jeffex11

I would rent scafold for each side and a walkboard to get above the structure. LOTS of plastic and spray away. $900 would be my price to wash and stain from what I can see.

we just started a big job today and I started the pressure washer for my wife and as the pressure built it blew the hose from too much pressure. My guess is the unloader valve failed to relieve the pressure . This rig is 10 years old . 3200 psi 4 gal. 11 hp honda. I'll order a whole new pump instead of just the unloader valve since its 10 years old. It was just a bad time for this to happen. Luckily I was close enough to a store to get another one. Oh well there goes the profit on that job. 3750psi 4 gal. 13 hp honda back in business. anyone else have this happen?

new unit has 13hp honda I believe the unloader valve let the pressure keep building and the weak spot was near the fitting at the gun and blew. 10 years and it owes me nothing. I'll order a new pump and unloader and use it as a back up unit. My other unit is on its second pump after 8 years so I can't complain. When that one went the unloader wouldn't build pressure. IMO not worth just replacing the unloader on pumps that old. the older units have 11hp hondas and they are bulletproof with good oil and filter changes.

mine seem to happen on BIG jobs. I even thought to myself this am.as I was loading up, at least I'm close to a store if something happens. My goal is to finish in a day an this job pressed the envelope of physical endurance for pressure washing . 2 decks and a swing set. Everyone on this board knows the toll this work takes on you so we try and schedule only a few of these killer days. turned out ok in the end. Its just that you have no idea when the shi$ will hit the fan.

it looks like mold but the bleach would have killed that. It may be shotgun mold that bleach won't kill. Cleaner Times Magazine I usually see this on vinyl siding near mulch beds or wooded areas. VERY hard to get off at all. Degreaser worked some. I actually used gasoline on vinyl because I had no paint thinner available the first time I saw this stuff. i thought it was tar from the new roof they just had installed. do a test spot of course ! power washing will remove some of the outer wood on a deck but on a house this stuff should replace the shuttle tiles that fall off . its HELL to get off but it usually individual dots . this has bleed lines like mold. It could possibly be iron stains from your lawn fertilizer? power wash it whatever it is!

WOW is that F-ed up . we all have our nightmare story but yours takes the cake. go talk to the guy . knock on his door and try and settle with him. you have gone WAY out of your way to show effort even though the results were not the best. threatening letters and the like may not get your money if you did not have a signed contract. reasoning with him and his wife both present may resolve the situation. sounds like 3 parts of guilt on this one to me. the people at sherwin williams should have properly told you to strip the clear first but they may have assumed you were doing that. this will be the lesson learned . resolving situations with the least blood loss and satisfying a PIA customer. best of luck knock on his door !!! $800 + is too much of a write off to sit and wait for a check in the mail.

"prompt ,free consultations" thats MONEY!!!!! oN YOUR OTHER post about marketing 101 I agree that this phrase sits well wth your stated clientele. Not so much the free but that it says you value their time. Nice job!

10 min. or so to hammer nails is no extra charge. Especially if they are home and see the extra service. I have charged $50 extra to take care of a more severe deck but I simply include it in my original estimate and point it out to the customer. "that price includes wash , stain , and hammering in your excessive loose nails." I never itemize, just one price for the finished product. If they wan't to save money by hammering the nails in themselves I offer to knock off $25 and most just say "oh we'll you can do that". Pricing and selling is a game. Play to win!!!! As far as removing nails or screwing in boards that is a onsite call for your own situation. I preferr to hand off all but minor repair work to a friend who also networks with me for cleaning . I make sure my handyman is prompt and considerate and it just makes me look like a good source to go to without getting bogged down with services I choose not to offer. I can get a higher rate for cleaning and staining than repair work so thats what I do. The sound of my power washers running is music to my wallet. I realize many have their own situation and like to be the one source for total deck care and that is great.

matte finish. If you over apply if builds up and layers on top. I padded my own deck because my railings are solid stain and I noticed some filming under the railings where it puddled up. I just used some stripper to thin it back to the matte finish. I am impressed with the uniformness of the finish when sprayed for a soap and water cleanup product.

we'll see if I get this one. A very nice deck that the previous homeowner butchered with their stain job. A bit pricey but it has layers of dark red -brown stain and height issues. Thanks for the referral . This one was 2 developements away from the one I did thurs.

here is one in cwf-uv5 chestnut. It has more brown in the color

all they need to know is my phone #!!! I won't even tell my brother-in-law what products I use to clean decks or staining techniques. It ticks him off but I say Coca-Cola has its secret formula , I have mine. I believe in letting pictures tell the story. Just look at Beth n Rods website. One of the best I've ever seen. Pictures , pictures, and oh yeah, more pictures.

Beth n Rod I have a job thurs in columbia and would be interested in the lead info. I have one in clarksville to price too and that is close by. I tried calling you number and you must be out! just PM me the info .Thanks !Jeff

I always strip off the old stain unless a customer is looking for regular maintenance[yearly] then you can clean without stripping and top coat with the same product. If I recall , I only have one or two customers who want this type of service. The one that sticks out the most is a lady whose deck is WAY up in the air and I priced her restoration accordingly. 2 stories up with a drop off back yard. I then sold her on the idea of just getting the floor and top rail done the next time to save some money. I realy just didn't want to do that high wire act again any time soon. She went for that the next two times but is due for a complete strip and stain for the entire deck again. I may rent a cherry picker this time !!! I would love to have a atv towed aerial platform to use for cleaning and staining as well as houses!!! I'm getting too old to do the high wire acts on ladders and roofs. I looked at a trailer mounted genie lift but it was $30,000 . I have even considered a pump jack system like used by siding contractors. I drew some designs for platforms that could hang off the deck and give you a movable walk board for stepping over the railings and easily washing and staining . You would have to use a hand held gun with no extension as your opperating fairly close to the deck. Maybe its already out there but I will need something like this in the furture to keep up with the physical demand of this type work

I was impressed with the eveness of the finish and the coverage per gal.

here is a picture of my deck w/ cwf uv5 honey gold

help yourself Pictures tell all!! I EDITED THE SITE thanks for the info. I don't want to bore my customers with tech. talk though. customers love to see their deck on the site and tell their friends, co-workers and family about it. whallah, instant referrals!! I can post the pictures and watch the # of hits jump . This is my only add expence for the website

time will tell indeed! this is a new formula than the old cwf that was crap. that stuff faded in 3 months. This is my experimental year to try several products. The new stuff has held up so far on my deck this year from the dogs and heavy foot traffic. I just came in from powerwashing the grill and rinced the deck off and it looks great but 2 months is no test.

lets see if it worked ?? sorry for the non-post

OK HOW DO I ADD A SIGNATURE . Dropping an inflated price is part of the ART of pricing and marketing. I've been blessed with too much work at this time and have even given some leads forward to others. Networking works both ways. My stratedgy is to let price slow the work down and when things settle down go back to normal , pricing will follow. the context of lowering a price back down $100 would be on a $6-$800 deck not a $2-300 deck. It is call an oppertunity cost or fee for putting yourself in line for service. If they go somewhere else so be it I can't get to them anyway. Nothing ventured , nothing gained! supply and demand Economics 101.You got your way and I've got mine. I never pretend to tell anyone how to price or practice thier business. This is a discussion board and I simply am sharing a pricing stratedgy that works for me. I heve gained new info on this site and hope I've offered some.

I used the olympic honey gold this week and it looks great . A very natural color looks more like oak kitchen cabinets to my eyes. Customer loved the natural look. My camera is not very true on color or even focus but there is some pictures on my website under the olympic stain on nav. bar. DECK DOCTOR PRESSURE WASHING I got to sneak my wifes camera on a job because hers takes very accurate color shots!!!!

I', booked out 8 weeks now and I got a call from silver spring I can't even get by to bid on .I'm not sure if its a deck or a house as my wife took the call off the message machine. If your interested PM me and I give you the contact info. I believe they got my number off my website.

did you get my PM ?

I am booked out 8 weeks now . I need someone to take a call in silver spring Md. call me at 410-206-8333 jeff thomas

I'm drinking my coffee getting ready to do a big job today and reading all the posts. I'm charging my laptop so I can check the radar before I make the decision to go ahead and stain today. Its clear that pricing is regional. I've found over 16 yrs. that using a sq. ftg. measurement to price services is the way to go. Another benchmark for me has been the realization that in my market the price you can get for washing a house is a simple formula. For a $300,000 house [value from zillow.com] you can get $300 to wash. It allows me to give ballpark prices on the phone to qualify a customer. If they are still interested then I do a site inspection and give a final price. I price decks per sq. ft. and add for height, ease of access, city or well water, and other time adding issues. I measure the deck floor sq. stg. to make my price. 10X20 deck =200 sq. ft. X $x.xx per sq. ft. Many times I do a drive by price if I'm busy and try and push the threshold of what I can charge. I like to get 3 of 5 bids. Throughout the season I adjust my pricing to keep bookings 2 to 4 weeks out. Right now I'm booked out 6 weeks so I gave a drive by price for a deck and ranch house at about $100 over normal rates . I can always call her back later in the season if she balks and drop her price $100 [back to normal] and reel her in if I get caught up. Pricing is an art if your busy and a science if your competing for work.