RPetry

Shane, Think you and I better stick to exterior wood, neither of us can pick the nags. The best horse won in a cakewalk yesterday. Barbaro may just be a very special horse. That was one very impressive performance.

Nah, you have to be in Kentucky to look like an idiot on Derby day! Shane, the limit is $30. You are all in on Bob and John, the #7 horse with Gomez up. My picks and actual wagers earlier. Horses and numbers 5 - Point Determined 10 - A.P. Warrior 15 - Seaside Retreat 16 - Cause to Believe $10 win #5 $10 win #10 $2 exacta, 5-10, 5-16 $2 exacta, 10-5, 10-16 $2 win #15 $30 total If the #15 horse, Seaside Retreat actually wins, my next job booked will be stained with Cabot's SPF. God help that customer. And it will be my wife's fault, that is her horse, she likes the name!

Rod, I'll second, third, forth, and fifth that, until I can't count anymore! A cold greenie in a frosted mug is a grand elixir of refreshment.

Rich, Thanks for the clarification. Gotta write it down, can't even find threads on the board anymore. Like your signature - "Authentic wood care...for discriminating customers." Kind of sounds like a fine wine. You would not happen to be a craftsman at your trade? Thanks again, seems all I'm doing this spring is stripping.

Tim, No more pictures. I do not need encouragement (as I sip a frosted mug of Heineken!). What is that beer? Great amber color. If I ever get to the UK, I'm looking you up. We have some shared vices. Only way to live. If you are going to be working with exterior wood, and have a real interest in craftsmanship, stick around this site. All posters may not necessarily agree, but there is some very tried and true expertise to be found.

Tim, You should use stains formulated for exterior wood. Many of these stains are oil based, which is why you may read "oil" on some of the threads. I am guilty of that. Tung, danish, linseed, and other "pure" oils are OK for interior wood but are missing two key ingredients for exterior use. The first is pigments. Whether clay, iron oxide, or other material, pigments help protect outdoor wood from damage and premature graying from ultraviolet sunlight. The second and most important ingredient, especially in your climate, is mildewcides. Any decent exterior oil stain will contain this compound to discourage mold and mildew growth on and into the wood. Most straight oils such as tung and linseed are a food source for mold and mildew. This is why outdoor wood will shortly turn black if some of these oils are used. The oil itself has not failed in anyway, the pure oil is just a veritable banquet for every mold and mildew spore in the area.

Hey Beth, Thanks. I usually get a bit slow in August and to be honest, have never been around another woodie doing work. All learning was by this and Greg's old board, along with trial and many an error. Oh, one caveat. I do not wash houses, that would be one very long smoke break. Speaking of BLEECH!, just got my first 5 gal. container today from a pool supply house. You know my position and practice, sodium hypochlorite only gets used in a conservative mix on RS maintenance. New, untreated, or easily removed old stain gets percarb and the rest sodium hydroxide. Aside from trying to ban the use of acrylics, my new idea is getting everyone to get rid of oxalic and go with a more healthy acid. Acid is cheap, your health and your workers health are not.

Ken, Yeah, I reverse the heavy canvas tarp on the balustrade as well. If the Pump Tek is cranked a little too high or the wind picks up, it will prevent overspray where it does not belong. Well I will not spell it out as you know the answer to that one! Is your invitation in the mail yet?

Rod, Since I'm taking a learning road trip in August to visit Ken (he better send an invite, he owes me!), can I get an invite to Maryland? I'll work (well, kind of work as I take a lot of smoke and oxygen breaks) for free. You, Ken, and others are getting a whole lot more done per hour than I am. They don't teach this stuff in college or on the internet.

Ken, Jumpin Jehosaphats! Two apps of an 8 ft. section of balustrade in 15 minutes? Sheese, I'm a piker. Takes me at least that long to apply a single. Use canvas tarps to prevent overspray on the outside but why the tarp on the deck floor? I stopped the plastic wrap of the house my first year in business. Don't you cut in 3 boards width by hand? In the dog days of August, I'll have to pay a visit to Havertown and learn some stuff!

Larry, Yes. That is my normal routine. Never used Cabot's Clear Solutions so I cannot comment on the most efficient way to apply that stain. One thing for sure. The more you work on wood, the faster and easier it gets.

Neil, Maintenance is the bread and the butter of this business. Once you book a new customer, stand on your head to keep them because repeat business will geometrically build your business. In our climate, wood treated with a good oil stain will nearly always need a cleaning and more oil put into the wood at the two year mark on horizontals and 3 to 4 years on vertical wood. I personally do not guarantee anything except my labor cost, the best products possible and craftsmanship quality work. I never mention my company do a quick cleaning every year, but probably should. I tell them exactly what to do. Either they do, they don't, or call me. With some customers, I teach them how to maintain their wood and will provide them with stain. I'm probably an idiot! But customers appreciate the approach. You are being honest, straightforward, and doing the best for their exterior wood. Most have neither the equipment, time, or inclination to do the work themselves. Almost forgot. The sales angle for a 4 year stain is my favorite, a primer followed by a foul, disgusting acrylic made by Behr's, Cabots, and other shameless manufacturers. Just make sure to change your tele. # before the stuff starts peeling like a friggin' corpse skin floating in the water too long.

Tim, That picture makes me salivate. I love beer, I mean really love beer. Beer is food. You can live on beer, ask my wife. No scratch that, do not ask my wife! You Brits make some terrific beers, much better than the mass produced, bad tasting American pablum. That picture is now making me thirsty. Off to the fridge for another cold one!

Tim, Forward that link I posted. If they can't figure it out from all that information, they should not be in the chemical business! Americans think of Britain what we see in the movies. London fogs, Irish winds and rain, the spooky, treacharous moors of Scotland, with the heather and peat bogs and always raining. But hey, you still have Bermuda! Cheers, I'm off for the first pint of the day!

Tim, Sunny and hot is the last thing I think of being synonymous with weather in the British Isles. You are in the S.E. of the UK? Is London or another large city very far away? There should be chemical suppliers in the country.

Tim, Use that new lambswool machine instead of your pressure washer! Seriously, you may want to agitate any chems with a brush while they are on the wood to simulate a pressure washer, and then rinse well with a hose. Here is a link with more info about sodium percarbonate. http://www.chemistrystore.com/sodium_percarbonate.htm I have purchased "percarb" from this company and get all my citric acid from them but doubt that they will ship overseas. You may want to telephone some local chemical supply companys in your area if available. Some exterior wood cleaners are sodium percarbonate based. Don't know if you have such products in Great Britain. Oxiclean is another form of sodium percarbonate. Another name used in the States is "Oxygenated bleach". Good luck!

Tim, Even though we both speak and write in the English language, idioms, dialect, and slang often make communication difficult. That is funny about the lambswool, I was saying to myself, "Who is this thick limey bloke, it is the wool of a lamb!" Glad you had a good chuckle this morning! I use a thin oil stain. By soaking the lambswool pad well, and applying hand pressure, the excess oil flows or "runs" into the cracks between slats.

Ken and Jim, What do you guys do about splinter hazards on deck floors? Nearly every deck I run into over 3 or 4 yrs. old is spot sanded in these areas. Every wood handrail is lightly, but completely sanded. This is part of my normal services. Use a random orbital with Klingspor 60 grit paper.

Ken, True. That is what I mean by touch up. I generally go back and replace deck furniture, talk to my customer, touch up any areas, and collect the check. Spot sanding with 60 grit on PT or cedar has not been a problem.

Jon, I was a student in a small department with one doctorial candidate. Never forget him, Jerry from Tenn. He went back home from time to time and saw his uncle, a true moonshiner. Made corn liquor in the woods, clear as distilled water. No smell, no taste, put Everclear to shame. Potent stuff. Could make 'ya blind for a while. Hope things work out.

Ken, Spot sanding should not affect PT wood. With any stain that I have used, that wood is near bullet proof. Spot sand all the time on cedar without many problems. Touch up here and there, but no big deal. Someting is wrong. Talk to Shane. He knows.

Ti kill ya? Oh boy, we're a bad example for youth. So be it. A 7 figure deal needs more than beer.

Ken, Not necessarily true. Attached are two photos with RS med. red on cedar. Cedar is not known for its consistancy. The wood is 10 yrs. old with Wolman's F&P natural applied 3 yrs. ago. Wood stained yesterday, pictures taken this AM. Balustrade and privacy fence stripped with NaOH and neutralized with citric acid. This is the 1st application of paraffinic oil. Single application, brushed on due to the Trex decking. First pic is an overview. Look on the leftmost part of the balustrade. The rails are a different color from the spindles. Part picture and sun angle, but the individual cuts of lateral and vertical wood is nearly the same. Colors are different. Not the stain, it is the grain and cut of the wood. Second pic. Closeup or the cedar privacy fence. Disregard the dark areas, they are shadows. Yeah, the wood varies in coloration, but that is the nature of the wood, not the stain. Any good oil stain will highlight the wood. It will not change the nature of the wood. That is part of the beauty of wood and why we do all that we do.

Ken, You did? LOL, my mind is as weak as my lungs. Can't remember a thing about antifreeze. Know its not good for dogs, they love the taste and it will kill them. AARP is starting to dun me with junk mail. We must talk before I delve too deeply into the Heineken cellar. Who cares about concrete? You're a woodie through and through. Have you used it? Does it really keep the sodium hydroxide stripper wet longer? If so, this is a friggin' breakthrough.

David, At least on the East coast, it turns a blackish color within 6 months. Does nothing for the wood, just lays on top and looks worse as time goes on. Listen to the previous experienced, free advice. TWP (would be my 1st choice) followed by Cabot's would be much better for you, your customer, and the wood.