Beth n Rod

First of all, sometimes 40' isn't enough. We went out on a job, and a neighbor saw us and wanted work done and based on Rod's estimation we would need about 72' of wand. Pretty extreme if you don't wash many roofs. The pitch witch has alot of potential, but if you use one, make sure you have someone with you because they are heavy and it's not easy to get it up onto the roof. We used our 24' Extend A Wand and the stability of the wand helped ALOT, but it was too short for what we were doing. We tried to call and get info and pricing to order the Coress, but somehow only played phone tag with Glen. Rod felt a little frustrated by that to say the least. Needless to say we didn't get that job. Probably a blessing, given the terrain in the yard there... seemed like a nightmare waiting to happen to both of us. Beth & Rod

Jon, I hate it when stuff like that happens. I also can't stand it when you have one of those days where you feel like you didn't get anything done because you were so busy. Then there are those days where you have some good solid momentum going and you get interrupted, or worse you have a creative or inspirational moment and get interruped when you're deep in that. Then there are those times when everything breaks down. Ever notice how major appliances go in at least pairs? What about the weather relative to if your A/C is working or not? Hate that too. Or, you have a job to do and a piece of equipment stops working due to a small part that is going to take you 30 minutes out of your way, since you don't have that particular spare part on the truck. All other BUT that spare part are there. Sometimes, you should just roll over and go back to sleep. Beth

Everyone has preferences, and they even vary depending on the product you're applying. Pump up Airless Brush Roller Pad Hand Mit How do you apply sealers and stains? Do you use different methods for different products? Beth

Paul, Check out this masking. Hope it helps. Beth

Morgan, You may be right. Perhaps there is one word of caution I'll dispense about pump ups. Be careful when discharging the pressure. Do it slowly. Keep on all gear and goggles when doing so. As for applying them with it, the manufacturer of HD-80 supports the use, and so do we. It's far easier to control the product. Very often labeling precautions are put on labels to avoid liability for things that have not yet happened. Lawyers are supposed to help companies keep from getting sued, and this is a prime example of that. Beth

Henry, what chem are you using? Beth

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

Take your soap nozzle and wet down the area surrounding the deck...grass, plants, etc.... wet the siding and windows and door frames a little too if need be. Apply with an shurflow or pump up... personally, I'm not concerned about the disclaimer on the pump up. Use a spray shield to keep chems off the side of the house. Keep the spray tip close to what you are working on. If it's an elevated deck, wet the things underneath as well. Wetting down helps with dilution. Beth;)

The sheer beauty of the Extreme Solutions products, HD-80, EFC-38, and Citralic, are that you can either mix them as you need to, or mix them all up in one container. We mix them as we need to and personally feel it is the best method for our needs. The powder is easier to store, and you can make it go farther if you are correctly mixing the right amount of product to water as needed at the strength the job calls for. Beth & Rod

Hi Tony, You nailed it! You have to create your own dry weight cups since they are not the same as what's in the kitchen that you cook with, and that's the bottom line. I never thought of finger nail polish. Rod used permanent marker and found it wore off, so he started taking clear packing tape and going over the markings, and it worked like a charm. Of course the nail poilish is probably more colorful... just don't take her favorite color, or you might need to get flowers on the way home. ;) Tony, thanks again! Great info. Beth

Yes, there is a thickener. Hang Time is available in 1 gallon and 5 gallon containers. It's great for vertical surfaces. Dwell time it is the single most important thing in learning how to use HD-80. It's good to test an area and then at least you'll have an idea of how long it may take. Also keeping product moist with more product is key. If it dries you have to reactivate it. Let me know if we can offer you any other help, and remember, we're always here for field support. Beth

Try Goof Off. Beth

BIDDING A JOB DEFINED- Bidding any cleaning has tons of variables. Following are a few of your fixed variables there are more than this this is just to give you an idea of what goes into a price Area Demographics Competition Water Recovery issues Overhead Payroll differs with areas, standard pay in backwoods Tennessee is not going to be the same as Downtown NY thus payroll reflects greatly on the end price. Real Estate prices, Rent Workers Comp Insurance Fuel Prices etc These are just a "FEW" of the items that go into a price. Grant it, some are less dramatic than the other but, on a job of this size they play in. When pricing there are several critical job variables to consider. These are all dramatic when considering the price since these variables change from job to job. Gum? Lots of gum = lots of time Mildew? Heavy mildew can take more time to clean Estimate last time cleaned? The longer it’s been since it was last cleaned, the longer it’s going to take to clean it this time. Obstacles? Columns, Planters ((Plants can really hurt buy causing you to try & not blow out all the bark ground covering Water availability? If there is only 1 working spigot on the premises, it’s not going to go well. I adjust my price to water availability, if there isn’t an ample water source within every 1,000Lft I charge a little more. Hours of operation? Movie theaters, restaurants, & bars can inhibit your working hours. Working around these places can be time consuming & sometimes this needs to be calculated into your pricing since it can add up several hours to a job trying to work around these open & often busy establishments Location of property? Is the property near a residential area. If so you could find your hours of operation even more limited. I was run off by the cops more than once in my early days for breaking noise ordinances near residential areas, and was levied a $250 fine for it once. Concrete type / condition? Fibermesh can be slower to clean than standard crete. Reason is that fibermesh is softer than standard thus you will need to drop pressure &/or increase technique or you'll stripe the it. In addition gum removal takes more finesse since the concrete is softer. Rookie gum removal can cause divots, so cleaning & gum removal takes more time & time = $$. There are other concrete variables too general hardness, age the older the pour the harder the crete usually, porousness, Curb FaceWill you need to clean it? 9,800 lft of curb face cleaning could add hours to the job if it's bad. Can make rinse harder too if where the curb face hits the tarmack there is a space. In that space is a boatload of dirt dying to come out & into your face. This dirt may need to be rinsed away across the driving area (especially if it's sealcoated) Is the parking lot Sealcoated? If the parking lot has a nice fresh looking "super" BLACK sealcoating on it, it can add on half again the time it takes to do the job for you will need to fully rinse AT LEAST the driving lane across to the parking area or it will leave a nasty white residue on the area. And if you do not do this you will quite possibly find yourself back at the place using your surface cleaner on the entire drive thru area & possibly more!! The dimensions of the 98,000 sqft.? If it’s 9,800 ft long by 10ft wide it will go quicker than if it’s 4,900ft long by 20ft wide. Reason,, the rinse With the 100,000 sqft part I am guessing that this is probably parking area thus it’s probably a large wide area, or multiple areas, in any event it’s going to be big areas, 100, 200 feet square or wide. Areas like this take forever to clean, the rinsing will kill ya. There it is in a nutshell, nearly all you need to know to price this job! Asking someone here for a DOLLAR amount for this job & using as they say would be like asking someone you don't know for investment advice & then using it. It'd be dumb. I could tell you to dump all your money into XYZ company, when I don't know jack about XYZ company & they may go under anyday, thus you'd lose your money. I would love little more than to be able to give you a lowball price for this & to have you win the job, just to get completely screwed by the job thus teaching you a very valuable lesson. The only thing that keeps me from doing this is that the action could cost another viable contractor the job! In short, Learn to walk before you try & run. "IF you can't price it you shouldn't be doing it" Start small, small jobs are easy to bid, there is plenty of room to screw up. From small jobs, work your way up, you'll learn as you go what to watch out for & how long what takes. In time you will acquire the knowledge to bid this job, it will be when you are ready for it. This job, as good as it may look to you in that you could get this great big contract, probably holds nothing but doom for you. I am a very experienced contractor & the job you are looking at is what I do. I would scrutinize the hell out of it. Keep in mind here .005cent (1/2cent) = $1,000 on a job like this, thus it'll be REAL easy to screw it up. 1 PENNY off could be the difference between making money & losing money on it if you don't look at it right!!!!! Cody. P.S. ALWAYS price by the SQUARE FOOT & NOT BY THE HOUR - Hence the reason I say -"If you can't price it, you shouldn't be doing it. Some people use an hourly rate to figure pricing, this is simply wrong. If you have experience in doing the jobs then you will know how many square feet you can clean per hour, sort of like Scott said. However the problem with Scotts analogy Not against Scott here, just making a point is that before you go guessing how many sqft you can do per hour on a job like this, you best DAMN WELL KNOW what you can do or it'll bite ya! If you know how many square feet you can do per hour under what conditions then YOU WILL NEVER GO WRONG WITH CHARGING BY THE SQUARE FOOT. Once you find your rate, NEVER drop it to accomadate your increased speed. You will eventually get faster, LIke Scott said, starting out you may get 700ft an hour, one day you will get to 3000ft an hour, this speed increase is your RAISE & your compenstation for the equipment & it's tailoring to your profession. It really pains me when I see guys that drop their rate because they increased their speed, that increased speed is my gravey! OK, that's it,, I was in a typing mood :)

What I can't stand is when you get a job and the cracks in the boards are huge and the deck is really super dry and gray, and MAYBE they threw bleach on it once for good measure when they rented a machine... the wood never looks good, no matter what you put on it, and they never understand why. Know what I mean? It's always nice when the owners care for the deck well... decent boards, grain in good shape. You really do get so you appreciate them. Beth

Well.... in a way, there is. You can go in for implants, or you can get laser to remove it.... Heck, you can go to the mall to get laser surgery on your eyes. Kinda scarry that.... Beth

Since Wood Tux is semi transparent and not solid, you might want to sand to get the most even result. Hard to say without a photo... do you have a picture?

Yeah, the battery system is on Rod's wish list.... lol... :) I'm sure it won't be long. Beth

Rod uses a shurflow alot too. He likes that better than a pump up, but some situations don't allow for it's use. Many of the homes around here have poor outdoor electricity on the new models... We had a huge strip job recently (large fence and little deck the one with Warm Honey Gold) that we could not use electricity on. Very frustrating. Had to use pump ups for everything. The homeowner said the electricity never has been right for outdoor use. Beth

You're welcome Robert. Enjoy them! Beth & Rod

http://www.cwip.com/msds_frames.htm Here's an MSDS for Ultra Clorox. I got the other info from a chemist's site. :) Beth

ROFLMAO.......:D

Thanks guys, hope the samples are helpful. :) Beth & Rod

Hi Paul, Rod took a close look at the photos, and his feeling is scaffolding on the rocky side. The side with the roof peaks (front) he would handle with folding ladders over the peak so he could get to the boards above the roof peak and still be able to stand, using the ladder rungs (folded over) as steps. He has done this before with success. If HD-80 and EFC-38 both worked on test spots, he suggest taking both and using EFC-38 where ever you can but in areas that look like the stain may be heavier, use HD-80. Be careful around window frames. You will either need to mask or wet them first. When you seal everything up, you definately need to mask everything up. You might need to rinse the deck afterwards too.... Beth & Rod

Hi all, For anyone new to wood restoration, we do recommend this course. The material covered is important, and Everett is a great instructor. Beth & Rod

John, we're with you, and so is most of the eastern seaboard. Spoke to a friend in NJ yesterday who is ready to pull his hair out. Down in Georgia, same thing. Same thing in IL, NY, Carolinas, etc... Blowers, brooms, towels all help, but you have to get down to 15% wood moisure content depending on the sealer.... :( Beth