JFife

Hey Proclean, I am curious, what have you had the most success with on Hardwoods, as far as stain goes?? Siberian Larch, eh?? What it different about it, than say, typical Canadian/Western Douglas Fir?? Super structural strength, probably more than any other wood. But are you comparing this "Siberian" to all the new Hardwoods?? Inquiring minds.......Ever see any Alaskan Cedar?? Very cool. Also, cannot think of the name, but a certain kind of cedar out of Oregon.....I'll look it up. I'll still vote for a "clear" softwood over the new hardwoods!

Would like to get it!! thanks Carlos, jonathanmarkfife@hotmail.com

RC, one thing that will help you against WoodRenew is that they don't strip any wood. Only Percarb wash, doubt they even neutralize it. As far as "special" Wolmans, I beat them on bids all the time, and I see nothing "special" about their stains. Looks just like FandP, just a custom color. One thing--I've never noticed their prices to be "low". Maybe you are just trying to sell really high, but for what they do, I'd say their prices are fair.

Hey Russ or other equipment gurus, I have a backup machine that i love, it is about 5 yrs old and is a homedepot model 3200psi, 4gpm. It has a direct drive AR pump. The pump (or something) is bad, puts out choppy pressure. So I want to get a new pump on it, and then maybe mess around with the old and try and rebuild it for kicks. Question is, do I have to go back with that same pump, or can I get a Cat Pump or General Pump that would also work on this direct drive machine?? Russ, if you see this, let me know which pumps I'd need and how much they cost, and whether or not you stock them (timeframe). Thanks,

bringing back up

Personally, I think the guy looks innocent, but that's just me. I think I just found my new avatar, LOL:)

THIS IS NOT A FAKE PIC!! This is a guy on the list, lives on the same street as a couple of my buddies, don't forget, "love thy neighbor."

Scott-- We (at least, I) am not talking about buying an 85' F350 for $2300, I'm talking about buying a used diesel with 100K on it for 15K-20K. Basically spending half of new price. Now, like you said, if you are using it personally, and it is a real "treat" for you to drive a new ride, be my guest. But for a vehicle for you emps to wreck, trash, and smoke in, I'd save a little. I've not looked into leasing, I know some guys think it is great for service biz, but I'm leary. I've got a guy here by me that sells nothing but 7.3L Ford Superduty's, usually has 10 or 20 to choose from....exactly what I like, four doors, 4x4, diesel, air, and all usually have 100K-200K on them.

I'll get a few of those....then get someone tell me I am their cheapest bid....I personally don't like either of those responses, oh well

Why don't you want to buy used?? Value tanks once it is off the lot, not to mention the fact that employees are going to be using it, even though employees are known for their meticulous maintenance of all things;) You can get decent prices on Ford 7.3's, look for something around 2000-2002. Don't get a used 6.0, go older (and cheaper) on a 7.3. Or and older used Dodge 5.9 CUmmins. Personallly, I wouldn't get a Ford3/4 ton with the gas motor. The 5.4 gas is a good motor, but only for the 1/2tons. Wanna know what I'd get if I were you?? Something like an Izuzu and mount all your eq. on the bed, or get an Izuzu/Mitsu box truck (better adv). Employees pulling trailers, IMO, is not a great idea. I don't know anyone that hasn't had problems with that sooner rather than later. Oh, if your eq. is small enough/takes up little enough room, rather than the Izuzu I'd do a 1 ton pickup with flatbed. Any combo has it's pros and cons.

I've heard Minni is a very popular place to move to, live. I've heard the natives aren't too keen on all the 'newbies'. I've had friends move there, loved it.

The trick to maintaining them and actually helping them "live" longer is to use a non-drying oil, everytime it gets hot enough it will "move" inside the shake. RC is right; Chevron makes a roof oil, I am assuming it is not just P. oil. A treatment like this WILL help shakes last longer, as opposed to a surface finish which I doubt provides much help. ....But....In reality, treatment doesn't make them last THAT much longer. So in order to provide a useable service, your prices need to be fairly low. What I mean is, people aren't going to go for this as a details-job. Actually, the people I know that do this service a lot just spray bleach on the roofs and rinse it off--I don't think they really give it a "close" wash to bring back the natural color of the wood. Most people want them sealed with 'clear' anyways, so that the roof turns back to a grey color. Few will want them to look like new cedar.

..anyone have any good tips for cleaning your blinds?? I have some of the cheap blinds that need cleaned, just single-size windows, but I also have one that is 5-6' wide and the nicer, vinyl/plastic, 2" blinds. Anyone care to share what they do to wash blinds?? trying to take care of some spring cleaning--just got done cleaning the grill, that was fun.

The name.....and we've talked on the phone a few times......and you told me you were Hungarian, LOL:)

....but Celeste is claiming he is from NC?? Someone has staked claim to something not their own:) Now, Celeste--if you are going to brag and stake claim to this "chris" guy, then you also need to openly claim Clay Aiken as a Chosen Son of NC:)

...jeez, but who would want to listen to that accent all day long!! Lucky for her she is hot. I like the two really young afr.american girls, as far as the girls go......and you gotta love the guy that looks like Jim Foley:)

umm, not really. Kinda the "Walmart" problem on a micro-scale. Is it gouging if you feel you are worth $40 an hour and are happy making that, and I feel I am worth $80 an hour? Hypothetically, we perform the exact same specs/quality (you should be so lucky,LOL,:)j/k). The difference being I want $900 for a job you'll do for $700. However, you make up the difference by having 50 employees making $40 per hour on the jobs, so you actually net far more profit than I do. This is what the "mom and Pop" competes against daily with Walmart, MCdonalds, etc. Believe me, there are people in your market (everyones) that can perform the same quality as you (anyone reading) and are doing it for a lower margin. To me, this is the enemy to fight, not some hobo blasting a deck and throwing Thompson's on it for $250. Those guys come and go, and reasonable buyers aren't interested. The person that will make life hard is the guy that IS good, and can operate for lower margins than you can. Behold, the Capitalist.

Ken made a profound comment in another post that I liked. "People only buy on price when they have nothing else on which to base their decision." I see this broken down further. Not so much "price per the job" as "profit per the specs of the job". What I mean is, if you are going to charge high-end prices, you have to provide high-end service, at high-end quality. That is usually fairly easy to sell. What is harder to sell is, "Company A and Company B both providing the EXACT same services specs (strip, brighten, stain with TWP a deck), but one companies bid is $700 and yours is $900." We all know this happens--the annoying problem of someone willing to work for a lower hourly rate/wage/job than you are. Their quality is good, provide good service, etc., and they are just cheaper. If you don't face this yet, it will head this direction. Look at more evolved but related industries such as hood cleaning. There are good, smaller Companies out there doing good work, and there are monster Companies out there doing good work as well, at significantly lower prices. They can afford to. A better question is how to deal with this type of sale.

Lance, .....so you must be the one with long hair in your avatar, :)

Balasz the Hungarian Heartthrob-- ....JLo married one of her male dancers, Brittany Spears married a pro. backup dancer, so the future looks bright for you, my friend. My dancing career peaked out in the early 90's, when you simply moved your legs in an "X" motion as fast as you could, then proceeded to the ground in a push-up position to repeatedly pelvic thrust the ground as fast as you could, balancing on one hand if you were on top of your game, a la MC Hammer. I've swooned many a lady with those moves. Next came the line-dancing fiasco of the mid-90's, which thankfully didn't last long. Those of us with real dancing skill cannot stand out when everyone is doing the same thing. The final chapter in my dancing career was the late 90's....when the dot com's loved Wall Street, but I was all Backstreet, as in Backstreet Boys. Those days, we danced with a posse. Five guys, all simulating lasso-type moves, all in formation. Alas, I have given up and am too old to follow the dancing trends, so I'll just live vicariously through Balasz,

That is seriously the coolest thing I've ever heard!! Professional dancer moonlighting as a Powerwasher!!

Hey Carlos-- I'll send you an email with my info on it to your aol account. .....But not until you post an address or something so I/we can pay you for this. It is generous enough of an offer without you having to pay for printing, postage, etc. Something like this is a Home Run for most of us to get--and we want to pay you fairly for your helpfulness! Thanks!!

LOU---what is your closest airport?? Will this be hands-on enough, use enough products, etc. that one could come out of this with some significant skill?? (obviously not an expert). CRAIG---would you have any coating jobs going on from, say, March 15-21, that we could follow/help you on? Don't want to be a burden, but even just to follow and see the methods you use, help clean tools, etc. I've researched the CO. you use out of Utah, have entertained the idea of going to that class as well. thanks,

LOU, do you have a website for the products you distribute?

.....I shouldn't have implied that you also have trouble with taskwork, i.e. paperwork, etc. I have that problem, but I shouldn't project it on you, just because we have a similar thought process. Sorry.