RPetry

I was running my Springer Spaniel, Tigger, along a beach on the Manasquan River in Brielle, NJ. A woman told me about an aircraft colliding with one of the WTC buildings. Tossed the dog in the truck, and drove back to my in-laws across the river in Pt. Pleasant Beach for TV coverage. I do remember not being very surprised when it was speculated by commentators as a terrorist attack. After all, radical Islamist's had bombed one underground garage years previous to 9/11/01. The 2nd plane pretty much confirmed this as an attack. What was shocking was the two towers came tumbling down to the ground. There are a few, memorable events in a lifetime. For me, 9/11 is the most recent one. JFK's assassination in Dallas was certainly another. Seeing Miss Anstein, my 5th grade teacher, uncontrollably crying in front of the class, will forever be with me. And being repeatedly taught by my school teacher to dive under my desk, crouch in a fetus position and cover my head - to protect myself from a nuclear bomb attack (yeah, right!), was one more. As a 9 yr. old during the Cuban missile crisis, no doubt the most personally frightening. The world can be scary at times.

Doug, Essentially yes. A clear oil in the wood itself does prevent moisture penetration. Without some pigment, there is no surface protection from the sun's UV light.

Doug, With Ready Seal stain, 14% is fine. I'm not sure with other exterior wood stains.

Doug, We've stained exterior wood starting in the AM in the high 30's and into mid 40's in the PM a few times over the years. But this is using Ready Seal which is a 100% paraffin oil stain. Works OK, but only on very porous wood, such as old pressure treated SYP or spruce. The hard part of cold weather is getting the wood to dry out enough to a low moisture reading to apply any oil based exterior wood stain.

John, Everyone "won". There is a lot of good information, spirited debate, acidic replys, silly speculations, and humorous comments in that thread.

Last year, it was a citric - oxalic acid prep comparison on ipe'. The results were inconclusive. This year, it is a stain appearance and longitivity comparison. Finally got around to working on my own ipe' deck. Wood was lightly stripped (3 oz./gal. NaOH) and washed, followed by a citric acid brightening. Citric was allowed to dry on the wood but overnight rains probably rinsed it off anyway. Sanded lightly with a RO with 60 grit. As Armstrong-Clark has gotten a lot of attention this year, decided to stain with their "rustic brown" color to test for the full deck. But kept a floor board open for other products. Left to right in the picture. Armstrong-Clark rustic brown, WoodTux warm honey gold, Defy - Deck Stains for Hardwoods, cedar tone color (water based), Benjamin Moore Alkyd Transparent Hardwood Finish - natural 321 10 color, Ready Seal light brown color. The picture was taken immediately after application. All stains except the areas of the Defy are still wet. Thanks to Scott Paul for the Defy sample, Jake Clark for the Armstrong-Clark stain, and Benjamin Moore for their new hardwood stain sample. These were provided free of charge. The Ready Seal and WoodTux were purchased by my company for customer jobs.

Beth, I've done my part. Where are the new woodies to take up the torch? At times, seems like a dying craft. Charlie Snoden, where are you? And, IMO, most stains have not radically changed since this initial test was completed.

Shoe in for the TGS Hall of Fame. 2nd only to The Great Bleach Debate.

Allison, That is truly hilarious!

Beth, Can not do. We moved up to the country last year so I no longer own an ipe' deck to use for testing. Hey Jake, Congrats on the ranking, and more importantly, escaping that nasty Rim Fire! A close call. I'm in for 3 more days, and waitlisted for 4 more down at NJMP before the tracks in this region close for the season. Watkins Glen last month was an inspiration.

Beth, Recently read that Steven Stills (of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fame) was actually turned down when attempting to join the Monkees!

There must be more to life than having everything. -- Maurice Sendak

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro... -- Hunter S. Thompson

Snakes I can deal with, but foot long rats? I'd be packing a 12 gauge. Then again, blasting gutters is a bit more intense than cleaning them. Home owners might get a bit perturbed. How about a Maine Coon Skin cat? Those ferocious felines will kill or scare away anything less than a cougar. Ask Beth!

Friggin' RATS in gutters? Glad we stuck with only exterior wood services.

+1 on Diamond Jim's post. If it is not old mildew stains in the cedar, it is an old oil, or more probable, waterbased exterior wood stain.

Anything performed by Jack & Meg White of The White Stripes. Preferably at maximum ear splitting volume. Certainly not embarrassed by the music, but it can make others somewhat uncomfortable.

Multitude of "honey do's" around the new house, cutting grass, walking/running dogs, reading both the Sat. & Sun. New York Times (finally!), driving the sports car around some twisty back country roads, a round of hacking golf, drinking lots of beer, eating fattening, high cholesterol foods too much. A typical All American Labor Day weekend.

Beth, Also the new software ... Ouch! Have a terrific holiday, we're all back at it on Tuesday morning.

Sounds familiar, except I also do all the paperwork and scheduling. Paul, my main 28 yr. old helper the past two years suffered a hernia playing ice hockey in early March. Tried to work the first job of the season but the injury was just too debilitating. Posted a help wanted ad the next morning on Craigslist. Six calls in the first hour, starting at 7:00 AM! Hired Dave, the first caller, who was at my home by 8:00 AM for an "interview" that morning. Best helper, with a traditional work ethic and a lot of construction skills, that I have had in 13 years in business. Do have another local young'un, at 36, usually available on call with a day or two notice. I'm thinking of renaming the company "Geriatric WoodCare". Dave is 53, I just turned 60, so we're both getting a bit long of tooth! Never did any other type of Pressure Washing, but would guess that wood is not as physically demanding as many others. Sure there are difficult days, usually due to high temps & humidity. But overall, I still enjoy working on site and developing personal relationships with many of my customers. And the best thing with wood care in the Northeast, you have a long rest and recuperation November into March!

#1 - I counted 8 vehicles in the photo. Hard choice, but which one would you love to own and drive? #2 - For those that find those trite "family" car decals unsettling to the stomach. Gag relief!

Shane, I agree, the pavement is wet in the picture. I've run R-compound proxes around a wet track and they are very squirrelly. Had one 3 rotation spin off coming off a wet corner. Lots of fun! No contact or damage. F1 is the highest level of technology and driver skill in motorsport. Second to soccer, it is the most popular spectator sport in the world.

Rob, FWIW, I know you cannot do the opposite. We do not use water based stains, only strip 'em off. May want to check the manufacturer's website to check on proper prep.

There has been prior discussion here on TGS on neutralizing chlorine bleach, or sodium hypochlorite, or NaClO. This chemical is commonly used in many PW jobs, we even use a mild bleach/soap solution maintaining exterior wood. Ran into this link from a chemist friend, while purging old emails. http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem00/chem00046.htm Not sure why any contractor would need to neutralize, maybe to save working clothes?

Steven, $52.50 for a 50 lb. bag at http://www.chemistrystore.com/ Probably a bit less expensive if available locally. For wood, we just wash and rinse with a lot of water. Seems to have worked well for the past 12 yrs. or so!