JFife

Racechaser, Without getting theological, I'll lightly touch on your last paragraph......regarding what God allows or doesn't allow, i personally don't feel that happens. Could he change courses of events?? Sure. Does he?? I don't think so. What I am saying, I don't think if we still had the Ten Commandments on the wall at Columbine that God would have stopped those boys from killing their fellow students. Everyone likes to say the world is coming to an end because of all the bad things that are happening.....how could any God allow it to keep going?? TV shows are SO dirty, and kids have *** and kill people, and little girls have abortions.... For any that think these things are so awful, I'd suggest reading the Bible from front to back and you'll see much worse stuff happening. Ever heard of the Romans????? Celeste, You said you stated your point, "rather badly", and I don't agree. You stated your point the way you see it, I don't agree and others may not agree, but it is still your point and still respectable. What you want is a good thing--people learning golden rules and to love thy neighbor, etc., but we just disagree on the how and when it should be done. I'd personally never send my kids to private school, but this is the exact reason they exist. Pretty screwed up story about the baby. It is astounding how ignorant people can be. What is sad is that the girl didn't have anyone to ASK where to take the baby....and if I were guessing myself, I'd also have dropped it off at a Pregnancy Center. When I was in college (private,christian) I don't know how many girls had abortions, but the number would have been shocking. And then, a girl I was friends with (as well as her BF) got pregnant and carried the baby. Guess what?? Got kicked out of school. Set a bad example, and her un-christian-like behavior started the problem, and this was the punishment. I was furious. I thought that was hands-down, the worst decision I'd ever seen made. She could have taken the easy way out, but did the right thing, and got punished for it. She had one semester left of school, and I don't know if she ever finished or not. I guess what was so troubling to me was, okay, if the faculty is going to take a stand, then why allow her to ever come back, because there would have always been a reminder of her transgretion (baby)?? the point was, the school didn't want to tarnish it's repution by having a girl walking around pregnant. Made me sick, and still does,

Mike, One thing right off the bat.....changing out 40 pads takes at least one hour, plus the time up and down the ladder, etc. The labor savings are big, plus no little black bristles to clean up. Drawbacks: heavier, $, tougher to get into some spots, easier to get into others Benefits: faster, more abrasive, more effective, You'll just have to try one and see what you think. You'd DEFINITELY prefer it on the floor, due to it's weight and ability to get into ridges.

need square bristles, more abrasive, call www.aloghomestore.com, they'll tell you what you need. Cost around $70-90.

Need more GPM for the CWF than .2 IMO. I have a Wagner (don't remember the #) that cost $300, is about .5gpm and 7/8hp, I'd get that or something of a similar size,

APPROPRIATELY EDUCATED, by whom?? And exactly which denominations do think are going to agree on this appropriate education?? ELECTIVE, and your well-behaved kids and the other kids from Carolina Southern Baptist will be there, and not the ones you think need the thumpin' *** EDUCATION, necessary, parents either don't or do a horrible job on this one. Too embarrassing for the kids and parents, and what comes out is, "it is WRONG, don't do it or you'll be punished and won't ever get to go out again," PRAYER, why do you need a special time?? Why should I as a taxpayer have to spend more to keep the lights on at the school an extra five minutes a day so the Muslim kid can face whichever direction it is and pray to Allah??

Celeste, I am a Christian, actually a rather conservative one that still makes mistakes. I believe sin has a way of making you pay---whether it be the psychological effects of sexual immorality, the character effects of lying, or the effects any of these acts will have on your loved ones. You pay, no doubt. I still don't think others should financially gain from it though. ....this'll ruffle feathers, but I am TOTALLY for separation of church and state. If ethics are taught and discussed that is one thing, but I wouldn't want my kids (if i had any) learning Biblical lessons from their math teacher. And if you think this is an amp'd up topic right now, imagine what it would be like if kids got Bible lessons?? "and Jesus said,"......oops, here come the Jewish parents, "only the first five books of the OT!!" they scream. Christmas, Easter, you lose the conservative christians that point out there is not scriptural grounds for the "exact" dates, and you lose the Jehovah Witnesses. Then the Penecostal kid catches the Holy Spirit in the middle of class and is writhing on the floor....the Catholic kid tries to excise the Penecostal's demon because he's never seen anything like this......extreme, but this would be the slippery slope we'd go down. Let kids learn math and english in school, and save the Bible for home and church. Anyone agree?:)

Doing something morally wrong doesn't equate to doing something criminally wrong.....a hundred mil. is one heck of a penalty for a lapse in judgement, and it being with a psycho broad that self-medicates her "rape" by sleeping with three other guys in the following days.....I'd hate for every moral indiscretion I have ever (or will ever) make to have that kind of a financial backlash for me......I don't think others should be able to financially gain from moral mistakes a rich guy makes........to think, this skank will never have to work again and will be extremely wealthy all because she has no consideration for others (taxpayers, Kobe, family, friends) and is basically scum, this is how the legal system works, makes me sick

Regarding what Paul B. said of Billy Graham.....I know higher profile atheletes and other stars have girls sign waivers before they'll have ***---basically disclaiming that the girl has acknowledged what she is doing, and is a willing participant. What I've heard (during the Kobe) was that is goes so far as to sign off on what may or may not occur........it's always good to see these celebrities using their legal teams to their fullest potential:) This is what Kobe should have done, would have keep him out of a lot of trouble.....he is about the only celeb I thought actually got a raw deal, and it has probably cost him in the 100's of millions.

Tron, That will give others a better place to start with their help. It sounds like you obviously have the know-how and background to run a successful biz, and sounds like you are in a position to throw some money into your biz. That being the case, and since you'll be doing mainly cleaning work, I'll deferr my advice to someone more knowledgable to this arena--someone more involved with hot water work. My advice was more tailored to the typical, 25yr. old guy that was to be an owner-operator and doesn't have much depth to his pockets. Good luck,

To save word getting too specific, I'll just say it is not a problem for me or anyone else. If you sit on a surface with the rotary brush at a high speed, yes, it will burn the wood. On a big smooth surface (say a 12" log) you can see some light swirls, depending on the finish used. But nobody, and I mean nobody, would ever notice much less complain, because they'll be drooling over the fact that all the felting is gone. Just try it; you'll be an expert within 5 minutes, and if you don't like it for some reason, I'll buy it back from you.

RC, pads work good in some situations, but 95% of the time an Osborne Brush is far better. Expensive, but last a long time. Kinda heavy, saves money in durability, quality, and no change-outs. www.aloghomestore.com should be easy to find, you want a 6" brush with square bristles,

....used for spraying paint/stains, electric, cost from $250-5K......let me know more specifically what you'd like to know and I'll be able to help you more,

Very generous and humbling Scott, often times these forums are used to discuss bad customers, bad people, bad acts (the murder in NJ), and it is refreshing to see such an act of kindness and goodness.

Tron, ....assuming you have transportation, i.e. truck, van, trailer. Since you posted this on the PW section, I'll also assume that is where you'll direct your biz.....housewash, driveways, gutters and decks. Fair enough?? I'd spend $1000 on a 3500psi, 4gpm machine at HD and get the four year extended warranty. I buy about four different wands, and some extra hose. Xjet. $100 in spare parts/tools. Spend $300 for a decent airless sprayer. Another $200 for a couple airless wands, tips, and some drops, etc. If you were doing a lot of concrete, you could drop another $800 on a surface machine, but I'd wait till you had the work lined up for sure, my opinion. And say you spend $500 for ladders of some fashion. So i've got you up to 2K, 3K max, and you have everything you'll need to do your work. Will a cold water wash concrete as good (and fast) as a hot water?? Nope. But the only difference one would notice is if you cleaned an area side-by-side to a hot water area, then you could tell a difference. Otherwise, nobody but a pro would notice a difference. That would be all of the necessary equipment to strip, brighten and stain a deck/fence, and everything you'd need to wash houses. Then, I'd spend the other 4K on an ad campaign (not all at once), get some work, see if you like the biz, see if your area will support the biz, and see if you can make money. Also, if you look back at what I bought you, it is all stuff you would be thrilled to keep around the house should your biz not turn out the way you want it to (gotta be a realist), and stuff that would sell easily (and locally) if you had to get rid of it (minus xjet, wands, surf. cleaner), so you've made failure far less costly and painful. You don't want to be a guy that spends his every penny (not implying you have no money, just an argument) on a cadillac setup, and is broke going into winter and has to sell out at a big loss. Don't worry, there'll be plenty who will advise you after this to dump in some big bucks.....I am just more cautious. Other factors will come into play: obviously your current financials, your current name in your community, biz experience, etc. I am assuming all of those are on the low end, you don't have a lot of $, don't have lots of experience, etc. The great thing about the internet is nobody knows you/about you, and you get unbiased responses. Good luck, Jon

Beth, I know you guys did some homes w/ Menwood, has that been a problem for you?? I used it about three yrs. ago on a handful of decks, etc. (maybe 30-40) and a few homes. The decks were a disaster; within about three months the color had totally faded and the floors were getting black. However, I saw one of the homes about two-two and a half yrs. later, and it looked pretty good. The north side was just starting to darken, but the exposed sides were holding up well. Never understood that, but the decks were a nightmare. I called and talked to the owner (who is now dead) and told him the problems, and told him I truly didn't think it was in his companies best interest to sell their product in the SE, but he said most loved it and was very dismissive of my concerns. I wasn't asking for anything; I hadn't had complaints, but the people should have been complaining. Since, I've talked with people in GA that had the same results, and I bid on a local home where the house received Menwood after it was built, and I looked at it two yrs. later, and the house was TOTALLY black (couldn't even tell what the initial color was). So what has been your problems??

True about the money. Since you brought up race---I'll propose a question: Why do you think blacks support MJ?? I mean, if a white guy trying changing himself into a black person, I'd be a little offended that he had a problem with going through his life looking like me. But Jesse Jackson and other black leaders STRONGLY support him as a black person, even though he has obviously tried to change that about himself. That has always baffled me. Reminds me of the Chappelle Show episode where they had the Race Draft, where all of the different races drafted people of ethnic ambiguity into their race, had to see it I guess:)

From what i'd heard, I couldn't have convicted him either. Even the jurors admitted they didn't doubt he'd molested children, but they couldn't convict him of molesting THIS child under the case the prosecution put on. When the kid's mother has a history of being a con-artist and a total cheat/loser, she has no credibility with me, and why should she with a jury?? I hope she can sleep at night knowing her scumbag ways essentially allowed her childs abuser to be free. What is more disturbing to me, however, are the losers that are picked for these jurys. I've seen some interviews with a few of them, and they seriously have trouble putting sentences together. And "reasonable doubt" is getting more un-reasonable all the time. I think we should go to a system where the case is presented before a clear-thinking reasonable judge, and he makes the ruling. And that judge, in my opinion, should be me:)

Classic, I use a .209 for SRD, the best tip in my opinion.

What Tony has would be fine---if you keep your eyes open, sometimes HD sells 5 or 10 that are refurbs, and it'll save you a Benjamin or so. Newlook, Very interesting what you guys have got going on. Do you guys have plans for future growth, or to just improve/grow on what you are doing now?? Is your biz model franchisable, or do you think the scope of the work you do is too difficult and requires too much talent/knowledge for a franchise concept?? I think what guys like you and Henry do is very interesting, with a broad spectrum of services you provide. I think customers would like the idea of a one-stop-shop for all of their home maintenance needs.

stir, remove a wood roller stick and use that, if I already have the tip in i need (so I don't have to touch it) I'll use my wand if feeling lazy. Yeah, what you're describing would pretty much be a nightmare i'd imagine.

Pressurepro, 20K for what?? Property taxes?? Where i live, if you buy a home you can usually count on the taxes being the same as the insurance..... Pressure washing must be working out very well for you, lol. Man, with prices like that on the homes, I truly cannot see how you guys do it.

It doesn't even get hot in Connecticut:)

The Bible author for most log books is B.Allan McKie, written several books and is the Godfather of modern scribe log work. He has many books addressing such, but also books with load equations, stress info, etc. You could peruse at: www.loghelp.com.

specifically, what sprayer is it?? 112 series....what brand?? where did you get?? Does it have a pot you have to fill??

Anyone have any knowledge on what it would take to offer financing to clients?? Often times, the work I do will involve 10K-20K necessary work on a home worth 150K, and usually those folks cannot exactly cut a check for 10K, but it doesn't change the fact that the work needs done, and the cost will rise exponentially until they fix it. So I normally don't like to finance stuff, but I got some furniture 1yr. same as cash and took the offer (Lazboy). Turns out, all they do is issue you a credit card from Wells Fargo with a balance of whatever you spent, and you have 1 yr. to pay for it. I know of local roofing co's, etc., that offer financing, and I am sure they are not carrying it (maybe they are??) So has anyone any knowledge of how these guys do this......is it through the small local bank or what?? For me, I know this would increase the amount of work I was able to do for people, and save them money in the long run as well, even if they were financed at 20%. Thoughts??