RPetry

John, I have been a member of TGS for 5 years. Your above post is the best I have seen, by far, concerning business cash management. Very valuable information. Contributions like yours is what makes TGS such a terrific web site.

Jon admits: Bryan beats him by posting: Oh boy. Thought my wife was a saint, now she is the 2nd coming. One is standing half naked in the garage, the other is dressing in it. Both of you guys had better sign up for aggressive wife training. Right Beth? Hah!

Jeff said: Got that right. My wife Judy just "retired voluntarily", in other words, could not stand it anymore, as the assistant principle of an 800 student K - 3rd grade level elementary school. Loved the kids, still does and misses them more than one can imagine. But is loving life again, freed from the parent nonsense and administrative bureaucracy. Now if I could only get her to do the business books, life would be perfect!

Hah! Another meeting of the minds! Judy takes a whiff, and throws 'em in the "work clothes" basket. Soon after, they meet their demise.

Scott, No. They become work clothes. That is their fate. Work clothes become rags, that is their destiny. Rags go into the dumpster. That is their final resting place. It is inevitable.

John, Probably better off to call between 8:00 and 5:00 EST. Not sure if Tom and Barb are set up with internet ordering. Tom knows a bunch, but if you know what you want, ask for Barbara! Both are terrific people, ones that you like to do business with.

Bartered a mahogany restoration job for a business logo 5 yrs. ago. The customer is a graphic artist. One time arrangement, still a customer. Worked out well for both of us. His deck is still standing and we are still using the logo!

John: Just looked and tried. The id's are unreadable. Been used more than a few times. Description is ~ 12" wide, ~ 4 inches in bristle width, and maybe 4" bristle length. Bristles are bright blue and synthetic, bristle holder is tan in color and molded plastic. Tom or Barbara Vogel at ACR will know.

Good post Nate. We are a bit different. After showing up to start the job, usually, a job deposit of estimated materials is due. Net payment of the job is due when finished. If it is a monster sized job, 50% is due on prep. Or, if it looks like showers for the next week!

Matt, You often use RS stain? When we first started, tried the Shurline pads. They were useless, could not hold enough product. Threw them away. Ken is right about the truck wash brushes. ACR Products carries them, there is a banner ad here on TGS. ACR is very good about shipping quickly. Have heard of guys buying those janitor type buckets on wheels and filling with RS. Roll along dipping the truck wash brush and doing deck floors in no time. Kevin, Are you saying these brushes are 4" by 14"? Wow, got to try one. Have a new Ace Hardware in town.

Hmmm... TGS is pulling up faster than my Google homepage. Guess the dedicated server is a real plus. Fine upgrade to the site.

Very interesting. Received an email today from an old time 30+ yrs. exterior wood contractor in the western US concerning Armstrong-Clark stains. In part... Along with Jim's report on cedar above, I think we may try the stain on one cedar deck.

Yes. Commoditize your service and work like a dog. We all start out that way, but the ones that survive soon learn the value of effort, experience, and knowledge. Its a lot easier to sell service than price.

Kevin, I do not know how many full or part time California wood restoration contractors visit TGS. I would guess a doz. if not more, mostly "lurkers", but over the years there have been a handful of active Ca. posters at any one time. Beth could certainly give us an idea. But I think you are missing my point. Or maybe I did not make it. A lot of "new" exterior wood stains have come to market over the past 8 years. Many have been tested or used in production by contractors here on TGS. Some, if not the majority of these stains, have either been pulled from the market or have failed to gain any appreciable market share among professionals. This is not to say that Armstrong-Clark products in any way fit into the category of "flash in the pan" stains. Quite the contrary, reports from other long time contractors that I know and respect indicate the opposite. But these are preliminary, as no one I know or is active on TGS has used the stain for more than a few months. Further, a product that performs well in Ca. or a dry climate like Arizona, may not be suitable for the Northeast. I may be getting old and conservative, but my co. will not use customer jobs as a product testing ground. But as I posted earlier in this thread, Armstrong-Clark stains may very well be the real deal and a major player among wood contractors in the coming years.

Matt, We are in the same boat. Have always used a cone tip. My only question would be getting enough volume of stain out of a fan tip. We really like to flood wood with RS. Maybe I can get Tom at ACR to rig something up and give it a try.

Sgrillo, As you posted this on a wood forum, I assume you need NaOH for wood. As your signature id's you from Ga., try Sun Brite Supply. They have a wood stripper called Rip It! which we have used and should do the job. Phone (770) 277-9924 Toll Free 1-877-5-SUPPLY Fax (770) 277-1612 Address: 361 Pike Boulevard, Suite 240 Lawrenceville, Georgia 30045

Kevin wrote: That may be true. But in the 7 years I've been active on the wood boards here at TGS, never heard of it. And this site attracts wood contractors throughout the US. Do a search on "Armstrong Clark", two other threads come up, all within the last month or so.

Kevin, Nice, real nice job. Jake sent some samples in March but have not gotten around to testing. In the next year or two, Armstrong-Clark may very well be included in a poll such as this one. Have spoken with three respected wood resto. contractors, two that I know very well personally. The other one is semi-retired after 30 some odd years, but probably owned the largest company in the U.S. We occasionally talk on the phone and exchange emails. All three have given stellar reports on the Armstrong-Clark exterior wood stains. The only questions not yet answered are longetivity and ease of maintenance. Time will tell. I think this one may be really coming on in the near future.

Hey Beth 'n Rod, Was up at ACR during Friday's monsoon, and picked up a 5'er of Tom's "Booster....Surfactant System" liquid. From what I understand, it replaces the old "thickening agent" additive for NaOH, used for cling on verticals. Tom mentioned that you guys use it. Any tips on how much to use per gal. of NaOH mix for wood?

Rod, Ok, gotcha'. Thanks. Hmm ... not sure I want anyone to see me with a foamer lance. Might put me in bondage in some greasy spoon. Hell on earth. Think I'll call Tom at ACR and see what he has on hand. Thanks again.

Rod, Thanks. I assume you transposed the numbers. Should it not be 2-3 oz. out of a pump (Delavan) and 6 oz. for an x-jet? Hope the stuff is worth it, pretty pricey.

Matt, What is the matter with people in N. California? They have a gorgeous wood, redwood, and slap some crappy brown-purple solid stain on it. You can't find a redwood deck back here on the east coast. Beth said it's illegal to sell the wood in MD! Somebody should be slapped upside the head! Looks like some kind of solid oil. If not layered, should be able to strip most off with a touch up sanding. The lattice will probably not strip out enough for a semi-trans. If the customer is going that way, replace it with new wood.

Celeste, Yes, same here. This was an old, very neglected PT deck. Wood areas without the calcified crud did look more degraded than the "crudded" ones. Whatever it was, it was tough to remove. Needed more water pressure than usual for wood. Matt, If its the same stuff we faced, yes. Tried a non-boosted sodium percarb cleaner at 8 oz./gal. with a long dwell, but it was not very effective. This job was a few yrs. ago, and from what I can remember, we still had to "blast" it off with pressure. Way more than you could hope to use on redwood. Agitating NaOH or a percarb with a stainless steel pool brush and re-wetting might be helpful. Good luck!

Matt, That is bad. Problem is, redwood is kind of soft in constitution. We don't see it much here on the East coast. Worst I have seen was on an old PT deck. This stuff was like it was baked on, in layers, when dry, hard as coral. Took 8 oz./gal. of NaOH and a half hr. of dwell to loosen it up to a point it could be pressure washed off. Did not try bleach as most of it was dead or even calcified. Good luck. The problem with cedar and redwood is that it cannot take that much pressure.