JFife

Nick, You are seriously da man!! Good job not being a worthless punk like probably 90% or us were when we were your age! I loved that bloodwood/cherry box, when work picks up and I get over the winter money blues (dad will understand that one:)) I am going to buy one of those. I am sure your dad is proud of you, but more importantly, you should give yourself a big ole' pat on the back for not being afraid to take a risk and doing something you love with your talents. Best of luck to your future, and all the great things I'm sure it will hold, jon

HD now sells a four yr. warranty with their machines for an extra hundred bucks or so, i buy those all the time, I've probably owned 20, they tear up, I return in the time frame, no (not many at least) questions asked. They've been stricter on it here recently (last few yrs)

I'd like some advice from some of you biz-whizzes.....say, you were going to be doing multiple, unrelated things, and wanted different biz names. For instance, JF washing, JF lawnmowing, JF Carpet Care an JF Millwork. Is there a suggested way you could do this so that the company name was Jon Fife Enterprises, and you'll file taxes under that company name, but the other businesses would have their own license, bookkeeping, etc. Obviously, you'd want the biznesses separate, so you new what was doing well and what wasn't. But at the end of the year could you lump it all together?? Anyone got ideas???

KC, I prefer to use citric since it does not irritate as much as can be mixed at a higher percentage, and xjet'd. Citric is more expensive, maybe 30% more, but well worth the labor savings due to the xjetability. Celeste, email me if you need instructions on mixing ideas, save you an easy $30-$60 a deck, which is a lot of money. jon

oohh, that is really cool! I love creative decks, there is a company I knew in Golden, CO that built really neat stuff, Decktec, (www.decktec.com), I always envied the cool jobs they got to work on. Beth, do chems affect those spindles in any way??

Tony, ....interesting....quick connects.....I'm gonna try that,

Regarding clean-up, remember if you clean up with water in a shurflo or airless, you are prone to rust if it sits long at all. Even if I am cleaning out with soapy water after using waterbase, once clean I still run through a dab of thinner to keep the internals from rusting. VERY important for the airless, which is not expendable like a shurflo. Tony, you might just keep an extra hose around for spraying latex, and change out when necessary. I really doubt, if you are like me, that latex makes up more than 10% of your work, so you wouldn't be changing out often. But very small amounts of latex can dry inside the hose, and your oilbase could cause it to loosen, making one miserable day of staining:) Also, if you ever spray a paint stripper, like BTN or Removall or Peel Away, make sure to have a totally separate airless hose for that as well. Yes, it also strips the latex in the hose as well. Hey, and if you ever use these strippers, don't forget to spray them on your airless, and when cleaning out the stripper with water, spray off the machine, will look as good as new:)

I say replace the whole floor. I think a patch job on this would be a big hassle, and if you go that route, pull out all the waivers. I can't imagine anyone would be pleased with the appearance of new boards next to old rotten ones, so protect yourself.

Russ, Great Q and I can't wait to try the WET. If you've heard of Sashco (make log products) they just came out with a new oil base than i thought had a cool color system. (sashco.com Transformation Stain) Red tone light/red tone medium/red tone dark Gold tone light/gold tone medium/gold tone dark Brown tone light/brown tone medium/brown tone dark Natural/grey I thought these colors were great, and all you would need. I am partial to brown/gold colors. For instance, I love the pics i've seen of your warm honey gold, and if i wanted something darker i would want it to darken up BROWNER, not oranger or redder. The hints of gold with a brown color are great for me. jon If you can, please test your products for chink/caulk compatability, you can do it yourself or you can send to one of the producing companies for free i believe and they'll test it for you. sashco.com permachink.com Thanks for asking for input,

Scott is correct, I believe the best for decks as well. Need better color selection in my opinion however. The film former, is the 300 series, for furniture mainly, but some use it for other things. The 100 series is great and easy to recoat, you can cut 50/50 with clear to keep from darkening. jon

Shane, that's cause they practically went out of biz about 15 yrs ago, some people died of Ecoli poisoning I believe.

This is probably the subject I am more passionate about than anything else I talk about. The best pizza. As an STL native, I am partial to a STL style pizza, such as Imo's. I like Joe Baccardi's. For chicago style, I love Home Run Inn. While i've yet to eat at their restraunt, their frozen pizza's are rediculously good. As a pizza connoiseur, I am ashamed to say I love a frozen pizza, but those are great. I've tried to copy their crust to no avail thus far. jon

:) Try my chicago deep dish when I put it up tony, you'll be a believer Shane, I get the cajun fever about twice a year, make jambalaya or ettoufe or something. I make a couple good pizzas, mainly country cooking stuff, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, breads, etc. I make some pretty good desserts, pies and cobblers and such, my fav is something called Congo Bars, I'll post here soon.

Thanks for bringing up a great subject!! Anyone in the midwest like Penn Station Subs?? Really good. I am going to start a thread tomorrow on recipies, I am not ashamed to say I am about the best cook I know. I'll pass on some good stuff, Also going to start a pizza thead,

Might try Sikkens DEK, film former, but tough. Made to be cleaned with bleach frequently. Pretty easy maintenance if it is not failing badly.

Bad idea--basically has all of the drawbacks of a linseed stain, without the mildecides. Save it for an inside project, jon

Hey, my friend John T!! Dang, was that starter made of gold?? You must have some expensive import, pw'ing must be working out well:) In MO right now and cold, been in CO last few months, and got SO spoiled! about 50-60 and sunny everyday, never gets cold. Never rains, snows very little, truly the Promised Land. Not what people expect when they hear "Denver."

Eric, Try Removall 310 from Biowash. cost about $150 pr 5er, and you apply with an airless. Removes up to 10 coats at once. Awesome stuff,

call anytime Celeste, jon

To clarify my point, Celeste, As far as pro's disagreeing on methods--that happens. Most that suggest not using bleach have something to sell you other than bleach. I use all of the above mentioned chems--they all have their place. Sometimes bleach does a horrible job, sometimes it is just what the doctor ordered. I'll say this one last time, so that I am not confused with those arguing the bleach point---my suggestion is that there is either a finish or heavy mildew/uv greying on this wood, and it will take significant chems/pressure to remove it. See the way the house looks totally grey?? If you hit that with pressure and a chem, it will look just like you are stripping and everywhere the wand goes is going to turn a dark pink color, and will dry to a light pink color (and VERY fuzzy). My fear, since I don't know you or know your experience level, is that you are thinking that this is an xjet-and-rinse job, and all of the mildew and greying will fall off. It will not be that way. LogWash is not going to restore this wood, it is for cleaning off surface contaminants from a fresh, finished surface. Again, they have something to sell you. I certainly hope it has not/does not feel that I am in any way talking down to you. But I probably have more exp. doing this type of work than anyone that is going to respond to you on here, and I've done 25K jobs and lost money. It is not fun, and I don't want to be the one that lets someone else gamble on a big job without knowing the consequences. Losing money is not only financially destructive, it also kills your spirit. If you guys do this job, call me and I'll help you anyway I can, 615-498-5260

Thanks Beth, I enjoy your site. I don't normally advise newbies much, as I see mistakes and failures as part of the learning curve that is very valuable. Also helps to "weed out" those that are not serious. On a deck, a mistake or failure is great, and you can recover and learn something valuable. I just don't like seeing a newbie have to learn a tough lesson on a 10K or 15K job, since that can put you out of business or worse, especially when the homeowner probably has the resources to leverage you. Remember on this particular home, they've already had one p'washer damage their very expensive siding. Celeste, Is there a clear sealer or anything else on this home??

I said I wouldn't say anymore:) I am familiar with the product you speak of, it is made for maintaining their finishes without removing the product. Are you going to apply and rinse with a hose?? If you pressurewash, you'll either have to do it thoroughly and get back to bare wood (2-3 day job) or spray at a distance and cause blotchiness. IF you don't wash/clean properly, the results will look far worse than the home looks now. Cleaning properly will cause felting without a doubt, so make sure to disclaim that. Bid accordingly, this is a big job, and will be nothing like washing a vinyl/aluminum/siding house. Don't forget about water intrusion, that can happen on wood sided homes in areas, so have someone keep an eye on it.

Celeste, If you insist on washing, just use water. Even if you give a disclaimer, is a pissed off customer worth 1K?? If you use bleach, percarb, etc, it is going to change the appearance of the home significantly, and most likely effect the deck somewhat. I just don't think you should attach your name to a blow-and-go job, even if that is what they want. Trust me, your downside to this job is far greater than the upside. It sounds like you've never worked on redwood before, and this wouldn't be the best place for you to start in my opinion. I'm never one to discourage a person from taking a risk on a job, but you at least need the opportunity for a big upside, and it is not here on this job. Spend the day full of stress, dissapointment and aggrevation that you would have if you did this job going door-to-door and offering vinyl house washing for $125, and you'll come out far better in my opinion. I won't say anymore, good luck with whatever happens.

Beth, I don't want to hijack the thread, but what happened to Chris Detter??

Celeste, Walk off and wait for the new homeowner, and contact them for a full job. At best, what would you get for a washing?? $500-$1000, days work?? For what they are wanting (don't touch deck, no stain, no strip) you are running a far better chance of causing yourself trouble. If you wash with a chem, you'll felt the wood and they'll blame you and want you to sand it. Nah, not for the up-side of $1000. Give them a bid to do it right, strip, sand, stain, and tell them they'll get it back at the sale. Otherwise, run.