reed

Hd80 will remove old stain on vinyl siding. Homeowners love it when you remove their goofs. Reed

Rich another option here would be to try Citrallic acid, see if that gives you the same result. It would be worth the info you gain on oxallic vs citrallic. Reed

Learned my lesson from a GFCI popping. Now I take a coleman 5000watt generator with me and can power it and the neighbors freezer. 4 oulets and lets me run numerous sanders. Gas consumption on the generator is minimal can run for 8 hours on 5 gallons if needed. Plus, when running the deckster from the generator I don't have to worry about the homeowners circuit popping. Reed

IF the woodgaurd is linseed oil based, that is a sugar and a food source for mold. Are you absolutely sure it is the acid? That doesn't seem right in that there are no sugar elements in oxallic. Reed

I have a deckster that I converted to electric. I spray mostly stripper and oxallic with it. After usage I rinse it out EVERY TIME with two 5gl buckets of plain water. Holds up great. Reed

Thanks Celeste, I appreciate the kind words. You take care of my country in NC. Was born in Winston Salem and raised forever in Lumberton. Damn how I miss "God's Country". Will be doing a bike ride to Deals Gap and Tail of the Dragon at Fontana Village Resort next June with a big group of Road King Riders. Can't wait to get back that way. Reed

Ronnie, My system is I wash from the outside in, then from the bottom up. Several factors come into play here. What kind of decking is the floor? For composite I tarp the floor with plastic sheeting to protect the composite from chems not specified for composite. By doing the outside in I have a complete soaking of surrounding surfaces around the gazeebo so when I do the inside out, all vegetation is somewhat wet from the start. Bottom up lets me keep things wet and provides more rinsing until I brighten. Now this is not "the" only way of doing it. This system works very well for me and others may have a system that works for them. In time you will find a system that works for you that may be a combination of others ways of doing them. When staining PROTECT as best you can anything you don't want stained. For the close in boards get a good quality china bristled brush. They cost more but they do a better job than nylon bristled ones. Take your time staining detail counts. Let me know if I can help you in any way. Reed

This gazeebo had treks decking and steps. We just had to wash everything and brightened the wood to knock down nail bleed and the tanin. The ceiling was washed and brightened then all the 2x6's were brushed and cut in leaving the ceiling in the natural state. The color is a 50/50 mix of RS light brown and Natural cedar. Reed

The homeowner is very happy. He keeps calling to give me updates:). Was glad to get him finished. He must have called me 3 times a week to check on his scheduling. He turned out to be one of the best customers I have had. Every ten minutes while we were doing his gazeebo, he would come outside and tell use how great it looked. CPW, you take care there in NC and be safe. Another one headed your way. Reed

Yeah, I was real happy with this one. The homeowner was a little anal retentive. Plus he plans on sending pictures to the D and F company that built it. They wouldn't cut me a deal on doing some work for me, so will see how this plays out. reed

Great result. You did yourself proud on that one. This is a job that no one really wants to tackle, but when successfully accomplished the rewards are great, not just with the customer but with your own confidence and the possibility of the great PR from the homeowner. Outstanding work. Reed

Two coats, if not three on handrails, is my normal application. I charge for "sealing" and coats are included. Reed

As stated, A percarb cleaner, but don't forget to follow up with a either citrallic or oxallic afterwards. Why did they let it weather for a year? Don't tell me, let me guess, the deck builder suggested it. Reed

I am getting just about two seasons on horizontals and up to 4 seasons on verticles. As with all sealers, it all depends on exposure to the elements if the application was right to begin with. reed

I have on several occasions gone to look at a deck or fence and know that restoring could be done, but would not look like what I want them to look like. I have told the homeowner I won't touch this job. And he may want to consult a deck builder or fence builder when they are really bad. I can pick and choose at my discretion. My open appointments are limited. I run from March to October. I refuse to lower the craftmanship I try to employ in any way, shape or form. I have also had the pleasure of telling customers that they don't need me right away. The deck or fence can wait one year and I will be happy to provide my services. I honor past bids. If a customer states I gave them a bid 4 months ago and have an opening, I will schedule them. I can say I have NEVER bid a deck in order just to get the job. I run my business not the customer. I am the decision maker. I choose the projects and I choose them carefully. Iwill never skimp on product nor will I apply any product I don't believe 100 percent in. Others may disagree, but that is the beauty of commerce and business. Ok, enough from me, the rain outside has me inside and I don't like it :soapbox: Have a great sunshiney day if you have the sun. Reed

gut shot maroon, reed

That is a very reasonable price. You stated they are looking to sell the house and that is why they may have gone lowballer. They don't want to spend anymore money than necessary to get rid of it. I have run into this scenario several times. Bet your bottom dollar they are ONLY getting what they want to pay for and nothing more. Know that you gave them more than a fair price and they were interested in a cheap fix. Not the pro fix. Reee

No particular order intended. WoodTux, ReadySeal, Cabots Worst, Thompson's, CWF-UF, Behr. reed

Mine came out just under half the cost. I don't think this calculator is very accurate at all. Does not factor in Detailing, ie, defurring and nail resetting and other stuff. I plugged in a 10x12, 35 lft, and 13 steps. Price 368.00 rediculous. Reed

Medic, Give me a call I am in St Peters, and can direct you to some places, like here, to get some more info and talk with you about chems, application and MO requirements. Best to call in the evening. 636-397-2858 Reed

EV, exactly. I am going on 4 years on RS lt brn I put on my own fence. Gav, I recently did a 37 sectioned 6x8 fence with 4 sections of 5x8- approx 3752sqft, I charged .50 a square foot. I didn't charge enough considering PIA plants and other things around the fence. I made money but should have charged more, the PIA charge. Took close to 31 gallons of stain at 2 coats, and 40+gallons of stripper and brightener. I charged them $1,876.00. The homeowner was happy and that was the bottom line here, they got their money's worth. Reed

As Beth replied, HD80 will be best. Depending on how many coats of that nasty stuff is on the deck, you may have to use super strength or at least full strength. If the stuff is withing 3 years from first application, you may want to use the booster. Please post some pics of the project if you can. Reed

Oxalic or Citralic is not "metal" friendly. Becareful around thresholds it will oxidize. reed

Gav, Most of the time you can't get the marks out. There will always be a little hint of where the mats, plants, grill gaurds, etc were. Reed

Gavin, the only places I know that are selling the defurring pads are here and on another board. The cost is minimal compared to the result you will get after defurring. the homeowners will be pleased to be able to walk on their decks barefoot again and not worry about the wood. One hell of a great little tool to have in the arsenal. reed