RPetry

Jimbo, If your wood is truly ipe', stop worrying. It will last longer than you, your children, and possibly their children. Cracks are normal, and it is probably the one wood that DIY homeowners can not harm.

Welcome Chad. Jake Clark called this afternoon to chew the fat. He mentioned that you are acquainted and had many good things to say about your publications and web site. Have yet to read your article submissions, most woodies do not have much free time for the next 6 to 8 weeks, or until cold temps shut down the season for exterior wood. Send us a reminder in late October or November!

This gal is no wall flower. Sen. McCain rolled the dice and seems to have come up with a winner. Tough but authentic, she gave a terrific speech to the Convention and country last night. This is turning into one of the more interesting and competitive presidential elections in my lifetime.

Although Sen. Obama has not had any traditional "executive" experience, he is top dog in a very effective political campaign. Knocking off Villary Clinton in the primary races was no mean feat. In retrospect, it was an amazing accomplishment. He appears to have attracted some fine political, and hopefully well grounded, intellectual talent. This is a candidate to take seriously.

Hey, wait a minute. The site has an Armstrong-Clark banner ad. Jake Clark is nobody's fool, might want to reserve judgment for a bit.

Kevin, Is Bigfoot now emigrating to the East Coast? Geeze, been meaning to get a double barrel, Pa. is just a river away from NJ. Nah, nevermind. Only the west coast can support Bigfoot. You guys are too wacky out there!

Ron, That oxalic really made a big difference in the coloring. Looks great. I was going to suggest spot NaOH for the oil/grease spots but will defer to Diamond Jim. I don't even know what acetone is!

Matt, Hah! Now that is an invitation I could never turn down. Color preferences be damned! Looking forward to it. If you get the chance, try some of Armstrong-Clark's "super cedar" on cedar. Great color and certainly more appropriate for a brochure photo!

Daniel, If grandfather Sen. McCain at 71 or so can "shag" her as you so delicately put it, age in this election is not a factor. That alone would guarantee my vote.

Kevin, Check out C-SPAN when you get off. They will probably be looping her speech at least a few times tomorrow.

Any woman, or man for that matter, that can shoot a moose, skin and butcher it, then cook it up for dinner, deserves some serious consideration. I think her speech at the Republican National Convention starts at around 10:30 EST tonight. May want to check it out.

I hate that color. Seen better looking creosote railroad ties. A customer could not pay me enough $ to put such an awful looking stain color on exterior wood. Nothing against Armstrong-Clark, they make a very good stain. Hope "oxford brown" is not one of their big sellers, California will have to pass a visual pollution law.

Daniel, 1 oz. a gallon is certainly a very weak mix. Wonder if the NaOH at that concentration really does much of anything at all, or is much different than cleaning with just plain water. Don't know.

Matt, That is one horrid, ugly color, put back the RS med. red! Aside from the pigment, it should be interesting to see how the A-C holds up with all the foot traffic.

Daniel, Do not know anything about "painting" raw wood. Do know that we have never used any sodium hydroxide on bare wood. A bit of a sledgehammer opposed to a tissue. Sodium percarbs or a bleach mix on occasion when warranted. Sodium hydroxides are for stripping off old stains, sodium percarbonates or hypochlorites are for cleaning raw wood or maintaining paraffinic oils.

Geeze, that lignum killer bleach really put trashin' on that bare pine. Wonder where the mold/mildew is going to do now. Guess the old salts had a few years to figure this one out. We should only be so smart. Ron, any pics without the oxalic?

Ron, Looks real nice. Bleach does a great job on mold/mildew. Take plenty of before/after pictures, the job will help in future sales.

Matt, What is a "wiz roller"? Luckily, a large Ace Hardware store opened in my town two years ago. I'm probably in there 3 times a week purchasing supplies for the business and stuff for my home. As such, have gotten to know the owner quite well. Though they carry a full line of Benjamin Moore paints, they no longer carry any B. M. exterior wood stains. When I asked why, they had so many problems and returns last year that they dropped all the stains from inventory. The reason was the stain was not drying after application.

New Orleans is a rotten location for a city. However, the Port of New Orleans is one of this country's most important ports, serving the great heartland of America, because of the Mississippi River complex. The amount of cargo that is imported and exported through New Orleans is staggering and vital to international trade. Oil drilling and oil services offshore in the Gulf are also very important to this nation. Shut down New Orleans and environs and risk future long term economic depression.

Ron, Some clarification if you will on two of your pictures. In the first large view of the interior, the wood looks to be relatively clean. In contrast, the third close up picture of the T&G pine shows wood that is either covered in some type of spores, shotgun mildew, or very interesting dirt. Any idea or can you elaborate? Off hand, I would think a diluted, say 2% bleach mix with a bit of soap could be applied after wetting the wood. With a few large, soft truck brushes, quickly and lightly scrub the wood while the solution is still wet. Apply more if needed before it dries out. Rinse with very low, dump tip pressure. Rinse a second time. Unless you or the customer wants to lighten the color of the pine further, I do not think that an acid application is needed. Test this on a small, out of the way area of the wood before going into production.

That would be just short of impossible with ipe'. The wood is hard as nails.

Very powerful acceptance speech and well staged theatrics. Have not voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since George McGovern in '72, but am going to keep an eye on this guy with the funny name. David Brooks of The New York Times has a hilarious column this morning, worth going out and buying the paper. Its a tongue in cheek poke at campaign speeches, just a sample:

During my first season in business, was stripping a solid oil off of a deck, using too much pressure and retail stripper. Had a short, 18" flex lance on the PW gun, bent at an angle to reach a tight area of the balustrade. Something happened, not sure what, but my left hand slipped off of the lance, right into the tip of the wand. I cannot describe the excrutiating pain of having high pressure water injected into a open wound. The tip ripped a 3 inch gash in my hand. Immediately dropped the gun and started screaming "Motherf'er, Motherf'er" while jumping up and down on the deck, holding tight to my injured hand. Customer runs out of the house in a panic, with blood flying everywhere. On the deck, side of the house, and on her! Needless to say, I never received a call back for maintenance.

Greg, Nice job and color. Anything, including UV grayed wood, would look better than that original "picnic table" red.