Beth n Rod

No bashing allowed, period. Beth

Yeah, but how does a person prove that 'acid rain' didn't initiate the tannin bleeding? Their warranty is a result of the class action suit to keep themselves out of future hot water. Rod!~

Thank you Rick. Of course this is something you should discuss with the owner before doing. Back to my coffee... :cup: Beth

Sometimes that black is not just mildew, but tannin bleed. TREX does contain wood. Make sure you have the chems with you to deal with tannin bleeding as well, or you might find yourself with no backup...and a deck that is not finished. Beth :cup: :groovy:

If you put HD-80 down, don't forget to neutralize.... Beth

It's not much, but I found this information. This link compares it to Red Oak. http://www.woodworkerssource.net/Merchant3/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=WS&Category_Code=Iroko Beth

Hi Greg, Good seeing you here again! Beth

Me too! Beth

I despise the 'carrot' danglers. My angle is that I will get business whether they go with us or not. I am not hurting for business. I set the terms, they tell me what they want done. If they want to play games, I turn on my heel and walk. I don't haggle. We have formulas pertaining to the individual costs of our company and don't pull prices out of my butt. I get the same ole "I'll pay you $$ and give you the business" (knocking off a few hundred from the price) and my response is "Pay my price and I will give you the best service available but don't ask me to take a pay cut and still give you the Cadillac for the VW price." If they want a demo, I point them to our photo gallery, if they want a reference, I point them to our testimonials on the website. My position is simply this: I don't show up in a $45,000 rig looking professionally dressed and complete with full marketing materials to be mistaken for a fly-by-niter. If they don't understand why they are getting cheap results from undependable people then they have no business being the one interviewing the contractors to begin with. In business the first step in a solid relationship is respect from the very beginning. Anyone trying to get something for free or at a discount in business to business relations is not operating with respect to the company they are trying to hire. We got into business to make money not lose it or give away our services just on a lick and a promise of more. Heres a recent example: We gave a bid for a PPCU at a hotel locally in Feb. with the understanding that the time frame was mid to late april for work to begin with our company. Well, that time came and past with no word, no call, no signed contract, no money down as specified, and we get a call from a project manager 2 days before they want us to start letting us know that they need us to work on a weekend. Yyyyyyyeah! I call the contact back with a tone of concern that this person may not be completely aware of the missing contract obligations. He was told that we were the company to use and to call us when he was ready for us. I explained to him that we had not received any communication, contractual correspondance....nothing. We were under the impression they went with another bid. He was understanding and asked if we could still do the work. I informed him that our current booking puts us in excess of 3-4 weeks. He asks if we could expedite this for him (a favor?). I reiterated the same thing again, we are booked for 3-4 weeks at this point. Well, he finally decides its time to call the people upstairs and find out what to do next. We got a call from a higher up and he was asking why we couldn't do the job when he wanted us to. Same story to him. No contract, no money down, no work. He said, 'oh yeah, their was that money down thing...we don't do that"...click! Needless to say we won't be doing anything with a company that will not even have a reliable line of communication or the respect to abide by our contracts policies. (we don't like waiting 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 days for them to decide to cut us a check that was due upon date of completion.) We control the contract, not them. That is why we are called contractors. We set up the guidelines and specifications based upon each job and that my friends is how we keep ourselves in business. :rant: Rod!~

I would set up a policy that outlines uniforms usage, company image, care and maintenance. If you are to have them pay for it, conduct a wage deduction for a specific period to cover the cost of new ones. Have them sign this new policy and the date it goes into effect. I guarantee that with the costs of the uniforms coming out of their pockets they will treat them better. Supply them with the aprons anyway as a uniform requirement with the benefit of how it will help them to keep their clothes cleaner longer. You got to sell it to them in order to get buy in. Rod!~

Let me put it this way. They are not given a choice. It's the uniform, and they can either wear it, or get themselves a reminder why they are to wear them if they ruin a t-shirt by not wearing them. Only one of our guys grunted. The others are pretty cool with it. We provide t-shirts, hats, and aprons. They provide their footwear and pants. All protective gear we supply. Beth

I spoke to Paul the other day. Very helpful and friendly. Let's all give him a warm welcome and wish him luck on his new endeavor. Beth

Exactly. Beth

Ken, We recently started using bib aprons with pockets on them to cover with when sealing. Also the pockets are great for tools. http://www.bestbuyuniforms.com/detail.asp?id=193 It will help with the whole hand wiping with sealer on them thing. I placed the order one day, and had them the next day, so they are fast and since you are in PA I would think you would also get them fast. All our guys liked them. Beth :groovy3:

Just take the customer's garden hose and if there is no nozzle on it, use your handy dandy Thumb-Jet. :) Beth

I'll say it...again... Right now we are not booked that far, but within the last 3 years we did have a season like that. Since none of you believe it is anything other than price, I'll elaborate. Who remembers that really WET season we had a couple of years ago (maybe 3 now?), at least here on the eastern seaboard...in our area we had 5 months of "April". That year, we were backed up 3 months, and no-one minded one bit - the weather played a huge part in it. Being booked out a long ways has to do with more than price. It can have to do with your marketing, your area and demographic, and your weather. It can have to do with being shorthanded, as well as other things I can think of. We do check to see where our prices fall, and we are not too low. Beth p.s. I'll repeat it one more time...we are not 3 months out now. That was a prior year.

Everyone has a different way of explaining things and if it helps to fill in the blanks to get the point across then we are accomplishing something. Thanks Rick. Rod!~

Thanks Rick! :) Beth :cup:

We use the x-Jet, M5. We also have lances of various lengths we can use for extra reach. It's rare for Rod or one of our guys to break out the extension pole (Extend-A-Wand type) anymore. We get plenty of height with the lance and M5. We can get 3 stories up. Machinery plays a part in this too. You will want to consider your equipment before you say to yourself that all you need is a lance and an M5. Beth

Take a couple of small spray bottles - the "windex" trigger sprayer type ( Zep makes them you can get them at HD) and put your caustic in one and your acid in the other. Spray on the caustic, let dwell. Scratch the surface with a stirring stick or something. You are testng to see if the stripper will break through. Rinse with garden hose when done. Apply acid. Rinse again. Test spot done. No PW'er needed for a test spot. Also...test on a difficult area, such as rails. Beth :cup:

Didn't say we are getting every one of them. Didn't say that at all. We're not. I really do "get" it. There is more to being booked out than low prices. Really...there is. Beth

Lance that really is a cool setup. It's fun to see how everyone puts together their equipment. Beth

Around here you can be a higher priced company and be booked that far out... the "DC" area is very heavily populated. And if they want to wait, it's their choice. How far out one is booked is not necessarily a indicator that the price is too low...at least, not for us. (the three month example is not indicative of this particular year, but was within the last three years) Beth ;)

610-253-8005 Call them. You can request a catalog. Tom and Barbara mentioned that the site is under construction so not everything is up. I did see the product in the store. Beth

This thread (gas prices not the posters) is giving me a headache... :( Beth