RPetry

Joel, Have no idea of the laws in Tn. but here in the Northeast, get caught with chems in a lake and it can be a big time fine. We are contracted to do a large ipe' job, which includes a dock. No previous stain, and 9 month old wood. Contract states cleaning with water only, for any structure over water. Ya' gotta' be careful these days.

Jim, Hah, Dexsorcism! Thats a good one! Has a lot more punch than "deck restoration". These types of jobs are usually very profitable and often lead to quality referrals.

Honesty and integrity is always the best policy. Good show!

Beth, Found out today, the ipe' was stained 2 weeks ago! Nice, huh? Rod, In some aspects, I disagree with you. I have the impression, yet unconfirmed, that this hack job was performed by a "handyman". At least in wood restoration or staining, these guys are bad news. Only one example and one customer, but the buzz does get around. If a professional can clean up this mess and make a new ?$K ipe' deck look like it should, at least one client will understand. Maybe the word will be passed around, to neighbors, relatives, friends, business associates. The word is hire a specialist contractor.

A close up picture of this customer rip off. Looks like the "contractor" could not hold the trigger for more than a few seconds. Wand marks every foot or so. This is near criminal.

Beth, So the owner claims, it was "prepped" and "stained" three weeks ago. Daniel, I agree. Wish I had redone my own deck in 2 x 4 ipe'. Probably a bit more. We have to strip it.

Beth, Hah! Just posted something similar on an ipe' job. Gotta' love them!

Beth, Nice prep. If you had to sand PT, it must have been bad! Great to see hired help in the picture. Like that color of A-C on PT.

Pat, Hope you are wrong on that speculation. If I applied a stain that went on bright red, but was suppose to look brown, I'd have customers coming at me with a double barrel shotgun! Doubt if I could collect a check with the line, "Oh but Mrs. Pigtail, our stain turns to brown in a few days!"

I don't understand. Jon's job looks like picnic table red, while Daniel's job looks like a heavily pigmented brown. Both jobs appear to be PT SYP wood. Both Jon and Daniel state that they used A-C Mountain Cedar Semi Solid stain. Are my eyes failing, am I a complete blithering idiot, or is something odd going on?

"Cricket", my most experienced college kid, being thanked by a grateful customer.

Matt, Not hard to figure out. My two kids are 21 and handsome. I'm 56 with fake teeth!

Congrats Lyle, You have posted up some very compelling pictures of your jobs. Terrific work and results.

Going through some photos and came across an interesting story. This job was done in April of this year. Get a call from the wife. "Our deck is a mess! Please come out and help us, we want to sell our home next spring". Take a look in the pouring rain, see the first photo. Husband is a friggin' chemist with a large pharma co. Stains his deck twice, in two sequential years, with Olympic Maximum acrylic semi transparent garbage. Add insult to injury, he never cleaned the wood! Dirt and mildew is in the PT SYP, and between the layers of acrylic! What a dope! Some people are just too intelligent. Stripped out well, took some sanding, but less than expected. Stained with Ready Seal natural cedar. Wife was thrilled, the husband paid the bill. Moral of the story is target high end demographics, with too much education, and be a hero.

Tony, Nice A-C color for that porch. Compliments the red brick house.

Pat, You are one in ten. Hey, I'd take the devil's due, and die now. But only if I could come back for another full life in 50 or 100 years. A lot of things are changing that offer a better future and life for all of us. I hire mostly college kids, and they are smarter, sharper, and better all around young men than my generation. I think the future will be great, would love to see it.

Beth, Shocking language, that will be a 5 day ban on posting for you! Turned 56 in April, the far side, trailing edge of middle age! Hah! Feel great, can still work a bit, smoke a boatload of butts, and drink a few cases of greenies a week. Hmmm, sounds bad, maybe someone will cover term life insurance?

Beth, Hah! I use that saying all the time! No one under 50 has a clue as to the meaning of a sow's ear. Cracks me up! Another fun one. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth". No one knows squat about horses anymore! Sad in a way, but times do change.

Sorry Tony, Did not mean to insinuate that you are in that class. As a painter, you know a lot about exterior woods and decent stains. But sadly, your colleagues, at least in my area, do not.

+1 Charlie and Daniel, Once I was able to obtain Ready Seal without ordering a truckload, this was about 8 years ago, I stripped every Wolman F&P deck at maintenance labor cost. Sure I did not make as much money initially, but it was the only fair and honest solution. And given the labor savings of RS maintenance, the changeover has paid dividends. You want to keep customers, that is a given in this business.

Yes! Oil or go talk to your local handyman/painter. Nothing else belongs on exterior wood.

Mike, We would install the new mahogany boards prior to doing any cleaning. Maybe you can talk your customer into treating those cedar shakes.

Oh sweet Jesus. Hope Peirce does not read this thread, poor old guy will demise with cardiac arrest. Baby oil is versatile, enough said.

Dan, My mistake. Penofin's hardwood stain specifies 3 separate oilings the first year, not Messmer's. Lambswool on ipe' is just faster than brushing, and helps prevent over application of stain.

Tony, We have done some 2 tones in the past. Labor intensive, time consuming work. Charge accordingly. Sorry, nothing with A-C but these pics may give you some ideas. All floor stains are RS medium red. Vertical wood solid stained with Cabot's oil. First two pics are PT SYP, last pic is ipe' with composite rails.