Beth n Rod

BTW, if you are thinking composite decking, beware. They are very new and there is very little known about them and the claims are not yet field proven for more than a few years. I have seen composite decking warp and buckle, extrude stains from inside and turn unfavorable colors. While these may be isolated incidences, better armed than vulnerable. Rod!~

Now I am the one who is confused. Did they (sealmaxx) finish the job? If so, the deck should be maintained according to their directions. If not, then yes, you would need to seal it if it hasn't begun to turn grey. If it has been more than a few weeks since the deck was washed it will have the beginnings of microbial growth and that would need to be removed first. The product from my information already has UV protection incorporated into it. As you have mentioned the deck is only a foot above ground and maintaining it from cracking and peeling will be the main challenge due to the lack of proper airflow below the deck contributing to excessive moisture retention in the wood. I don't mean to lead you into believing that they are in a mess with this product installed (if that is the case) but the problems they will face not 'if' it starts to fail but more a matter of when. The other variables I am not aware of is how old the deck is to begin with, what the deck has previously had installed and the intervals at which maintenance was performed...ie every-1, 2, 3 years etc. They spent a great deal of money I would guess and the best suggestion I could give is to be attentive. Rod!~

Cool pics. Rod!~

Nice looking job! Rod!~

Avoid cedar or redwood. They are problematic for decking material. They can be fine for rail systems as long as they are not the rail cap piece. Pressure treated pine can be a less expensive alternative for a complete deck. If you have the budget, try building the floors at least with Ipe'. This is extremely dense and hard wood that has great durability and will outlast your home. Most people use it for the decking while those who can afford it will also have their rails built with it as well. Ipe' in our area runs about $2.85 a linear foot if your builder has volume buying power, otherwise you could spend up to $4.85 a linear foot. For the sake of comparison, PTP (pressure treated pine) goes for as little as .60-.85 a linear foot depending upon the cut. Cedar and Redwood are hard to come by in our area and can only be obtained by special order. Another alternative to wood for railing, around here PVC is becoming popular but for me it is not a preference. It is sold as a 'low maintenance' system but the drawbacks are that age makes it brittle and can be unsafe for use on high profile decks above 2' off the ground. One definite suggestion I will give is to make sure that the deck is built using screws. Nails tend to loose their grip and can allow the decking to warp and cup more readily. Back to you Harley. Rod!~

We cover that area for some jobs... a country club clubhouse would qualify. Give me a shout or drop me an email beth@seedirtrun.com Beth

A 25 year warranty is in relation to the life expectation of the decking. That part of the deck gets the most wear, tear and environmental degradation. If anything goes wrong with the prep phase before installing one of these unrealistic life expectancy sealers then you the owner have the arduous task of either finding someone who is willing to deal with the problems (not likely) or replacing the deck. Not many people know that these endurance figures purported on labels comes from the product being tested in an Environmental Accelerator Simulator which gives the developer some idea of how long the product could last. This is all lab testing and does not necessarily take into consideration that life happens to a deck! The technology incorporated into the product has not existed long enough to have gone through that type of real life testing to validate a 25 year endurance. It would have had to have been developed and tested since at the earliest 1980! 25-30 years is a long time to wait for a return on investment don't you think? So many other variables take place 24/7 such as 30*-50* temperature changes in as little as a couple of hours, coupled with the woods expansion and contraction rate which no product on the market can match. Moisture can be a big contributor of degradation to any surface coating in the form of aiding mold, mildew, wood fluctuation and dry rot (a fungus). As you mentioned, the deck is very close to the ground which means you cannot coat all sides of a board. This is the first clue that a label is misleading you because they all state that ALL 6 sides of the board must be coated other wise it voids the products performance. The number of builders currently doing this is probably not even happening to be more than 5 and that would happen to be by special request and at a significantly higher cost to the consumer. Once the deck is built, if not pre-coated before assembly, there are edges unreachable due to design not to mention the sides which are often so close together that access to coat them is hit and miss and more likely miss. Any coating that boasts it's life span being more than a few years without regular maintenance is promoting homeowner neglect and definite product failure. A deck is like any other part of a home and needs to be taken care of on a regular basis and that basis is entirely dependent upon the product applied to it. 1 year intervals at the least and 2-3 if you are buying a higher quality stain. Don't be fooled by marketing and extravagant claims. They are geared towards those who do not want to do much of anything to begin with and they get what they pay for...a much bigger cost of maintenance than they bargained for. I hope this clears up some of the confusion... Rod!~

Post pics.... We know you guys have done things to your homes. John, didn't you add somethinga while back too? Beth p.s. will up pic allowance....

Cool...Thanks! It's always helpful to see how others put things together. I'm sure this is helpful to all. Beth

Basement. It has a sub-floor under the wood floor. There a parts where the finish is worn. I am guessing this to be a contributing factor. Rod!~

My main concern is the crevices between the boards as they have gotten larger due to shrinking as the wood has dried out in the exposed areas. Thought about doing it myself but that is either going to happen when we remodel the kitchen or sooner depending on the time we can find to do it. Any others have some input to this? Rod!~

We have the Ale carte clients here. At one time we did bundle things up but had too many who would insist on haggling the price... "what if I only have you do this...and not this...and can you only wash one side here and how much would that cost..." :bullistic As Beth mentioned, most want to see what each item costs just like retail receipts show. Rod!~

Jeff, Don't know if this helps or not...here goes....if there are homes surrounding a complex you want, focus on those homes so you have a presence. Get the attention of the neighborhood. Then get to the HOA meeting, talk to the BOD of the HOA and talk about your services. Ask to be considered as a vendor. In many cases ( at least here) the homes surrounding a complex are in the same HOA as the condos themselves. Hope this helps! Beth :cup:

That's intersting to me. Around here, people want to see a line item for everything you do. We constantly get asked to have things broken out ( we do this anyway but they do not know that since they ask before we hand them the paperwork) so they can see how much to wash various things...seal various things...so they can pick and choose what they can afford to do at that time, based on what is most important to them. Beth

Mathew, Got a pic? Beth

Many of our customers have had their own self inflicted disasters we have had to restore. Such as they were, I thought this would be a good place for others to share some similar stories. Rod!~

It's a consultative sales technique, and it works like a charm. Been using it for years. Beth

Very well stated! How long were you in sales? Beth

My response to this would be (like those in Missouri don't here this one enough) "Show me!" Most times they cannot produce the proposal which means they are playing you and trying to get you to drop your price. This may not always be the case but experience has taught me that people like to play games and most of all with contractors. There are many out there who do not know the lengths people will go to and they inadvertently help to bottom out the market by not holding their ground just because they are either desperate for the money or novice in the realm of sales. I agree with Ken is some respects that there are some naturals in sales but there are others who become great at sales because they take their business seriously and remember what they went through to get as far as they have. They learn from others, read up on the subject, take a sales course, ask questions and eventually learn the way things work in order to become a seasoned salesman. They even evaluate what they did that could have gone wrong and tried new things in order to not make the same mistake. I used to be called "Luke Saleswalker" at my last job in Radio Shack by my manager but he didn't understand that I was paying attention to a key thing that he had overlooked. Returns! I had the lowest return rate of anyone in the store and that meant something to me because I don't like to be disappointed by having high sales figures one week and then come in after a day off and find that some other sales associate took a refund on my sale(s) and in some instances then sold them on something else on an alternate ticket to get the $$$. I could count on my commissions to stay paid. I used to over qualify my customers to the point of sending them somewhere else if there was any question that what we had was not right for them. There were instances where they would come back and either buy what we had from me or something else because they trusted me not to high pressure them into something they didn't want or need just to get the sale. I had a good client base and they would always ask for me. That was more important than making the quick $$$. I developed return business and a relationship with each customer I could. Rod!~

Ken, Way cool avatar. Beth

She has never run short in the gratitude department. We both appreciate the contributions and know that the site has become what it is because of the great people who visit here and contribute to it. Thank You all! Rod!~

Ken if you are still looking for someone email me. I may have a contractor for you. Beth

Cancel that, its at http://earth.google.com Rod!~

Ok, I'll bite, where do you get to download the program that lets you enter these coordinates so one can view them? Been to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Earth to find it but I keep running into dead ends. Rod!~

On vinyl, we will not use temps any higher than 115* because of the potential for distorting or melting the siding. On aluminum, we go as high as 150* to help remove oxidation and it helps to get the mildew/algae to come off easier with weaker chemicals including bleach. Hot water softens water, increases it's solvency and expands the molecules which allows chems to go into solution easily and perform better with less precipitate. Rod!~