh, we don't operate that way. We. We always inform them and the expectations we don't operate that way.

Speaker 2:

We we always inform them and the expectations. That's good to know. Yeah, and you, you said something that kind of kind of part sparked my attention. You said that a sprinkler can actually do damage to the glass yes, yeah.

Speaker 3:

So calcium, uh, the amount of calcium in our water over time. Hitting the glass will actually etch the glass what about that? And the other thing you don't want to do is you never want to go outside and start rinsing the windows down with your clothes.

Speaker 2:

Now, why is that? Because of the calcium.

Speaker 3:

Because of the calcium in the water. Yes, over time it'll leave water stains on the glass.

Speaker 2:

I never thought about that before.

Speaker 3:

I never thought about that before. Yeah, if we don't get out there quick enough to clean it, over time it can actually ruin the glass.

Speaker 2:

But you know, speaking of now that you're mentioning these things, what types of myths or misconceptions sometimes do you hear from people who maybe are inquiring about your services, things that maybe they don't know. You go out to look at a job and you find these little things that are wrong and maybe the normal, the untrained eye can't see. What kind of misconceptions do you hear?

Speaker 3:

Well, I mean, the hard part is just knowing being in there so long and getting it, been in there so long and getting it, but a lot of times people just think oh hire a company and we're walking into something.

Speaker 3:

Windows have never been cleaned in 10 years. There's water. Uh, uh, uh, uh. Have you ever seen a foggy window? Ever seen a foggy window? Sometimes the customer and we can't so it's just glass. Yeah, good question, scott.

Speaker 3:

A lot of the misconceptions you know. Say, a customer calls us and wants the windows cleaned, we might be walking into something that the glass hasn't been cleaned in over 10 years. Maybe they have seal leaks, maybe there's paint or spray left over from the construction. So it's really just educating them and letting them know up front hey, this is the process that we're going to do and this is the cost, and this is what you're going to get at that price. And nine out of 10 times it works great. And it's that one time where we've explained to them hey, if you want this paint and silicone removed, we can do it, but this is what it's going to cost.

Speaker 3:

And glass can be very tricky for anyone out there that's cleaned glass before it can look really good at. You know, when the sun's down and then when the sun comes up, it's like, wow, that does not look good at all. Um, so you know being able to, you know, professionally use squeegees in the right rags. Uh, we use deionized water on all the exterior services, which is a pure water that goes through our um, you know a stage process that goes through water fed pools, um, and. And you know the reason we do that is because you never want to be outside trying to wipe a window that has, um, dirt on it, cause all you're doing is smearing dirt back onto the window at a very molecular level.

Speaker 2:

Wow, okay, that's. That's a lot of information there. I hope everybody's really catching all that, because those are important things, no doubt. I mean, when you come out and what I'm hearing is you know what you're talking about. You know what you're talking about. So that's what I'm hearing when you give all that information.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and I mean here's the thing, that information you know, yeah, and I mean here's the thing it's. You know, if a customer, say in, a customer has 20 windows in a new home, that we're all um say Andrew windows, um, anderson windows, I mean they're probably looking at a 40 to $60,000 investment and to get a company out that might use a razor blade on there or might use something abrasive and scratch all that glass, I mean that's so you really you really need to know and it's, I wish it was more simple. Uh, it's really not, and it takes a lot of time to uh, you know, even train my guys on on the proper ways to clean glass. Um, but we, we we've been doing well and we haven't had any instances. Knock on wood.

Speaker 2:

Great, great. Well, you know, get on a personal level. You're talking about your wife. Do I remember her name correctly? Samantha, is that correct?

Speaker 3:

Yes, Scott.

Speaker 2:

So so you and Samantha, what do y'all like to do for fun when you're not working? What do y'all like to do when you get outside? And of course, you got that two and a half year old.

Speaker 3:

So I guess a lot of things are planned around him, right? Yeah, that's why I'm smiling. We don't, we don't do much, our world. And uh, we just got back from camping at Chester Frost. Um, yeah we got to take him to the splash pad and just kind of decompress. So we like yeah, we like camping and um uh, we, we, we love serving people anytime we get an opportunity through the church or to go help, uh, others. That's kind of our passion that's cool, that's awesome.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there's a giving back to the community is really important. It is, it's really important. That's what we try to do here. We're giving back to the community. That's been good to us.

Speaker 2:

You know, when you talk about your business and you talk about your family, you know, when you're an entrepreneur and you're self-employed, it's kind of intertwined. Everything works together. Your wife may not be out helping you in the business, but she's, she's taking care of your family, which takes a load off you, knowing that the family's taken care of and you can go out and do your work with a free mind and it all kind of works together. You know but, but, uh, you know but. But you know, when you, when you talk about moving from california to tennessee I mean that's no short move uh, and and when you, when you come, and of course, you, you got on with the fire department, which, uh, which is, you know, a great job as far as stability, uh, but I'm sure there was probably a few little bumps in the road along the way Can you share anything in particular with us that you feel like, after having went through that kind of makes you a better business person or maybe gives you a little bit more mindful attitude about others.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, thank you, wow, wow, good question, I think just for me living in California, growing up, you know, running the business, my dad there was always that safety net, you know. It's kind of like if something happened, you know, dad, can you help with this. Or you know you had your friends and family and to make that move out here, it's kind of like you start looking around. It's like you know, I mean, I was 36 years old and it was, it was grow up time and it was like on my own, you know, but it was just a really big life lesson, sure, and it was hard on our marriage.

Speaker 3:

It was hard leaving all our friends and coming out here and trying to find new things to do. And it took time. That big idea of, oh, we're going to move cross country and everything's going to be great. It was great, but it was also a lot of work.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. Well, thanks for sharing that with us.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

I know we don't, we all don't often like to talk about things that maybe cause bumps in their marriages. But hey, it happens, it's good. It's good to know other people went through it and came through it, and it encourages encourages everybody else. You know, if there was one thing, troy, that you wish that all of our listeners knew about, perfect pain, window cleaning and pressure washing but they probably wouldn't know unless you shared it with them and you'd like to just state it loud and proud here today. On the Good Neighbor podcast.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, what would that?

Speaker 3:

be, you get what you pay for. Um, if you want quality service, premium service, um call. Perfect pain window cleaning, we're going to come up out, we're going to be on time, we're going to do what we say we're going to do. And, uh, you're going to get some some you know gentlemen in your house that are wearing booties and shirts, tucked in and have clean background checks. They're going to treat you like family. They're going to work hard for you and try to fulfill all of your expectations that you have out of a window cleaning and pressure washing business.

Speaker 2:

That sounds very professional. I remember the first time that I had a construction company come out to my house and they put on those booties and it made a big impression on me. I never forgot that. I never forgot it. It's been years ago, but I never forgot them for doing that. So that's a very professional attitude. But I want to give you just a moment, Troy, to just kind of share all your information about your contact and how people can find out more about you, whether it's online or offline.

Speaker 3:

OK, yeah, you can find us at PerfectPainWindowCleaningcom. You can always call my cell at 562-208-7797. We do advertising on J103. Um, we do advertising on J one, oh, three, um, the uh. Most of our work comes in off referrals, um, and I do enjoy those because you know it's someone saying, hey, they did great work for us.

Speaker 3:

And so they already know walking into that, um, but if you want a free estimate, give us a call. Uh, we'd be happy to walk you through the process and what that looks like. Call, we'd be happy to walk you through the process and what that looks like. As far as all of our services, we do roof washes to gutter cleaning, to house washes or building washes, window cleaning inside and out, all the tracks and sills and everything screens. We do concrete cleaning and then come November we shut down the business and we actually do holiday light installation. So we do Christmas installation. We provide the lights, we set them up and we take them down for you.

Speaker 2:

Oh wow, take them down too. That's hard to beat. Yep, yep, that's the dreaded part of putting up. You put up all those Christmas decorations, then you got to go take them down. Yep, yep, it's the dreaded part of putting up.

Speaker 2:

You put up all those christmas decorations, then you got to go take them down yeah yeah, it's the dreaded part of the job, uh, and you also just to help you out a little bit too you also do residential as well as commercial and you do churches. Yes, sir, yep, yeah, so that's that's something. A lot of times people you talk commercial, people don't think about churches, so I like to help include that in for people that do work for churches, because you know a lot of churches need that extra help in taking care of things. But hey, well, it was great having you on with us today and for sharing all your information, and it sounds like you have a very professional organization and a lot of knowledge a lot of knowledge in the industry and can help people out, and we look forward to hearing good things from you. Best wishes to your continued success.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, thank you, scott, appreciate it.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, absolutely. And all the good neighbors of the greater Chattanooga region. You know, after hearing Troy talk about the company Perfect Pain Window Cleaning and Pressure Washing, I know that he hopes you'll take a moment to consider everything that he has shared with you today about his knowledge about how to do the job right, not to cause damage to your property. That would be long-lasting and, you know, be hurtful in the in the long run. There's a lot of things he shared with us today that I didn't know Very helpful information to myself. I wish I had known it a few months ago, but you know, I know he hopes you'll take a moment also to consider all that. And when you need these services that he offers, give him a shot, give him a call. Give him a call, get him priced from him, find out if it's something that you can work with in your budget. If not, just share that with him and just try your best to work with him if you can.

Speaker 2:

And also I'd like to thank you, all the listeners, for taking time out of your busy schedule and, just, you know, sharing your time with Good Neighbor Podcast today. You know I always like to say this you know, from Cleveland to Dalton, from Jasper to Benton. The Chattanooga region is full of small businesses and we encourage you to please make sure that you support those small businesses with your consumer dollar, your spending dollar, give them a chance to earn your business and do all they can. And again, my name is Scott Howell and I'm with the Good Neighbor Program and the Good Neighbor Podcast, the Friends and Neighbors Group, and I hope that y'all all have a good day and go out and make this a remarkable day.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPClevelandcom. That's GNPClevelandcom, or call 423-380-1984. 8 4.

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