Graffiti removal

[maverickb]

Came across a brick building that has been tagged on all four walls, I used taginator to remove the tags but I noticed that one tag would not come off. I was just wondering if there is a certain color of spray paint or other paint that taginator won't remove?

Rick

[ERADicator]

Is it leaving a shadow, or worse than that? As in "some kind of new Taginator-proof paint"? I've read about some chemical-resistant paints and markers that the kids are buying now.

How much dwell time did you give it, and how much rinse-off pressure? Got pics?

[maverickb]

Its a little worse than a shadow. I left taginator on for 30 minutes and my pressure washer is set at 3800 psi and I also set the temperature at 212 degrees. I do have pics, but I had to use my camera phone and I am still working on uploading pics.

[ERADicator]

Sounds like you gave it a good "whack" with the pressure and hot water. Sometimes some pigment gets into the pores of the brick, and hangs on after everything else has gone away.
I dunno what's in it (can't even find out from the MSDS), but maybe something like Shadow Max would make that remaining stuff disappear. The only other thing I can think of is maybe applying the Taginator again, and agitating it with a stiff brush before rinsing.

I'll bet the owner of the building is happy just to have most of that mess gone.

[maverickb]

I thought I would post my website, I have posted a pic of a graffiti removal job that went real well for me. Visit website

[ERADicator]

Nice site, Rick. The white text on the light background under "Welcome to Graffiti Busters of San Antonio," at least while viewing it on my laptop, was a little hard to read. Otherwise, that is a pretty sharp layout.
Got a chuckle out of your avatar here, too.

Did you have any luck with that annoyin' tag on the brick wall you mentioned in your original post?

[maverickb]

I went back and fixed the text on the website. Thanks. Also I never went back to check on the annoying graffiti, I was there to demo the product on the graffiti and decided to do two spots, one came off real easy, but the other I could still see a hint of it left. The color looked like Bronze. Anyways the customer was happy but I guess he couldn't afford to do the whole building and never called me back. Anyone have any suggestions on pricing graffiti removal? I read somewhere to charge between $1.50 and $3.00 per square foot.

Thanks

[ERADicator]

I think that sq. ft. rate is about right. You could adjust it according to how difficult a job is--height above ground (some taggers like to "get up" in what they call "heavens"), etc. Maybe go to the upper end of the scale if somebody did a previous "paint over" attempt, and the customer wants that gone, too.*
A minimum "call out" fee will also help pay for your fuel and time to get to a job, plus the Taginator and other supplies kept on hand while waiting for the jobs to roll in. For a tag that's small but really annoying to the customer, something they want "gone, now," I might charge a first-time customer just the call-out fee if there's not a lot of time (travel and work) involved.

*I saw a sign at an auto repair place a few years ago:
"Labor rate, $40 per hour.
If you watch: $42 per hour.
If you 'help': $46 per hour.
If you 'already worked on it': $50 per hour."

[Richard]

ERADicator, that's funny

I charge differently depending on

Size,substrate,how quick I had to get there, are they existing clients, did I have to bring water, was it in a dangerous neighbourhood, how high up is it, how long did it take, how much remover............

[ERADicator]

Richard, those are some good things to consider when setting a price. Thanks for the ideas.