JFife

Ok, my chubby little fingers cannot type fast enough to respond to everything, but I'll respond to a few things, Being a french/canadian anathema (feeling that my gender and sexuality are a social construct),:) I'd like to say Meier wasn't insulting me in his post; he was just harrassing a little and I can take it, nothing better than a good argument. I watch Hannity and Colmes like a religion. Before yesterday, I'd have been really insulted to be called French, but did you hear Jacques Chirac's comments about the English and their food?!? That was awesome!! I at least developed some respect for him at that point. Beth is correct to an extent, I am being a bit of a devil's advocate, but only because I can at least see the other side of the issue, and cannot call it black and white. If it were, it wouldn't be at the high court. For those that think the farmer that has been in the same spot for 50yrs, and has seen his farm surrounded on every side by strip malls and suberbia, and is sitting there loving life......well, i appreciate your argument for the sake of argument, but let's be serious. You think they are HAPPY about that???? Happy to hear cars honking and guys out pwashing the storefronts at all hours of the night?? My view is also an opinion, but I cannot imagine they are thrilled about that. I'd guess they think it sucks to try and navigate their tractor on a six-way. Why not sell out for the big bucks when you can, buy another farm where you'll be alone and happy, and stop trying to prove a point?? I hold no hostility to these people, just don't understand it. I don't see a farm in the middle of town and say, "man, I wish that was a bunch of McMansions". I see it and say, "man, that guy is stupid not to take all of that money." RyanH, you've been adament that I answer your analogy about giving you my equipment to help others, and I'd have to say I need to see the numbers. I believe you were using this analogy in regards to my example about the guy back in MO that wouldn't sell his farm to Walmart Distribution, so I'll continue with those #'s. Land in that area would probably sell for $1000/ac, and if they wanted 100ac that is $100,000. Now, i guess this new biz would have added significantly to property value in the area, would have brought jobs to those without (much needed), supported local stores and services (new homes, remodels, apts, food, restraunts,etc). How much do you think the benefit of this would have exceeded $100,000??? Ten times?? 100 times?? More?? So for the sake of answering your analogy, if giving you my equipment would help people 100 times more than the value of the equipment, come get it. That would be a no-brainer for me, and at that point I'd be out of a job, and i'd let the Law of Reciprocity kick in. Now, you said "give" you my equipment, whereas this guy could have sold for fair market value or higher, so to be more correct in the analogy, you'd give me market value for equipment, it would benefit others 100times greater than that amount, I've gotta go to the trouble of buying new equipment, everyone else is fat and rich, and I am hero, and I've got two hot broads telling me how generous I am, and that it is really nice to see such a caring guy. Who loses??

CrownRoyal, That was a good article! I personally shop at Walmart for about everything, and as a single male, I find it saves me between $50-$100 a month, on basic necessities like bathroom products and food. Over a year, that is a savings of about $1000. I know some don't shop at WM, usually as a political statement of some sort. I view it in the micro as opposed to the macro however, and see that it saves me $1000, to spend elsewhere or save. I choose to look at most things in a micro perspective, such as debt. I attempt to have as little personal debt as possible (though not always), and this is beneficial financially to me. But what if everyone in America did this?? Our entire economy would probably collapse (not an economist, but I suspect i'm right). So does that mean we should all take on as much debt as humanly possible?? I'll pass, there are enough others out there willing to do that. My point about WM is simply that I don't think any of us are knowledgable enough about economics to determine exactly what kind of windfall they will have on our economy someday. I can point out articles by knowledgable people that say WM is great for the economy. And since it is so hard to predict the impact of a company that composes 2% of our GDP, whether it be good or bad, I'll err on the side of the micro and what helps me, today.

Meier, You should consider becoming passionate about this issue:) While the second post kinda left me in the dust (not sure where people being slaughtered like sheep came from), the first post was good, had good points, many I agree with. Somewhere along the way you have developed the opinion that living in the country is some kind of right that "urban sprawl" cannot infringe upon, and I'm afraid you are going to live a life of hypertension if you have this much trouble accepting it. Also, you talk about wherever you live in PBcounty, and you are alone, and the breeze feels nice, etc.,etc, etc, but who is to say everyone in your county chooses to remain that way?? Perhaps some want smog, honking cars, Scripps, and table scraps from that company and it's employees. Who are YOU to tell them they are wrong??? I appreciate your passion; i cannot evoke it for my arguments however. I have social/govt issues i feel strongly about, but this is not one. Perhaps some day I'll be in a position where this will affect me greatly, perhaps not. The world/U.S. is growing rapidly, and unless someone figures out a way to start layering cities (other than highrises), they are going to expand outward, and I don't see that changing, so I adapt. I feel my energies are better used taking positions on matters where i feel I can make a difference, and trying to stop the spread of America is just not my calling. Personally, I think this matter is very closely tied to our border control issues, and I consider that to be a far bigger problem, and potentially the onset of the problem being discussed here. Every city I have ever lived in has those few farms that are literally surrounded by biz and subdivisions, but that farmer refuses to sell. I am sure you'd salute that guy, but my feeling is that he is cutting off his nose to spite his face, and is probably spending the latter years of his life cursing the govt/cities/etc., instead of just adapting, accepting that the world is a changing place, and moving on to something more to his liking and taking his memories of days gone to another place, and telling the stories to his grandchildren. That would be happiness to me, not fighting the govt and everyone around you in a losing battle.

Alph111, As I stated, I am unable to empathize with those that have such an attachment to piece of property. And in the situation i mentioned, the piece Walmart Distribution wanted was the edge of his property, where it butted up to the interstate. I don't have any attachment to land. I suppose i could see if the land had been handed down since the Civil War to him, father to father, how that could be an attachment, but I don't have the luxury of feeling that way. RyanH, I am still laughing at the image of you being drug from your home screaming "Freedom!!" like William Wallace in Braveheart. That would be a powerful way to go out in a blaze of glory should you ever choose to.

Regarding "taking land", I'm afraid I'd be one of those officials that would be for snatching the land to raise taxes. I have a bad habit of only seeing things in the form of dollar signs, and I just cannot empathize with people needing the security of the home they've been in for 20yrs, and stopping progress at the same time. I grew up in a town about 45min. from STL, pop. 1,500. No traffic lights. About five years ago, Walmart wanted to put a distribution center in our town (on an interstate) and it would have brought close to a thousand jobs to the area (much needed, poor, rural area) along with a biz boom to handle the new workers/homes/needs/etc. My family would have probably doubled it's net worth in property values, etc. Imagine the impact this would have had on local builders, services, grocers, etc. Basically, for a while they would have had a double in biz with no extra competition. Needless to say, this would have GREATLY improved the lives of many people in the area. The land they wanted was about 75 acres on the edge of an old (and dying) man's farm at the edge of town, a small percentage of his couple thousand acres. Guess what?? He would not sell to them at any cost, his kids tried getting him to, but he wouldn't budge. I am sure a lot of people would high-five this guy, but I thought it was selfish and senseless. Instead, Walmart took a spot about 20 miles up the highway, and now that town is reaping the benefits.

Regarding guns--we probably all know why Hitler never would attempt to invade Switzerland, and the U.S. should be the same. I remember RyanH made the point a few months ago that crime would nose-dive if citizens could fire upon criminals in the act. I wouldn't agree with that for all crimes, but I'd be game for the crimes of: all theft, forced rape (not stat. rape obviously), animal abuse, child abuse, child neglect, and most murders. Feel free to put my name down as a write-in candidate in the '08 elections. Think how nice it would be for biz if a customer refused to pay, and instead of threatening a lien, you legally threatened his life?? Sure would make people honest in a hurry:)!! Kinda joking, kinda not.

LOL, i've never heard of any of those brands/products, so they must be good. What kind of screen do you have?? Plasma, actual projection?? Were you into the whole rice burner racing, or just audio??

RC, I am going to assume you are somewhat experienced, not a total novice since you are a painter. Regarding furring, some wood does, some doesn't, you may reduce/increase slightly based on chems/pressure/proximity etc., but it mainly comes down to the wood. I'd consider myself to be fairly experienced, and I still do jobs that come out looking like someone wrapped the deck in a lion's mane. I seldom buff though, since I don't find it to be a good investment on a pt deck. If it is bad, i may present it to the customer and let them choose. I do buff 90% of homes though, since it is such a large investment. If you are charging for it/selling an upscale service, and are going to buff, consider applying Borate to the deck after neutralizing--for some reason this makes buffing significantly easier, and you can sell them the Borate job as an additional fungicide/insecticide for an extra $50-$75, and it will actually reduce your buffing work. Again, don't know why this works, but I know other guys that do this as well and it helps, I'd do it even if the customer was unwilling to pay for it, to save me buffing work. I'll anticipate the question of where to get this--find a distributor for the pest companies and ask them if they sell Timbor, that is 98%DOT (borate), about $75 for a 6gal. pail, would probably do 15 decks.

Into theatre moreso than sound, and sometimes the two go hand-in-hand. I have a sony 57"highdef, and this winter I may start the sound process. Right now it looks like Denon receiver and Klipsch speakers, but still shopping.

Beth, here is a site: www.srloghomes.com Read what they say about cypress on there, you may find it to be an interesting read.

There is so much cool wood out there---ever seen an australian cypress floor?? Awesome looking. James, how in the world did you end up working on alaskan cedar?? Sounds like a customer with too much money, and just had to do something to be different.

Jeez, that is bad even for "back east" standards:) These McMansions ar just crazy---6K sq.ft with vinyl siding on the gables, Pergo floors, etc......i've seen entire subdivisions where the homes were literally cracking down the middle, a jagged line going down the bricks from top to bottom. My cousin does HVAC and he has to go in and re-duct houses, because they use the wrong size duct vs. unit and their A/C unit runs at about 30% it's capacity, makes you not want to buy a house......I wish I could afford an Airstream Trailer and I'd just hook that to my truck and chill:) Regarding softwoods, I've seen a company that builds cypress log homes that guarantees them for 60yrs not to rot....not sure what maintenance is required to keep the warranty however, .....they say cyp. is less prone to rot due to where it is retrieved--Florida.

All of the above with the exception of cypress......I expressed my theory in some thread a few weeks ago.....I see the quality of wood change DRASTICALLY from one house to another, no matter the kind of log. If i were to ever build a log home, I'd have a suberb handcrafter do it that picks his own trees, the only way to control quality. I can just find no other way to explain why one SYP house is 50% rotten in 10yrs, while another is neglected, 20yrs old, exposed, and solid as a rock. It has to be a batch-to-batch issue, or something i cannot grasp. .....aaaand, I don't see decks as much different. I see neglected pt decks in awesome shape, and I see maintained Redwood that looks bad. I've seen enough decks and homes maintained/not maintained where the status of the structure leads me to question whether or not we as wood rest. contractors even provide that valuable of a service. Tough to hear, but I sometimes question it.

Speaking of treated wood, I'd guess the material cost to be around $5.00per linear ft. Up or down significantly based on type of wood. I do log railings, and charge about $15.00 for material (posts, two horizontals and ballusters) and $15.00 for labor, if that gives you a point to start. The main cost differentials will be in whether or not their is a staircase, the size of it and the difficulty factor.

Rick, DEK sikkens can be used on ipe, i've had it look good, but cannot vouch for longevity. It is a tough film, so if applied properly, I'd think it would hold. Have to pre-wipe w/ acetone.

I'm a ford guy and my 7.3 just turned 106K. My dad has a cummins w/ 250K on it, and the reason he got it, is because his buddy has a cummins with about 1.2mil. This guy is an escort (the TRUCK kind) and drives coast to coast all the time. His truck is a 93' stick shift, 2WD. He gets 27mpg on the highway (I assume he only drives about 60mph though) Here's a tip for you guys--mine is stock on than a small program chip, I wish I could afford a Banks System but I can't--but I improved my mileage by about 2mpg by changing from Rotella 15w40 to the Rotella Synthetic 5w40. My cousin has a Duramax and he is the one that suggested it--had the same results. I didn't believe him, but I tried it, and I swear I had the same results. Costs twice as much, but you can go twice as long between changes as well (I'll do mine at 7,500) Right now, running about 75mph, I get around 17-18mpg, and would probably get 20 if i were going 60mph (my truck is 4wd)

sounds like a great deal!! I am with Meiers, right now you've got 16K in it (around that), and i'd try and make a quick 5-8K. Beats doing 5-8K worth of washing!!!

....Well this didn't go how I expected! Does that stain have Peanut Oil in it?? I was reading the thread and thought, "oh no, Ken's worker is allergic to peanuts!" That is actually pretty scary too if you think about it. Greg Rentchler, the guy that started Deckguide, posted pics a couple years back of an entire van he lost to fire, and about 10K of equipment. I talked with him a couple months ago, and he had lost another van to fire in '04. Needless to say, his ins. co. cut him after #2.:) THIS IS WHY A CO. SHOULD COME UP WITH A DECENT WATERBASE PRODUCT!!!!!!

stripper and spray bottle, will leave a ghost,

I was definitely joking, you won't see my fat butt on many roofs! Beth, I'd say behind used car sales, driveway sealcoating is probably the shady'st biz going. I just bought a house from a single girl about my age, and she received about the biggest screwing I've ever seen. Before she sold to me, she had Culligan put in a water softener (probably the only house on my street with one), she made a huge deal at closing about how I had to let her come and take it, which i had no problem with. Her realtor told me later when i was moving in, that a door-to-door salesman had sold it to her (a TINY water softener) ran the plumbing to the fridge and sink. Cost???????? About 4K. I nearly wept for her, and helped her get it to her other house. The sad thing was, I had it still hooked up for about a week, and whenever it was gone, I could tell absolutely no difference in the water. Pretty sad,

Beth, I am curious what you mean by driveway resurfacing. do you mean sealing asphalt or aggregate driveways?? Regarding tree guys, I have two friends in TN that own a tree biz, and they basically follow the weather. Tornado country in the spring/summer, hurricanes late summer/early fall. They mainly just work for one ins. co. in particular that sends them around the country. Unmarked vehicles, etc., you'd never know they ran a really slick operation.......until you found out they made about 5K (or more) a day. I can't fault someone for chasing the money, heck, I thought about roofing in FL last fall!!

F-18 should strip it, but you'll have to get advice from someone more experienced than I with their product to tell you the ratios. Here is some advice--when you can tell that a deck has been refinished improperly, the stain will either come off really really easy or really really hard, and I've not found the correlation as to which causes which. Not really helpful advice, I know, but the lesson is to do a test on the wood. Personally, I am not much of a tester. My theory is that worst case scenerio, I use twice as much stripper as expected and it costs an extra $25, and that is cheaper than me screwing with a demo for an hour. I am lazy like that--but if you are smart you'll do a test. If it looks unique to me, I still test. BTW, your price sounds fine....you say it is small etc. Should be an easy job, worse-case you strip once, go to lunch (wood dry) and come back and strip again, and it should be good as new. Should be in the budget.

Everett is dead-on with his analogy about the bleach. Bleach works fine--even great in some situations--if you know what you are doing. It sounds to me like the person that posted the question is not terribly experienced, and therefore I wouldn't suggest the bleach, especially on a house of all things. Try the percarb cleaner--and disclaim any stain which you may remove.

Doolittle, There are products on the wood market (mainly for log homes) that act as or are sanding sealers. WoodIron has one, www.woodiron.com, but I've only seen these for waterbase and for interior use. The WoodIron requires about 5 different apps. for a start-to-finish interior, and I can use a different product and it look just as good with 3 coats, so I've never dealt with it. A guy on Deckguide (Laroy Williamson) uses WI exclusively.

Brian, If you have any interest in selling brushes, there are some knock-off brands out there that are similar to the Osborne. don't know if they'd be profitable for you or not, might send you a free one though to test, just a thought,