Beth n Rod

I hope her mom is there too...it seemed really important to your wife that she be there. Rod!~

Hooray!!!!! Keep us posted! What a blessing this is! Beth

Cool pics! :) Nice work! Beth

I thought it might be fun to see how many snow plowers we have here. Let us hear from you. Beth

You missed a spot! :lol: KIDDING! Looks great.... Beth

Best of luck Jim! See you soon! Beth

And therein lies my point, you didn't specify it so you cut off your own nose to spite your face man. That in itself is called a 'Value added Service" and should be on a line itemized proposal, otherwise, how is the customer to know what separates you from the others and specifically in what way? You obviously had a bit more involvement in your process and that was a missed opportunity for your business that it wasn't pointed out. Rod!~

+1 with Jim. I take wood care and the information about it very seriously so it does bother me to see that attitude in people who work in this same facet of wood restoration. Yes, I will agree that not much can be done once the installation is complete. But the question is for the homeowners benefit as to what to expect if it is not vs if it is. As far as the 'does sealing the end-grain work or not' in helping with Ipe, I guess time will tell. Ipe is a 100 year wood and most of us have only seen it in installations for 10 years or less since it began its popularity and not necessarily the same deck for that period of time. We have had some very diligent builders here and they have sealed the end-grain. For the decks we have seen without the end-grain being sealed, it is hard to tell at this point but it is certainly worth tracking. The one characteristic I have noticed in one deck (just one so far) is that the fasteners (stainless steel) popped at the shank in a few places. This in my opinion would be attributed to dimensional flux caused by absorption/loss of moisture and in Ipe specifically, this is more likely to happen through the end-grain. Now, with reference to the longevity of any stain in association with sealed/un-sealed end-grain in combination with the uncertainty principle introduced by the EPA VOC regulation mandates...who knows! I guess we will all (except you Daniel) will be watching this over time as we evaluate our products performance and determining which is best for the conditions present and of course...longevity/maintainability etc. Rod!~

Yes, have used it previously and it works just fine. Just be sure to back brush/pad (depending on which applicator being used) to get the drips and runs. Rod!~

That would be a song i would play while puttering around in the garage. Cool, thx! Rod!~

Nice work there Roger. You certainly have come a long way and got the chops to show it mate! :cheers: Rod!~

Sorry Ken, gotta disagree with ya on this one. End-grain on ANY wood is vulnerable at this point. Sealing the end-grain of a board is helping to extend that life significantly and also improve the longevity of the fasteners hold located close to this segment. Yes, checking does happen along the entire run of a board over time as we don't coat all sides of one, thus enabling dimensional flux along with the deterioration of the lignin by UV exposure to un-protected wood. Rod!~

Yes it does. A HUGE difference. Beth

BUMP! Don't forget to vote! :sunshine: Beth

This came to me via email, good luck to all!

Demo was too big imo. Should have left off with the walkway. Rod!~

:cup: Good morning! :cup: I can't believe it is November already! I wish I could make it....70 degrees outside! Just for...a month or so!!! Beth

Bump! Beth

Bump! :) Beth

Sucks to 'want' doesn't it?! Thanks to the EPA regs, I doubt we will ever see those prices again. Rod!~

It would go over better if MANY of us went before MD as opposed to just one voice. It's large numbers of people together that make these things move forward. I'll pass the name you have shared to her. We'll most likely restore the deck and undo the damage in the spring. I've given her all she needs to turn the person/company in already. Beth

Well, I had a woman call me in tears the other day, because cheap hack that is unlicensed in our area screwed up her deck royally, and is threatening to send her to collections if she doesn't pay the balance - which he's not even entitled to by law since he's not licensed. (it works that way in MD) I sent her to the state of MD and to the BBB. Oh - and I told her next time....don't go with the cheap guy who can come out tomorrow! Beth

April?!?!?! How about December? :lol: Beth

While I will agree in part I will disagree in another. Confidence is a factor but money is a big part of it because of the amounts people lost in their investments. Many people use those investment portfolios to plan on how they spend their money and when the market crashed it took a lot of what they had with it. There is a rebound happening but it (the recession) is far from over. It will take a few years for many to recover from it and for those who lost everything, who knows. They are still out there dealing with the foreclosures. Yes, there are those who invested wisely and others who were not invested at all and the impacts each felt are in direct relation to them but overall, money was not available because people stopped spending. Spending is a result of necessity over wants in a down economy and since people don't have as much money due to several factors, businesses including our industry suffered as well. It would be wise for many to plan for a lean year next year.

WOW! Is it November already? Beth