Beth n Rod

Hi Melissa, Glad you came up for air. I was wondering where you had gotten off to. Look forward to reading more from you soon. Also looking forward to seeing that URL. ;) It's most likely alot better than you think it is. We're our own worst critics so they say. Beth

Ryan, I have a pair of those same glasses I save for sealing days. I have gotten most of the speckles off, but not all. Try Fast Orange while the lenses are still fresh with sealant. It takes it off. After that, you're down to goof off. I have good glasses, and sealing glasses, and never wear the good ones out to work in. I have goggles I wear over them in certain cases like when chems are used. A hat helps keep my hair from building up an accumulatoin of the worlds best hairspray! haha I wear a CamelBak hydreation system to drink from, shorts, light t-shirt and tennis shoes. Dressing light when sealing is important. I have overheated before and learned the hard way. PVC and boots when washing, eye gear, etc. Beth

Windows are a great add on when you are already there for other things. 'Ya gotta love add ons. :groovy3:

Email... beth@seedirtrun.com :groovy:

Hi Henry, Had things crop up this past year that kept me from getting to all the the intended to do items. Also trying to find an agent that works at the same speed I do, the current one moves too slow for me. Still have too many companies for various things in my opinion. If I find a good all-in-one agent I'll pass the info to you. Beth

Which takes us back to eye wear...GOGGLES....;)

The acid in the coke is exactly why you would want to use it. You need to neut fast to save the eye. If you have sodium hydroxide buring an eye, you need to neut, and get to an eye doctor. Like I said Doc Reisman taught us this (current PWNA Pres) in class, while showing us a photo of a damaged eye.... When in doubt, ask an optometrist or opthamologist what the best in the field method is to neutralize heavy amounts of a caustic fast. The stickiness can be rinsed out by the doctor at the hospital, which would be your next stop if it's in your eye. Beth

Wednesday, February 11 6:30 am – 5:30 pm Registration Open 8:00 am – 9:30 am IWCA / PWNA Kickoff Breakfast 9:45 am – 12:00 noon Keynote Speaker – Steven B. Wiley (General Session)“The Human Side of High Performance” 12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch On Your Own 12:00 – 5:30 pm IWCA / PWNA Stores Open 1:00 – 2:00 pm · IWCA / PWNA Planning Ahead for Safety, Stefan Bright 1:00 – 2:00 pm· PWNA – Advanced Wood Restoration Training · IWCA Operations Management Panel (High Rise, Route & Residential) · PWNA Operations Management Panel (Environmental, Kitchen Exhaust, Fleet & Wood) 2:15 – 6:00 pm · High Rise Safety Training – Fall Arrest/Rope Descent 2:15 – 4:15 pm · Slip & Fall Safety Training 2:15 – 4:15 pm · Facing the Facts on Glass Fines & The New (concurrent Generation of Glass Coatings workshops) · Glass Restoration & Stain Removal · Bird Control Installations 4:30 – 5:30 pm · PWNA – Advanced Kitchen Exhaust Training 4:30 – 6:30 pm · Becoming a Pro with QuickBooks for (concurrent Advanced Users workshops) · Concrete & Building Restoration / Stain Removal · Growing a Glass Scratch Removal Division 5:30 – 6:30 pm · PWNA – Advanced Environmental Cleaning Training 6:30 – 8:00 pm Dinner on your own 8:15 – 8:45 pm PWNA Membership Meeting IWCA Membership Meeting 8:45– 9:30 pm Joint IWCA / PWNA Social Hour Chips, Dips & Sips Social Thursday, February 12 7:30 am – 5:00 pm Set Up Contest Room 7:00 – 8:00 am Continental Breakfast/Round Tables 8:00 am – 2:00 pm Registration Open IWCA / PWNA Stores Open 8:00 – 10:00 am Keynote Speaker (General Session) Kelli Vrla – “Open the Doors, Here I Come!” 8:00 am – 12 noon PWNA Certification Classes ·Wood & Deck Restoration ·Kitchen Exhaust ·Environmental Cleaning ·Washer Safety 10:00 am – 12 noon Educational Series One · Employees– Becoming a Customer Service Leader · Managers– Getting Extraordinary Results from Ordinary People · Marketing– Target Marketing: Listen First, Target Later · Executives – Understanding the Basics of Financial Management 12:15 – 1:00 pm Lunch On Your Own 1:15 – 3:15 pm Educational Series Two · Employees– How to Turn an Unhappy Customer into a Happy Customer · Managers – Building High Performance Teams · Marketing – The Art of Winning Repeat & Referral Business · Executives – Strategic Planning for Success 3:30 – 5:30 pm Educational Series Three · Employees – Performing Multiple Tasks, Projects and Deadlines · Managers – Win/Win Negotiation: Getting Others to Work with You Instead of Against You · Marketing – Marketing Plan Development: Developing Realistic Plans Using Creative Problem Solving · Executives – Preparing Exit Strategies and Developing Family and Employees for Succession 5:00 – 6:30 pm Contest Practice 6:00 – 7:00 pm Dinner on your own 7:00 pm Speed Contest Prelims Medley Contest Begins 8:00 – 11:30 pm Hose Rolling Contest Speed Contest Finals Medley Contest Continues Fun Nite Dessert Reception Friday, February 13 7:00 am – 8:00 am Continental Breakfast/Round Tables 8:00 am – 2:00 pm Registration Open 8:00 am – 1:00 pm IWCA / PWNA Stores Open 8:00 am – 11:30 am Exhibitors Set Up 8:00 am – 12 noon PWNA Certification Classes (continued) · Wood & Deck Restoration · Kitchen Exhaust · Environmental Cleaning 8:00 – 9:00 am · Creating a Professional Image Seminar 9:00 – 10:00 am · IWCA / PWNA Professional Image Contest Presentations 8:15 – 10:15 am · Defending EPA & OSHA Violations (concurrent workshops) · Getting Insurance Costs Under Control · Awning Cleaning & Sealing · Route/Residential Safety Training 10:30 – 11:45 am · Ladder Safety (concurrent workshops) · Defending General Liability & Workman’s Compensation Claims · Computer Technologies & Systems for Your Operations · Becoming a Board of Director for an Association or a Corporation · Power Washing Productivity 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm Trade Show Opening Lunch Live Auction to benefit National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (formerly Adam Walsh) 1:30 – 6:00 pm Trade Show IWCA / PWNA Stores Open 6:00 – 6:45 pm PWNA Cocktail Hour 6:45 – 10:00 pm PWNA Awards Banquet Saturday, February 14 7:00 – 8:00 am Continental Breakfast/Round Tables 8:00 – 9:30 am Registration Open (then tear down) 8:00 am – 12 noon PWNA Certification Classes (continued) · Wood & Deck Restoration · Kitchen Exhaust · Environmental Cleaning 8:00 am -- 5:00 pm · Scaffold Industry Association Correspondence Course Test 8:00 – 10:00 am ·Boom & Lift Safety Class 8:00 – 10:00 am HANDS-ON EQUIPMENT DEMONSTRATIONS: Window Cleaning Techniques *Pressure Washing Techniques Water Fed Poles & Systems * Building & House Washing Equip Demos: Glass Scratch Removal *Wood Deck Cleaning & Sealing Window Tinting Techniques * Environmental Pressure Washing Demos: Boom & Scissor Lift Demos *Flatwork & Surface Cleaner Demos 10:00 am – 3:00 pm Trade Show IWCA / PWNA Store Front Open 3:00 pm Exhibitors/Decorator Tear Down 6:00 – 6:45 pm IWCA Reception 6:45 – 11:00 pm IWCA Final Banquet and Celebration

Learned about the Coke wash from Doc. Beth

One thing to keep in mind, is that different products that people use to seal with are not created equal. Some have no anti-fungal or mildewcide. Some do. Some have more than others. Some have lesser quality ones, some have high quality ones. It's important to make sure the product (finish/sealer) you apply is formulated to withstand the elements. Not all are.... If you visit decks and see that a product seems to have a pattern of allowing for growth time and time again, I would stay away from it. Just my .02 worth. Beth :groovy3:

Always carry a container of vinegar on the truck to neutralize with if working with caustics in case of a splash or spill on you. Also carry a bottle of Coke for eye washing in this event. No kidding. Beth

Happy B-Day Reed!:bandplay: :cheers:

I have held off responding to this thread as religion is a deeply personal topic. I'm not certain as I compose this post, how much or what I will say, but I will share this will you all... I have expereinced some amazing things in my lifetime. While I realize that science has a place in our lives, I also believe that it does because God created us and gave us many talents, and the world we live in. I have been with loved ones as they near their passing and shortly after and have felt the presence of the Holy Spirit (I suppose that's what it was) and it is the most amazing sense of calm and peace at a time when you have such incredible pain in your life. I have expereinced that when you just don't know how you will get through something, and you pray, your prayers are answers and there is a way. I believe God takes care of His children. He does listen, but you also should talk to Him. I believe God is the purest form of love and does not descriminate or love any one of us more or less for being who we are and doing the best we can with our lives. I believe we are supposed to try and be the best people we can be to honor Him, and ourselves as well. I believe God works through us all, and that during our lives we touch the lives of many, and have impacts in ways we can't possibly understand. Have you ever had a day where something a stranger said to you really meant something to you? Perhaps you found it to be profound, or just what you needed to hear, or an answer to something you had been thinking or praying about? Angels are everywhere. The Lord works through us all. I hope my post is not offensive to anyone. Beth

This is a HUGE issue. It will get tougher by state before it gets better. Everyone needs to be aware of how their own state plans to carry out the Federal EPA Laws. If you have links to your own state regs, please start a thread for your state and put the link in it so that others may learn what they need to do to comply. Beth :groovy3:

For those who want to read it here and not click to a site with pop-ups.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- San Diego to crack down on wastewater disposal By Terry Rodgers UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER January 3, 2004 The sun is about to set on the cowboy era of mobile power washing, an industry once unfettered by government regulation but now facing tough restrictions on disposal of wastewater. The city of San Diego began enforcing more stringent regulations Thursday that require pressure wash operators to recapture their wash water. "For too long, it's been like the Wild West out there," said Marvin Winters, a 38-year-old retired U.S. Marine who has built a power-washing empire in just two years. The regulations are part of an unprecedented local effort initiated three years ago to reduce urban runoff, random sources of water that carry pollutants to waterways and the ocean. The tightening of the rules was triggered by Winters' complaint to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board that the city was too lenient. Winters is not worried that the tougher regulations will make power washing more costly and complicated for the estimated 300 such businesses in the county. He wants to upgrade the industry's price structure and force undercapitalized, less sophisticated competitors out of business. "The days of charging $75 to clean a parking lot are over," he said. Stricter regulations combined with tougher enforcement, he said, should help weed out irresponsible operators who habitually allow their wastewater to flow into storm drains, which flow directly into streams, rivers and the sea. Even moderately soapy water causes a range of negative effects on fish and wildlife. "It's going to force a lot of guys out of business because they don't have the money to upgrade their equipment or they won't want to spend the money," he said. Winter said his company, Sure Clean Power Washing Inc., uses some of the industry's more advanced equipment. His custom-made, $70,000 mobile power-washing rigs can vacuum up, filter and recycle the dirty wash water. He competes against energetic rookies with pickups who go into business with their sweat equity and less than $3,000 in power-washing equipment. He admits his attempts to restructure the industry have made him a pariah among his peers. In fact, he has been known to gather evidence of other power washers violating the regulations and alert authorities. "They would love for me to go away," he said. As Winters' business grew to cleaning several thousand locations statewide, he said, he noticed that many of his competitors were ignoring pollution laws and getting away with it. The region's urban runoff regulations are contained in a 58-page permit issued in February 2001 by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. But the complicated rules can be boiled down to this: With few exceptions, nothing but rain should enter storm drains. The rules on runoff apply to all 18 cities in the county, the San Diego Unified Port District and most of the county west of the mountains in the Cleveland National Forest. Stacy Gaczkowski of the regional board said her agency allows each jurisdiction to conduct pollution prevention programs in whatever manner it wishes. The state intervenes only if there is a complaint or obvious deficiency. Poway and Chula Vista, for instance, do pollution and code enforcement on weekends, but San Diego does not. Until this year, the city of San Diego allowed dirty water from the cleaning of sidewalks and other public spaces to drain down the gutter as long as a filtration pad was placed over the storm drain inlet. Six months ago, after failing to persuade the city to tighten its policy, Winters challenged the city's interpretation of the law by filing a complaint with the state's regional water-quality agency. The city was being too lenient, Winters argued, because the filtration pads were never tested for their effectiveness in blocking pollutants from entering the storm drain. "The city was taking a shortcut and not enforcing the law," Winters said. The city's policy, he argued, favored those who specialized in cleaning public areas, such as sidewalks, but not power washers who clean private property. State regulators this summer upheld Winters' complaint and ordered the city to enforce its existing prohibition against disposing of wash water in storm drains. Karen Larson Henry, chief of the city's storm water pollution program, said Winters was so persistent with his numerous complaints about the city's enforcement policy that he "wore us out." Ironically, Winters company was cited last year for allowing wash water to drain into the gutter at a shopping center. None of the wastewater reached the storm drain. "We were doing what we thought was both reasonable and protective of the environment," Henry said of the policy that was overturned. "The staff of the regional water quality board had a different opinion." Allowing the city flexibility in its enforcement is more practical in the current era of austere government budgets, she argued. Henry said she has only five enforcement officers and wants them to focus on more egregious pollution violations than those typically caused by power washers. The city attorney was willing to defend her policy, Henry said, "but I decided this wasn't the one to fight." State regulators agreed to a six-month moratorium on enforcement so the city could sponsor a series of workshops to educate power washers on the tighter regulations and allow equipment to be upgraded. The moratorium ended Thursday. Under the new rules, power washers must capture their dirty wash water before it reaches the gutter. Filtered wash water free of oil, solvents or hazardous chemicals can be properly disposed of in the sanitary sewer system or, in many cases, simply poured over a grassy landscaped area. Power washers who ignore the rules can be fined $100 for the first offense and up to $250 for a second violation. Fines are higher if the discharge involves a detergent, de-greaser or other chemical. Jack In The Box, for instance, was fined $7,811 in 2002 for washing a de-greaser into the storm drain at one of its fast-food outlets. San Diego attorney Wayne Rosenbaum, a national expert in storm water regulation, said the efforts here to reduce urban runoff pollution are considered to be among the most innovative and strict in the state. "Slowly but surely we have seen the San Diego municipal storm water permit become the model for other regions in California as they adopt their own permits," he said. Rosenbaum said he anticipates the focus on controlling polluted wash water will spur innovation. "Over the next year we'll get smarter about how to do it in the most economical way," he said. Will Berry of the nonprofit Clean and Safe Program, which power washes sidewalks in downtown San Diego for business improvement districts, said the stricter rules on wash water disposal will require more work and take more time. "It's not for us to debate it," he said. "It's up to us to fulfill the expectations. It's something we can live with, for sure." Jerry McMillen, whose Santee-based Cleaning System Specialists manufactures and sells the more advanced equipment now required, favors the new rules and believes they will help the industry mature. "It's smart for us to be environmentally friendly," said McMillen. "We should have been controlling our wash water over the last 20 years and we weren't doing it." But the power washing industry's day of reckoning could be traumatic for those who flourished during its anything-goes era, he said. "They're asking an industry that has had little regulation to suddenly be perfectionists at wash water control," he said. "There will be broken hearts as well as pocketbooks."

And you got this way by washing decks, right? ;)

You like that sense of humor Paul? You can tell I'm feeling more like myself again. ;)

Ev, post that one of you as Mr America or whatever it was that you put up pn PWNA. It was cool. :cool:

It's up to you. I kind of like the avatar. It's got character. But it's your mug, you can have which ever one you like, so long as you have clothes on. I have no idea how you used to model.... could be TMI.

Welcome Wendy! It's great seeing you here. We look forward to seeing you here often. You might want to tell the members what PPE is... not everyone will know what the acronym stands for. Lots of newbies here along with the experienced contractors. Beth :groovy3: :groovy:

His nose crinkles better in the first one...but it's a tough call. ;)

Since it is your fence, no. When you have 50 degrees during the day you'll be fine. But alos remember it depends on what product you're applying. They can vary a little... Beth :groovy3:

Ok, I see an avatar in the making....;)

Oh man Alan, that's the easy way out. Just wash it. Then seal it. You can do it. Really. You can. ;)

You're better off talking to a fence or deck company and asking them if they have any scrap left from a job where they had to tear down an old structure. I have not heard of speeding up the greying process. Beth