Lou Beach

Hi, did a housewash today, and because I still am learning I did not closely inspect the vinyl siding prior to washing. After the wash (I used 1gal 12%chorine, Emulsifier + and water, X-Jet on. rinse with 65/8 tip) I saw all these tiny little black spots on the side of the house. The black spots were concentrated on the vinly going up about 7 feet and were clustered above a mulch bed. The air conditioning units were also covered with these black spots and they were installed in the mulch bed. So right away I think, these have got to be the dreaded artillery fungus. I got a little stronger tip out and tried to blast the spots away. No such luck. they didn't move. So on a whim, I picked up a dry towel and started to wipe the vinly siding. To my suprise most of the little specks came of from just wiping when a minute prior they had withstood about 1500psi. All the tiny little black spots did not come off with the wipe, but most did. I took some pictures that didnt come out to well but you can view them below. Could this be artillery fungus that had just recently attached itself to the side of the house and therefore had not developed a strong bond with the vinyl? If so why didn't they come off with the soap/chlorine/PW application but would come of with a simple wipe with a dry towel? Befuddling. Also would add that the area's of the house that did not have mulch beds at the base of the vinyl did not have the little black specks which led me to believe it definatley was artillery fungus Here are two pics that didnt come out to well, but they may help [ATTACH]2924[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]2925[/ATTACH]

If anyone has used this product can you suggest a mixture ration for a 5 gallon bucket? I plan to X-Jet this on vinyl siding from a 5 gal bucket and cannot figure out what the mix ration should be. Envirspec's website says 40 part water to 1 Part soution for downstreaming. Having trouble interpreting that into X-Jet w/5 gal. bucket. Also, does this product need to be rinsed from windows after applied to the side of a house? thanks

Recieved a call from the US Naval Research Lab located in Chesapeake Beach Md. They are looking for someone to remove paint from the bottom of a 75 foot LCM (it's a naval landing craft) and they need it done within enviromental standards. They mentioned soda blasting. If interested contact Bill Drury 410-257-4056

Cool!

Can someplease please post a pic of their setups?

Shane, do you buy the Padco Paint pads or the Stain pads? Where do you purchase them? Also, I have a pump up sprayer that I want to change the spray wand on, I want a longer one, anyone know where do purchase these? thanks

Well, I had my first experience with HD80 this weekend and it wasnt a good one. Burned the heck out of my knees with the stuff. I had long bluejeans on but the HD80 soaked right through the bluejeans when I was rinsing and did a number on my knees. I also had issues with HD80 blowing back in my face when I was applying it so I have some red spots on my nose and cheeks from the product. Looking for suggestions on how to best protect my legs and face when using this product. I had goggles on when applying the chem but that didn't stop the product from blowing back onto my cheeks and nose. I also was covered in clothing from neck to feet but that didnt stop the HD80 from soaking into my pants and burning my knees. What do you wear when applying and rinsing the caustic chems? thanks PS: no responses telling me that I'm lazy and should go out in the backyard and experiment.

Would that be for neutralizing the wood?

Yes Ken, I am earning my money and then some on this deck. Its the height of the deck and the fact that its a townhouse (next door neighbors deck is about 2 feet away) is making some areas on the deck very difficult to get too without using a ladder and I hate ladders. I was able to strip a lot of the outside spindles and railing by leaning over the railing but there was an area around the entire deck that I could not reach over far enough to get too and so I had to tackle it from the ground, numerous time because the previous sealer was hard to get off even with HD80 at full strenth with 25 minute dwell times. I spent 10 hours on it by myself and still have some stain left to remove. When I collect this check I will have earned every penny of it and will not bid a deck like this for under a grand ever again. :)

I was working on my first deck that I was doing myself and it is PITA. It sits about 14 feet off the ground in some spots and has two coats of Behr semi-transparent on it. The ground around the deck is uneven so using ladders to get to the outside part of the deck has been very difficult. Stripping has been a major pain as I have had to strip some areas twice to get all the stain off and I still have spindles and some railing that STILL have the previous stain on it. I see some sanding to get the stain entirely off. And of the course the hardest areas to get too have the most difficult stain to remove. this first deck is truly baptism by fire! Definately going to look into the PVC clothing (thanks Celeste) as I dont want this to happen again. I had to spray and rinse up a lot because of the height of the deck and the chem and rinse would come back down on me, soak my pants and and evidently bleed through to my knee caps.

What stain colors look best to you on Pressure Treated, Cedar, Pine and other woods? Please name the brand and the color for each type of wood. Talking mainly about semi-transparents

Do you need downstream injection to use the Coress? How are the chems and stains fed to the wand? thanks

Not only is this a philanthropic thing to do, it is a very wise marketing tool that creates nothing but good will for your company and exposure for the service that you provide. This is something that I want to try myself.

Hi, I ask this so I can educate myself and the customers When wood fur's what negative impact does that have on the sealer if you don't do a de-furring?

"All Washed Up"

You can buy Safe Restore here http://www.eacochem.com/specs_sabrestore.shtml

I have a Harbour Freight around me and there tools are incredibly cheap.

I have 3 decks that the owners just want cleaned. One deck is a latex painted deck, what is the best detergent/chem/cleaner to clean this type of deck? The second deck is PT wood, never been sealed and the owner wants it cleaned now and will get it sealed when he has the money. What is the best product to use to clean that deck. The final deck is one that the owner himself has taken care of. He has it sealed with Cabots and just wants me to do a thorough cleaning and he will come back and apply another coat of Cabots when I am done the cleaning. What products would you recommend for the above three decks, cleaning purposes only, no stripping involved. thanks

Your right James, the way to go for cleaning wood seems to be either a pre carbonate such as EFC38 or the bleach secret handshake. :) I will experiment with both

thanks Beth...

Beth, when you say light wash, what product or recipe do you use to do the "light wash"?

thanks folks!

The owner will be using the same exact Cabots stain as a maintenance coat when the cleaning is completed. Would EFC38 do the job here without taking the old seal off? thanks

very nice!

The deck was just stripped 3 years ago, why does it have to be stripped again?