jeffex11

First of all last year was a god send for all of us who watch the weather to schedule staining. NO RAIN at all meant every job went on schedule. This year I have another week watching the radar screen and the skies to make a determination on staining. the # of jobs I have booked is down . However , the price of the jobs I land is way up. Gasoline, stain, plastic, are all up in price too from last year. the cleaner I used for 13 yrs is barely effective this year. We'll see how the season progresses. Hows things on your radar screen???

People have been understanding. Repeat customers have been through this one year or another. That is the 4th time over 12 yrs for that deck. When we did it the first time they had just gotten a puppy and it chooed up the gate at the top of the steps. they just repaired it and replaced some wood this year. The poor dog is old now and limping around. Just like me!!!

wind has been a factor for staining too. Luckily I got this deck stained in the am thurs before the 30 mph gusts. Only a light breeze in the am. All jobs had to be moved back a week from rain delays as well.

the before pictures are on my wifes camera and they won't load but here are the afters. One is blurry . HD 80 cleaned off many layers of stain with one wash

nice befroe and afters on the website apex woodtux looks good

hey!!! we're back the HD 80 works great!!! it works like my old stuff used to . The dwell time does the work for you. I will be ordering a bigger quantity next time.

WOW ! hot is not on our radar yet but I'm looking at spotty rain showers for the next 5 of 7 days. thank GOD they are wrong sooo often! Even an old dog like me has learned a few new tricks this year. I had a long time customer in the neighborhood who always wanted a discount and this year I told them that was not possible. I used to just up their old price a little and pop the job at my convienence. this year I told them I had to re measure and bid the job at current rates. I got a few comments about the new price but they booked it anyway. Turns out they HAD shopped prices on me before and I was the best and they like our work too. I hope to cut the hrs on the job with full strength HD 80 and up the money too. I purchased a new sprayer this year that I can dial down the pressure better on and save on wasted stain and get better spray control.

I get to try the HD 80 on a deck tomorrow. I hope to return to just one wash to remove the old stain with this product. I'll post pictures if it doesn't rain up out or I forget the camera!

they probably took your price to him and he said he could beat that . HOAs and prop mgrs shop price first since they answer to other owners. Seperating your service from the price shoppers takes time and reputation. thats what being is business is all about. Even this year my sister -in -law remarked how we should think about "lowering "our prices since the economy is sooo bad. I told her thats why SHE is NOT in business. If anything I am shopping for clients who can afford even "higher" prices. I told her the marginal customers will wait another year to have their deck done but the work will be there another year. Whay should I lower my price when ALL my costs are going up!!!!

Yes the 3yr I haven't tried the 5 yr yet I need a good stain I can get locally without warehousing large quantities at home. I have yet to try ready seal that many use here. I tried to get Wolmans dura stain but had to order it . I like to try new stains on my own deck but my wife likes the olympic the best so that is the choice for my own this year

is it white or gray? looks like a thin coating. what are they trying to re stain with? same or semi trans?

I experimented with the cwf uv-5 last year and Olympic far out performs it for me. Both simular stains in price and sprayability but I ony offer Olympic this year as the CWF faded just like the old CWF did. I told the customers who chose it that I had NO track record with this stuff and it was a experimental year for stain choices so I covered my but on that product. I have seen many of the decks I did with Olympic last year and it performs simular to the old Sherwin Williams UV sunblock I used for 13 yrs. It just took a $2 gal. price hike though.....My goal is to offer a product that last 3 yrs as that is what I got out of the SW uv sunblock and I have many loyal repeat customers

I found some 10% HTH pool sodium hypochlorite and it worked well on a garage roof I did several wks ago. It was several patches of mold on a 20 x 40 area of the garage and I was able to hit it lightly with a 40 degree nozzle about 8 to 10 inches off the shingle to rinse. It took one final spray of cleaner and it killed the last of the stain. My rinsing setup would need to be better to do more roofs but this was an add on to cleaning the black stains from the gutters. I haven't committed to being a roof guy just yet although I built a website and b & a postcards to promote it if I get better at it. I guess I need a touch more confidence in NOT F'n up someones roof and loosing my a$$.

ahhhh nothin' like a first time deck wash job. No old stain or sealer ... just gray wood. natural blonde color of pressure treated southern yellow pine returns to the surface. I have yet to see a stain exactly recreate THAT color! If there was a coating that would give you that wet look and uv protection too we could all order Z06 corvettes and even afford the gas!

I got my HD 80 yesterday and called the customer but they weren't home . I tried it on my own deck and this stuff is great! I can see where you have to cut it 3-5 to 1 like it says on the label for a normal deck. I was able to strip the stain on a stair riser with full strength and a garden hose. I guess I'll be ordering the big tub soon!!! Raining today so I will wait to try on customers house until sat.

thats a nice add!!! pictures tell the story let us know the return on that. sost of add vs # of call generated and closing rate for discounted coupon type customers = effectivness . I always ask a call in or e-mail inquiry where they heard about our service so I can see what generates leads. Good luck

the before and afters on my cheapo website as well as referrals runs my whole business. The reaction from the customer is still a motivating factor for me after all these years. Especially the ones who tried to power wash it themselves or had a friend try it . Anyone can clean and stain a deck but there is a difference in a professional job and I take great pride in my deck business. I have a degree in Economics that helped me learn to run my own business and I enjoy the chase for new work. the $$ aint bad either!!!

it should be fun to see if the strength of HD80 will get the stain off the house thanks for the tips and info. I washed the deck 3 tiems to get the stain off and it would be nice to get back to 1 wash with a touch up for thick puddles of stain.

where do you get acr 760?

I'm not ready to change over to a stain I can't get off the shelf and convienient unless it has properties I can't get anywhere else. No store in my drive line carries it and the stuff I use has had good reviews from my customers .. I drank a few beers on a deck I did last yr last night and they love the stain so thats what I go by.... my customers tell me what works for them at my prices.... Not to say I won't use ready seal.. I just haven't yet. You can teach an old dog new tricks if it makes him money

NICE!!!!!great resto on that deck . the reformulation of stains due to VOC regs is something we have to keep up with and live with in this biz. I believe the dilution of the product I used was the key factor here. I have no idea of what product it truley was but I have NEVER run into something I couldn't get off the house before. Its not my job to be a chemist . I count on my suppliers to sell me products that work so I can sell my services. but I will not be using that cleaner any longer if the hd80 works. The same as my customers will drop me if I can't get the job done better than they can. I had to stumble through the VOC changes on wherwin williams UV sunblock that they called deckscapes after the change in formulation. JUNK ,FADED FAST , dropped it from my service. I had to recoat a few decks to keep my customers happy out of pocket and they appreciated my dedication to serving them. I recovered nicely and that commitment moved on to other products that fit my business model. Same thing goes for this cleaner . I would rather pay more for the stuff that works . The thing about cleaner is applying more of a weaker strength cleaner doesn't work . It is the concentration level that is important in being effective.

I washed the gutters and part of the roof the week before and did a test spot on the deck evident in the before picture of the step near the slider. I noticed then how hard it was to get off but I did NOT try cleaning the mess left by the old homeowner on the house at that time

ditto ! for me. I'm no fool I can see the color is lighter! especially this year. they are convient for me and their products have worked so I didn't change . The materials cost of deck restoration is passed on to the customer. Very low compared to labor cost. Taking extra time to acheive your standard of results can't be recovered. Luckily I priced the job for the puddled stain and blotchy mess so I still made out but I don't like NOT gettin all the old stain off the house. 1st time for me. Hell I may go back and try the HD80 on it just to see. They are great people and will be life long customers I'm sure so I'll invest my time showing my level of commitment to this biz. Even an old dog like me can learn something new I hope HD80 is what I'm looking for. I've had to learn to use new stains in the past few yrs after many many yrs with sherwin williams so I guess its time to move on to a new chem supply.

Ok so I ordered a tub of HD 80 roughly $6 a gal with shipping costs vs the $8 I pay for my cleaner at Atlantic pressure washers . If it works as well or hopefully better then I'll ge tthe big tub and have learned something new!!! I just did deck with a stain that for the first time in 16 yrs I couldn't get the old stain off the house the homeowner got on there when they tried to do the job. It was a previous owner who did the job and the new owner call us from a referral. We got the stain off the deck but it took several dwell times with our cleaner. I suspected for the last 2 yrs they were cutting this stuff down a little more and selling for the same price. I think the stain was cabbots because the local hardware store sells at on of it in this high end neighborhood. Some areas had sooo much stain floating on top it had a gloss to it . I hope no deck company did this job but we managed to get the deck saved. I'll post a few pictures but they didn't come out well.

I have never done a comperable job but the X factor is what did the last guy charge? if you can find out it would help . I take it you have experience with this type of wood and it is just a matter of applying your pricing formula for the massive job. My guestimate would be $15,000 -$18,000. I would rent a ginie lift for washing the house so I could get the roof at a downward angel to prevent damage to the shingles. I would keep it for the staining too. What is your water source? well, city water, your water?thats a lot of a water what about drainage?....get the color tested and approved(written) on part of the house or deck before you procede. This all takes time and costs $. masking the windows and comming back to hand stain the muttons would be my attack using your helper in this job.