herbie1

Rod, As Everett said "you may not feel a year older" then I say "but you look it"! Happy B-Day bud and make sure you soak in the hot tub with a nice cold beer. Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing

Jesse, I have heard that from other home owners also. Not necessary. There are some threads on this board about ipe do a search. If it has a previous sealer on it I would use HD-80 half strength (4oz per gallon to strip). I would then hit it with citralic full strength (8 oz a gallon). I would look into Cabot's Austalian Timber Oil to seal however as this sealer is made specifically for hardwoods like ipe. Go to cabots.com to look up. Hope this helps and I'm sure others will chime in. Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing

Amen brother. If you have paint on a deck plan on two days of sanding (I said this before). Also plan that not all of the paint will come up and this will show through any semi. Educate your customer and explain to them why they should put on a solid stain instead of a semi. Plan on bidding the job about double what you would normally charge and get to work. Just my 2 cents. Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing

Dale, Sorry Dale. I should have said that the directions for the Cabot's Solid Oil Based decking stain do not include having to prime. You only need to prime with the acrylics. Herb

It is not necessary to prime if you use the oil based decking stain. Two coats will do.

The oil based solid stain from Cabot's is new so the jury is still out on the self priming. You are correct as you will need to apply double the amount of stain but no primer is needed for this product. You would need a primer with the water based acrylic stain however. This would figure heavily into your bid as it adds another step and another day to your job. Hope this helps. Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing

Cabots solid decking stain is what you want Provt and ovt are typically used for houses and only on vertical surfaces. Cabots oil based solid stain is self priming and a two coat application. The waterborne acrylic is also a two coat application but you would need to prime all bare wood first. Hope this helps, Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing P.S. Be prepared to pay upwards of $40 a gallon for Cabot's

Jr, You must recommend a solid stain to the homeowmer. You will not get all the stain off. Herb Hewlett

Jr, I am currently experiencing what you are going to go through. Even if it is not paint it is acrylic based and I had no luck with HD-80 and the booster (if you don't have the booster don't even try to remove this product). Talk the customer out of the semi and go with a solid stain (Hey you didn't put the Behr on and they need to understand this). Clean the deck and get out the sander to remove loose and peeling paint (that is basically what this product is). Plan on spending a half to a full day cleaning, 1-2 days sanding and depending on what product you use 2-3 days staining. I only tell you this because it is happening to me right now. I am using Cabot's Solid decking stain which requires a primer before stain application to any bare wood. With this product you need a night for primer to set, another night for 1st coat and then you put on a second coat. I hope all works out for you and your bid would cover this. You may have to rebid if you are low for all this work that you may have to do. Good luck, Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing

Use a percarbonate cleaner on it. Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing

Tell the customer that you will do your best to get this area to match as close as possible and then tell them not do place them out again. Herb Hewlett

Some factors come into play. Will you need a lift or need to rent scaffolding to complete the job. Will you need to do ladder work. Are you going to strip the old stain or just clean and brighten before you apply the new stain. How many coats of stain will you need to apply. All of these factors will come into play in your bidding process. Just some food for thought. Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing

Looks like you would have to use a solid stain. In this case you would need to put a primer down first to give the stain something to ahere to as it would not adhere to the trex decking itself. Herb Hewlett

Silicone is very hard to strip. I would not recommend this to any homeowner as they will have difficulty when it comes to maintaining the deck once it has been cleaned. Just my 2 cents. Herb Hewlett

Hey all, I have a question about Natural Cedar Ready seal. Is this a clear sealer or does it have a bit of color to it? I have a customer who wants a clear sealer to let the natural wood look show through. I have used ready seal in the past and like working with the product. If not I was thinking of going with Olympic's Maximum. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Herb Hewlett

Jeff, You are going to have to sand off the old varnish, stain and/or poly. Invest in either a belt sander or a orbital sander. Ask the restaurant if they know what was on the bench. I'm sure that they are going to want it to match all the other booths so they probably have this info. Typically application consists of one or two coats of stain (interior latex stain) and a coat of poly. Hope this helps. Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing If it's outside and dirty we clean it

Always pre-wet the windows and then rinse thoroughly. This may also give you an opportunity to sell a window cleaning as you have to tell the customer that there will be some streaking and spotting from the wash. Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing

Silowet is a silicant used after cleaning a house to protect the siding or other material from mold/mildew regrowth. It also give aluminum and vinyl siding a new look sheen after application. When applied to brick it will give the brick a rich dark look. Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing

It's ok I will just have to play once a month. Everett you must have cheated let me know how you did it lol. Herb Hewlett

Envirospec sells very good chemicals for housewashing. I use a 2 step process where I wash with Limonene and after rinsing apply Sil-o-wet. The sil-o-wet is a silicant which will help to protect the siding from mold and mildew regrowth. It also gives it a nice new look sheen (aluminum and vinyl siding). Hope this helps. Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing If it's outside and dirty we clean it

Hey all, I need some recommendations. I have a little 10hp 3400psi 4gpm Briggs and Stratton with an Anovi Reverbi pump. I have a leak in the pump which is allowing water to get in the crank casing. What I want to know is if you think it is worth fixing or should I get a brand new pump. This is a back-up so I am in no hurry. If you think I should get a new pump could you recommend one. Thanks, Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing

You may want to try sandblasting off the varnish. Of course you will need a blaster and an air compressor but you won't get poisoned either. Herbie

Aaron, It is higherpowersupplies.com Herb

A good rule of thumb when you are doing gutters is to upsell gutter guards. Most houses have either vinyl or seamed metal gutters. You can get vinyl guards at Home Depot, Lowes, etc for about $1.00 for a 3 ft piece. Installing these after you clean out the gutters is where you can really up the ante for the customer and for your bottom line.

Mike, My experience has been that each ladder manufacturer makes its own stabilizer. It is not hard to get one which adjusts across but I have never seen one which adjusts in and out to change your distance from the wall. If you find one let me know. Good Luck! Herb Hewlett Herb's Pressure Washing