RPetry

Matt, Gotta' love inept DIY'ers. Helps keep us in business.

Charlie, I do not have a clue. Are the 2009 regs more stringent than the existing 7 or 8 state Northeast - Mid Atlantic plus Ca. VOC regs? I'll try and remember to ask Peirce the next time I bust his chops for more tee shirts.

Mike & Charlie, AFAIK, Ready Seal did not change their formulations in 2006. The product was already compliant prior to the new regulations. To confirm, you may want to speak with Peirce Fitchette. It will give him something to do. Aside from taking orders over the phone, he is the loneliest national sales manager in the US.

John, I hear you. We will be starting on our 2nd redwood job early next month, and this is after 7 or so yrs. in the business. Not a lot of redwood here in the mid Atlantic or the Northeast! We do see a lot of cedar decks/balustrades here in NJ. Close to 1/3rd of our work. Very similar to redwood but less natural extractives.

Matt, Nice restore. Stripped out great. Like redwood, more than good cedar. Is this a covered porch? No gaps between the floor boards. Fasteners look like they are of poor quality and corroding on nice wood. So many "premier" deck builders sell clients on high quality wood then use cheap, garbage nails or deck screws. Hate that.

Mike, We flood the wood with a Decker 5'er HLVP at 30-50 PSI, usually twice, and backbrush. Will also use 14" or 18" soft truck brushes and a wide oblong bucket for the floor. Depends on the wood.

Hi Scott, No, we stayed at a small isolated resort, Anse Chastanet, located in the midpoint of the island on the east, leeward coast. About 3 km. north of the town of Soufriere. See: ANSE CHASTANET RESORT St Lucia, Caribbean's romantic resort hideaway The northern end of the island is pretty developed with resorts and we tend to avoid places like that.

John, The A-C sample fan is composed of redwood, not cedar. At least the one they sent me.

Carlos, We were in Cozumel for a week about 5 years ago. Been around the Caribbean over the years, and Cozumel has hands down, the best scuba diving. World class. Still prefer Bonaire, a sister island of Aruba, for snorkeling and overall enjoyment. Very similar in that it is a desert climate. Have to say that St. Lucia was by far, our finest Caribbean get a way ever. And we have been to a fair number of other regional destinations. Have yet to get to the west coast of Mexico, though my brother in law has a condo time share in Cabos.

Diamond Jim, Thanks. Was trying to convince my other half to another 2 days. But with the two pups, and wood work, c'est la vie. We are friggin' swamped. I need more decent help. Carlos, Typical summer Caribbean weather. 10 or 15 minutes of showers, sometimes heavy between 6 - 8 AM. Sporatic short showers throughout the day, hot sun and high humidity in between. Actually very pleasant, compared to NJ this time of year. The flowers and blooming trees and bushes are just booming this time of year. The rain forest is machete territory.

Ralph, Congrats! You may be one of the few that put too much Ready Seal in wood. Most just wing it with wood moisture, and quickly spray or god forbid, use a stain pad or roll the stain onto the wood. How are you prepping the wood? Can make a large difference in the final staining. Are these decks cedar? WRC takes much less paraffinic oil than regular old SYP. We ask our customers to allow 48 hours after final staining before walking or using their deck. In 7 years of using Ready Seal, have not had a complaint.

Matt, Ei, yes. Acrylics can be much harder! Good cherry job. Hah! See you also have a customized Google home page!

Beth, Kudos. Notice how over the past 3 yrs. we have been agreeing more and more? Hah!, the trials and tribulations of experience....!

Agreed. Many jobs we wait a day or even more to neutralize and brighten. This has never been a problem. As long as the stripper is rinsed off very well. Much rather acid dry wood than wet. For many reasons.

Matt, Terrific work on a wonderful wood. With the right strippers, additives, knowledge, and equipment, not so bad, eh? Congrats on a difficult restoration. Future redwood trees owe you one...

Pete, Depends on the stain. Never had a problem with straight paraffinic oils but we are in NJ, not Texas.

An interesting and encouraging job. In mid May this spring, looked at a job in the "other side of the tracks" territory. Very nice young couple with a newborn and their first "starter" house. Just real nice people. Pulling out of the driveway, I'm convinced that it is a losing proposition. Deck built by a friend using HD lumber, for free. No way these nice people can afford our services. Call comes in on the cell. It is my wife. UPS had just drop shipped 2 five gallon pails from ESI. Now I know I did not order anything from Russell, so call him when I get back home. He explains the shipment as gratis, just to try his WoodRich Timber Oil stain. Well we put it to good use. 4 month old PT SYP, cleaned with percarb and neutralized with citric acid. Stain is WoodRich timber oil, 50/50 mix of brown sugar/western cedar. I assume the stain is paraffinic, in most respects similar to Ready Seal. Two separate apps on the floor and toprail. Very nice product, and looks pretty darn good. Job finished yesterday afternoon. Thank you Russell. I'm sure we would not have booked this job without your stain. My nice young customers are grateful as there was no charge for the stain. Even the baby was smiling!

Tacos. The hotter, the better.

Beth, It is all about people, relationships, straight in the eye advice and help. You, more than most know that. Customers are all I have. If I am not straight, forthright, honest, and sincere with them, my business is doomed. This is residential work, not some publicly traded corp. This is not pressure washing, it is wood care. Big difference. For good customers, it is not about money. It is about who you are. And trust. Too many contractors burn the bridge before it is built. We are fortunate to be in a good region, and choose those that we want to do business with. Either lucky or fortunate, this can be a good business in many aspects. See 'ya in a week, we are out of here!

I love my customers. Part of an email concerning this job. ______________________ Rick, your work looks great, and the fact that you get written about in trade magazines suggests that you're highly respected by other people in the deck restoration business. So I'm very comfortable with you working on my deck. In fact, I feel very lucky to have found you through such indirect means. Without the first contractor mentioning in passing that I had very old wood, and without the subsequent conversation with the guy who mentioned your company, I'd never have found you or even thought to do a restoration. It's almost like that deck was meant for you -- was waiting all these50 long years for you to happen along. I'm thinking that maybe the guy who gave me your name saw the article about your work in that trade journal? I should call and thank him. In any event, your estimate seems very reasonable and I'd have no problem making payment in any form you want. My daughter is at an overnight camp in ********doing 2-week sessions for the rest of the summer, so I'm down there alternate Friday afternoons to pick her up, then the following Sunday to drop her off again. If the *********** people do find a board for the step, maybe I could strap it to the top of my Honda CRV and save on delivery charges. I'm thinking that the other board(s) will be shorter and can fit inside the cab. So you and Judy go and have yourselves a blast on your trip. Knowing you even as little as I do, I'm guessing you'll be dreaming about this deck at least once before you get back. Wish I had that much passion about my work. Used to. Still do, sometimes. But not like you. I'll talk to you sometime before Aug. 23, when I'll be heading up to Maine with my girl for about 10 days. Until then, take care, and thanks for loving my deck, probably even more than I do! __________ It is customers, good, decent customers, that make this business so worthwhile.

Russell, 10 gallons of premium oil stain is more than a sample! Thank you and ESI for your generosity. To be honest, I did not work with the stain for very long, Chris, my helper did most of the staining. He loved it and he knows something about stains. It is his 2nd season. Viscosity may be a slight bit heavier than RS. Full job was brushed. Bottom line is everyone is happy. The stain looks terrific. Thank you. MudDuck, As with all paraffinic oil stains, WoodRich Timber Oil and like products are the easiest, most forgiving, and best product you can apply to most exterior woods.

Kevin, The stain was only about 15 hours old since the 2nd application when the picture was taken. Paraffinics, at least Ready Seal, seem to take a week or so to cure to true finish/color. Stain is WoodRich Timber Oil, 50/50 mix of brown sugar/western cedar pigments.

Len, At the top of this thread, Richard said: Being that you are a deck guy, question. Do these Dickie shorts and shirts clean up well from wood oil stains? Thanks.

Love: reasonable sin Hate: righteous dolts

Charlie, Very fine review and comments. Nice pictures. Nice job. A-C goes on and looks real good on PT SYP.