Russell Cissell

The best tape that I could recommend would be heat shrink tape. It is designed to be used on cars and boats without leaving a residue on the finish. The cost is about $25.00 for a 250 ft by 6" roll. I get it through a company called Land and Sea.

Take a pass

I can help you but it is a process. . .call me at 636-899-1769 I bet you have everything you need right there at home. Russell Cissell

I think that wood restoration is a system. When done properly there are a series of steps that must be taken in order to achieve the best outcome. Some jobs allow for fewer steps but for the most part you will clean or strip, neutralize or brighten and then finish with a stain or sealer. To me there is only one answer, to properly restore wood you have to use a system. Now, like any tradesman, I have my favorite tools. They are the ones I carry to the job site most often. As anyone who has spent time in any trade can tell you, you cannot always rely on your favorite tool. More importantly, if you are going to stick with just the one tool, stick to the work it is suited for. I am all for learning to use as many tools as I can. Makes me feel handy. Best of Luck!

Jason- I am not to terribly fond of spiders so this post sort of stuck with me. I was at my parents' house over the holidays and did some digging. What I found confirmed my suspicions, that I had run into a similar little nasty once before myself. Forgive the picture quality. . .that is a digital picture of an old print It was taken over 20 years ago and yes, that handsome looking kid is yours truly.

I would agree that the translation is difficult to make in the wood restoration industry, but we used to sell two levels of service for house washing. In the event that a customer was not inclined to have us "detail" their house often we would offer to "street clean" the same house at a discounted price. The idea being the house would look fantastic from the street. The price differential was reflective of the time savings between the two services. Typically a "street clean" would include treating and rinsing with an x-jet. Rinse aid for the windows and a Zep wax on the siding. A detail would be what everyone would want if money was not an issue. We would even detail the mail box if there was one. I agree with Shane in regard to wood. There is only one right way to do it and it will be slightly different with every job. For instance we would never bid Cleaning vs Striping. To the contrary, I am in favor of the up charge. For instance if there are a number of wasp nests to contend with, we make note. If the cedar home we are bidding is surrounded by thorn bushes or steep cliffs it will effect the completion time. This is not so much a tier pricing as building in a buffer. We have a base price per square foot however we may go up a bit as circumstances dictate.

I would caution that often the homeowner does not understand the restoration process. A homeowner saying "I just want it cleaned" can be translated into. . ."I really don't want to spend that much money." In order to "wash" that house successfully you will most likely "strip" some of the existing finish. This is especially true any time you are dealing with old failed finish and mold or mildew. The straight answer to your question would be to use EFC-38 at about 1/2 strength and follow with Citralic. I personally would not take the job unless they understand the restoration process and elect to have the job done right. My experience is that it is very difficult to "wash" natural siding if the finish is over a couple years old. If it has mold or mildew it only compounds the problem. Feel free to give me a call. I am manning the contractor support hotline all week so you can reach me at 1-866-536-7393. Best of Luck! Russell

I for one think what the ***** represents is positive change for the industry. The feeling I get is that the organization is coming to the industry in the spirit of cooperation. In the past there seems to have been, to some degree, an adversarial attitude in the industry. I hope to see the industry embrace and foster this spirit of cooperation. Speaking as the owner of ESI, we will be showing our support by participating with a booth at the up coming trade show in May. I look forward to the many networking opportunities and seeing what is new for our industry in 2006.

On large areas of concrete a safe and quick method of applying HD-80 is to simply flood the surface and work the product around with a push broom. Then you use a spraye to mist areas that are difficult to keep wet. In most cases you would not have to use HD-80 at full strength. I would think that a ratio of 1:1 or a 50% mixture would work well.

It would be better if you apply the HD-80 direct to the concrete. An X-Jet is an excellent tool, however it does not provide the level of control that you want when using a caustic like HD-80. Ideally you would want a high volume pump with a low pressure fan spray. Give me a call and we can discuss other solutions. 1-866-536-7393

Jon "This weather" is a subjective term my friend! Everything is frozen here right now so I would have to say no. I have worked the product right around the freezing point. It's not so much a matter of the stain being thick. Like any oil based product Wood-Tux does thicken up when it gets colder but that is easy to deal with. If you are trying to reduce the viscosity of the stain for application, you can add a small amount of mineral spirits. Mineral spirits will thin the stain better than water. Mineral spirits will also have less of an effect on cure time. Adding water reduces the cure time. Adding mineral spirits speeds it up if anything. Cure time is the real issue.

The key is not so much the temperature outside as the temperature of the wood. The warmer the wood is, the easier it is for the stain to penetrate. The drying and curing processes are also quicker under warmer conditions. If you are staining in cold weather an important consideration is temperature flux. As an example if you stain a deck in the afternoon the outside temp may be 40 degrees and the temp of the wood may be even higher if you are in direct sun. As the sun goes down if the temperature drops quickly the wood may shrink and force out some of the stain that hasn't cured. You also need to allow for additional time before the wood gets rained on after finish application. If I were using Wood-Tux in the summer I know it can get rained on after about 15 min of application. If it is below 40 degrees outside I would look for a window of at least an hour between application and the first rain.

I don't mean to be ambiguous. I am just looking for an average price per foot. Lets say patio style deck, no rails, no steps, no wasps and it is built over stain colored sand. Also, thank you $2.35 sounds like exactly what I was after. I appreciate everyone who took the time to vote.

Neil- I would recommend that you order the Solo 1 GPM spray tip. The part number is 10F110. It is compatible with your sprayer and costs less than $3.00 You can order it direct from Solo by calling their parts department (757) 245-5531 Best of Luck!

Tony- You mentioned the fence was fairly new. Did you wash it first? If so, how long did that take? So far if you've covered over 2000 square feet in just over two hours. That is excellent for one man. Russell

That is a lot of fence. Do you mind sharing the total square footage and your time on the job?

Nice job! That looks real good Jon.

Wood Chat is on for tonight at 9:00 eastern. Tonights topic will be open. Hope you can make it!

Phil You Rock!

Matt Don't take it too hard. Wood can be weird. I am guessing you are speaking about the boards in the upper right quarter of the picture? Did you happen to take a more direct photo of the boards in question?

Now, I've got this painter friend that would simply say. . . "Ma'am the critter that causes that is the Japanese Fortune Beetle and to get that many of them marks is a sure sign of good luck!"

Tonight will be an open discussion. If there has been something you've wanted to discuss, tonight is your kind of night. Join us at 9:00pm Eastern/8:00pm Central. Be sure to show up a little bit early! Best of Luck! Russell Cissell

Tony- We've got something in St. Louis that digs a smooth channel in wood about 1/2 inch wide and about 1/4 inch deep. It does not bore into the wood like the carpenter bee and it also digs in irregular lines. I will try to get a picture. Have you ever heard of or seen this?

Doug The nearest distributor I have to you would be in Bethlehem, NY. This time of year they let their wood restoration products run out. It only takes 3 days to ship to your door step from our main warehouse in St. Louis, MO. As for brochures, if you want to e-mail your address I will get a few on the way to you. Best of Luck!

SunBrite has them.