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bigchaz

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Posts posted by bigchaz

  4. Posted · Report reply

    I can't remember if I posted these pictures before, but wanted to get something other than negativity going here on TGS. This was a deck that had 3 or 4 coats of Penofin by another contractor and had turned almost black. Customer assumed that was normal and had all but forgotten how beautiful it looked until I sent here some photos of other Ipe decks we had restored.

    We stripped, buffed and used Armstrong Clark Mahogany. We use a couple different stains but the Armstrong Mahogany is by far the best finish for Ipe in my opinion. I personally love the reds on Ipe, some prefer a lighter tone though.

    Deck was very dry so color lightened up a hair more on the outside deck than the covered portion. The last picture was after it dried and got rained on...holds the water off really well.

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  8. Posted · Report reply

    I bet ya if I was to put a poll up about Orgs that said do you LOVE orgs or HATE orgs. Or do you LOVE certain orgs or HATE certain orgs that would be the same as well.

    Drama tends to follow you John for whatever reason, so I would strongly advise you not to create such a poll. I think you can agree that topic has been beat dead and you are well in the middle of many of those conversations.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    "New" wood is most likely at least a few weeks old. The wood was milled, then stacked in a pile, put on a truck, shipped somewhere in the country to a lumber yard or home store where the wood sat out again. Then a contractor or builder bought the wood and it was loaded up onto another truck and hauled to the jobsite where it was probably unloaded in a pile in the dirt. Then it sat in the dirty jobsite for several days or weeks as the deck builder finished the job pulling lumber board by board as the used it. As the job was in progress the workers walked up and down the stairs and over the surface tracking dirt and mud.

    Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

  12. Posted · Report reply

    To elaborate on my earlier post, as pressure washing has become a larger industry it is more difficult to so called "recruit" or appeal contractors to explore wood restoration. My impression of most residential pressure washing providers is they are ingrained on a mindset of a $250 to $300 service price range that they can comfortably sell and complete with relative ease. The biggest struggle in that case is simply repetition and systemizing operations. On the other side of the pressure washing coin are those who want the bigger coin in commercial work so they move away from residential markets and do the PM, multi units etc. Then like Jim said you have your painters, landscapers, handyman offering deck services. So for outsiders looking in, the market just doesn't appear large enough to be visible as a business opportunity for those looking.

    But what those and most people seem to miss is the niche opportunity that exists in a quality, full service professional deck restoration. I only do decks and pretty normal ones at that but our average job price is somewhere near $1,400. That larger ticket stuff seems to scare some contractors that are in the housewash mindset. And of course as Tracy mentioned, there is WORK involved. Its not a wash and dash type business. I've always appreciated how Rick treats wood as a craft and a trade and despite my desire to grow as a business I think to be successful as high quality service provider you have to maintain that trade mindset. And that of course makes it a little less appealing for those who don't want to be as hands on.

    I realize I'm making vast generalizations with this statement but my other guess is most of the younger generation (my age) simply doesn't value trade type work like older generations did. Especially if you are on a college track, its almost demonized to a degree to think that you are going get dirty, use your hands and sweat for a living. I don't want to be slaving over a deck for the rest of my life, and I think over time I'll learn to be a better manager and owner and step back some, but more than anything the joy and satisfaction of seeing the finished product on a deck is just by far the greatest part of this job.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    I just like having the winter off haha. On my phone now but ill chime in later. I haven't been around long enough to know what the "good ole days" were like but I think with the rise of pressure washing, wood restoration sorta merged with it and therein may lie some of the reasons for its decline.

    I love wood restoration

    Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

  18. Posted · Report reply

    I'm in south-central PA, everyone is expecting the worse. Generators were sold out early Thursday in ALL stores around here. There was a 200 person waiting list at the local Lowe's to get a generator if they got another shipment in. We had a lot of flooding last Fall. This looks to be just as bad or worse.

    Some guy on Craigslist advertised generators. He said he had a trailer load he bought at Lowe's and will be selling them for $200-300 more than he paid. Unbelievable how someone can take advantage of people like that. I noticed today that his ads were flagged and a few were posting nasty things about him.

    sounds like free market to me. Not his fault if someone didn't buy a generator in time, sounds like he is smart and planned ahead and will earn a few bucks because of it.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Well...I don't where to start but unfortunately not a lot of good news for you.

    Do you know what was used on the deck the last time it was stained? It appears from the picture of the steps and the picture of the ceiling (picture 7and8) that you have a tan or beige colored stain on the deck that was not fully removed during the cleaning process. I can see where you powerwashed on picture 7 and it looks like the powerwashing didn't go all the way to the edge of the step, so you can see some of the old stain on the right side. That old stain needs to be fully stripped before you put another stain on top or you have what happened to your deck where the old stain is visible through the new stain.

    Drips on the underside of the floor are going to be unavoidable, when you stain the cracks on the floor it will run down. If it bothers you a lot you would have to strip and clean all the joists and the underside of the deck and restain that as well with the new stain in order to have it match

    The stairs are tacky because the stain you applied over the old stain wasn't able to penetrate into the wood. It needs to be completely clean and clear of any old stain or dirt in order to soak in. The stain is probably just sitting on top which is why it became tacky.

    Depending on what stain was used the drips that fell from the upper floor could blend in when you stain the lower deck, but it would be better to put plastic down first when working from the top down so no stain gets on the wood below until you are ready to stain that section.

    The biggest key with wood restoration is the prep work. It wasn't done properly and that entire deck needs to be fully stripped properly to remove all the old stain and the new stain and get it back down to bare clean wood.

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