RPetry

Beth, I think you mean "incorrigible", synonymous with "unruly" or "depraved". If so, thank you! You are not kidding about sunny weather. 30% chance of showers or rain here through Wed. night this week.

Thats good, don't want to have a birthday on Father's Day. Happy Pre-Birthday, Beth. Hope you get that black leather outfit and bull whip you've been dreaming about! Hah!

Eric, Nice work, looks like a serene and peaceful corner. Everyone needs a place of their own. My wife has a small library, I have my office on the 3rd floor, affectionately known as the "hole". Surely you can negotiate more of the garage!

Lyle, I am honestly not sure, have not had to purchase any 2x6 PTSYP yet this year, which is a good thing! I would think around 1.75/lin. ft. as a guess. Knotty WRC 2x6 goes for about 3.50/lin. ft.

Beth, Hah, good comeback! Your picture is going to be hard to beat! Nah, you win! Gotta' think, may have something.... Here you go, the scariest woodies I have ever seen... Hah!

Tony, Hah! The colors in your picture do remind me of some long past escapades. If I read you right, that is hilarious!

Ken, At 6:00 AM looks like heavy precip. just west of Harrisburg, Pa. moving east fairly fast. Looks like I'll get slammed by late morning. Staining a covered ipe' porch this AM, hope there is not too much wind.

Lyle, Again, real nice work. I especially like the bottom curve design. Just curious, what is the cost of high quality redwood 5/4 x 6? Probably not much more than our PTSYP in the northeast I would guess.

Ah, you guys and gals are pikers. Check out this one...

Tony, California. Call Jake Clark. They are just dying out in his area looking for good wood contractors.

Beth, First pic looks like a bad picnic table. Second pic is nice. Third pic color is also good. Please share the colors and/or mixes.

Adrian, Jumping Jehosaphat! Good song but if I ever hear anything off of Dark Side of the Moon again, I'll shove it down Stairway to Heaven's throat!

In 8 years in business, this was our worst. Never had to prep a deck with a shovel!

Beth, Nice. Nice knotty cedar. Nice stain color. Nice job! Hah, let me guess! Wasn't that some character out of the Harry Potter books? Its a hoot!

Ken, Boy, you are not kidding. With this weather, Trex cleaning would be the cats meow. Hope you land 'em. Food for thought....

Lyle, Wow, real nice carpentry work. Ready Seal light brown is my favorite color on western red cedar, see attached picture. Looks even better on good redwood. Terrific job! There is an organization/furniture builder/old growth supplier out of Annapolis, Ca. that I dealt with, terrific people, and the purchases go to a very worthwhile cause. If you are looking for specific age/quality/grain of redwood, check them out. Ask for Raul, real nice guy. See: Forever Redwood Furniture: Wooden Planter Boxes, Picnic Tables, Glider Swings, Pergolas, Redwood Benches and More!

Scott, Same here in Central NJ. Longest stretch of wet weather that I can remember. We have a ton of work, just can't finish as we cannot stain. Not good for cash flow! Thought water based stains would be the death of the wood restoration business, but now I think it may be constant rain!

Lyle, That is more than a repair. That is a partial rebuild. You and your firm do some real nice work. I wish we had more redwood here in NJ. Only 2 jobs in 8 years. First is a pic of a 24 yr. old clear redwood with Ready Seal medium red stain sample on a post. Next three pics were of an interesting job. Unmaintained old growth redwood, partial douglas fir deck, documented by a neighbor to be at least 50 yrs. old. Replaced some of the wood, particularly the 2 x 12 bottom stair tread. Was able to purchase some old growth redwood and have it shipped from California. Again, stain is Ready Seal medium red. This deck is ancient. No concrete in the footers, just plain redwood trunks sunk into the ground!

Lyle, Now you're talking, that is great looking wood. Very similar to knotty western red cedar. Is that also A-C stain? If so, care to let us know the mix or color? The two redwood jobs we have done were old growth. One deck was 24 yrs. old, the other was documented to be at least 50 yrs. old.

Lyle, That is great looking redwood with a real nice color of A-C stain. I always assumed redwood is essentially knot free. Have only had the pleasure of working on 2 redwood jobs here in NJ, and both woods were clear.

Rainy, wet weather for several weeks. Not much. We have worked Saturdays and Sundays if possible, and put in longer hours when wood is dry enough to stain. Alternatives involve moving to the Arizona desert or shooting the weatherman. Somewhat successful. We have stained a lot of sq. footage when possible. I do not own a gun, and Arizona does not have an ocean. Constant contact with my customers and a barrage of rescheduling emails. Most customers understand if you explain scheduling around wet weather during the initial estimate. They REALLY appreciate being kept up to date on scheduling. For the 2nd year in a row, it has been a surprise. The volume of work is again up, and the quality of our customers and average job revenue has increased. Certainly did not foresee the inability to complete jobs due to such wet weather. With the economy in the pits and discretionary spending falling, logically one would assume future tough times. This has not happened here in central NJ to my business. As things turned sour 24 months ago, our business increased substantially. So I would have to predict that this contrary trend will continue.

JLC, A random orbital with 60 grit should be fine for a light sanding. There should be no need for a "hard" sanding with a belt sander or monster orbital. 450 sq. ft. is not a lot of wood. By the time you go to Lowes or HD, rent the thing, and return it to the store, you could be relaxing on your new deck with a cold beer after finishing with a RO.

Beth, That is a real good color for weathered PTSYP. Maybe Jake could poll high volume A-C wood contractors on their most popular mixes and come out with a few new stock colors.

Lyle, Real nice work and pictures. It seems that redwood is very common on the west coast, similar to PTSYP here in the east. Redwood is much more attractive and probably better suited as a material for exterior decks. Have to disagree with the knots look. We work on a lot of western red cedar here, and I find the knotty cedar to be much more attractive and interesting than the clear.

Agreed.