JimCrossley

I do a lot of work for condo and homeowner associations. I had a auto muffler put on to one of my machines a few years back and it really makes the noise level come way, way down. The stock black muffler cover was removed and bent tail pipe was welded to the factor muffler outlet. The muffler is supported by a bracket that is welded to the belt housing of the indirect drive. I can still pop open the cover to change belts. The only issue I have had is that I need to turn down the power on the machine for about 60 seconds prior to turning off the machine. This is to remove the gases inside the muffler so I do not get a back fire (very big boom). Every one who sees and hears the machine agrees that while it is a little funny looking it is very quiet. I hope this helps you out a little.

Larry, I also have a 16" Whisper. I turn my compressor down to about 800 psi and do my thing; that is at 400 psi per jet. I have done over 30 decks this way. Just don't try this method on soft wood such as cedar.

Exactly... Turn the compressor to about 1200 psi with a surface cleaner and go for it.

Jeff, sorry for the delay in responding. It will get between the boards. Squeeze the trigger goind down the board to apply the stain. Then brush it into the wood with the grain. The go across the grain and the stain will go over the sides to cover the channels. After I have done this for about 4 boards, I apply the second coat to the boards again. I always put on atleast two coats. I have another two decks to do this week and I will use it again.

We bought one this week. We were able to cover 500 sq. ft. with two coats in just over two hours. I should have bought one years ago.

I just finished a deck this week using sodium percarbonate. This was the decks first cleaning in four years and the deck was new in 2002. I used a surface cleaner for the floor and the project went very quickly (500psi per jet). The house is very close to me so I did the job in 2 days just so I could take this picture.

Just thought I would share how we approached an interesting wood project. The pictures are of a bridge connecting a visitor’s parking lot to a condo in Atlanta. We finished stripping and staining a bridge over a small stream a while ago but I have been a little busy lately so I didn’t get a chance to post this earlier. We used HD80 for stripping off some DIY junk and Ready Seal for the stain; medium brown. Except for a three hour period during the staining of the floor, we kept the bridge open for traffic. We started the project before Christmas and we had a lot of UPS and FedEx deliveries to contend with. The major concern for us was not contaminating the stream with junk or stain. We place a large piece of plastic under the bridge on the right hand side and finished all of the handrails on that side. We sprayed form the outside to the inside and hand brushed the entire inside railings so as not to spray out beyond our plastic drop cloth below. Then we moved the plastic drop cloth and repeated the process for the left hand side. Just in case there was any overspray which was not caught by our tarp under the bridge, we placed an oil catch boom down stream about 20 yards. I won’t bore you with the after pictures, it turned out great. I wanted this post to be all about how to approach a problem over water. Over all looking back, it was a fun project to have completed and the Board of Directors for the condo association was very happy.

Thanks James. It was a challenge. Just like Tiger had this weekend.:golf:

Jon, I went back last week and took some pictures in the sun as the finished project. Here you go.

Here is a picture of the oil catch boom after the project was completed. It was new when we started and all of the stain we captured is on the boom.

Jon, we over water we leaned over and sprayed. Over land, we used a ladder or reached over and did what we could by hand so we did not have to cover the plants.

John, we captured on the bank the run off as it came off the plastic. I think we spent more time positioning the plastic than we need to but we don't do this kind of project very often, which is a good thing. To our surprise there was not a whole lot of junk as it had been some number of years since the bridge was stained. I had most of the spindels over the water sanded by hand by some cheap labor I found hanging out at Home Depot.

Jon, The after pictures were taken on a cloudy day and did not turn out very well. I am going back to take a couple of pictures later this week when the sun decides to come back out.

Here are the other two pictures.

Napa automotive stores with repair shops can repair blown hoses. Their price is about $15.00 for parts and labor.

Rod, I have had the exact set up for the past three years. I run regular gas, change the oil 2 to 3 times a year but I have never changed or serviced the CAT pump. The oil looks clear. Am I missing something here?

I just completed cleaning a ladies deck and concrete areas here in Atlanta, GA. She has moved to Alexander City, AL and she needs her roof cleaned there. She has lots of plants and needs a bio friendly solution and contractor in the Alexander City, AL area. Please email me if you are quailified to clean roofs. driveways@earthlink.net Many thanks in advance.

Alex, I did not have any responses. I sent her to servicemajic.com but I would gladly send you the information. Send me an email to driveways@earthlink.net Jim

Jeff, I hope this pointer helps. http://www.bomacwv.org/

This is a great thread. I hope you don't mind my 2 cents worth. On more than one occasion I run into irregualar shaped deck areas. I find that this target http://www.webcalc.net/menu.php is a great place to resolve the issue of pulling out old geometry formulars. http://www.webcalc.net/calc/0020.php is great for triangles knowing just the lengths of three sides. Just try to break an area down into squares (and or rectangles) and triangles. Just my 2 cents, and I hope some of you find this cool web site to be helpful.

We clean condos that have white anodized aluminum roofs over their front porchs and the roofs feed into white gutters. The gutters get streaks along with the metal roofs. There is not any tar in proximity to the gutter. I think the black marks come as a result of the carbon particles in the atmosphere that is brought to ground level thru the rain.

I received a call this morning at 7:30 am (before my 1st cup of coffee). The man's name was John, sorry no last name (remember the coffee). Any way, I think he was a contractor and he was looking for people to clean 800,000 sq. ft of asphalt at a placed called Centenial Station in Atlanta. I live here in the area for 20 plus years and have never run across that location before. It could be a new construction site. He need help right away. I told him I was busy but I would spread the word. I have told you as much as I can remember, (remember the coffee thing). Don't call me. Call John, his cell phone number is (770) 402-8643.

Paul, Thanks for sharing. I skip going to the site. I hope I can return the favor down the road.

As a follow up to my first posting, "John" call me again. If my schedule permits tomorrow, I will see him a try to figure out what space he is comming from. I think he is a PWer who is in over his head and he is looking for subs, but that is speculation on my part. The job site is huge, and the following is a Google satellite view of the job site taken during the early phases of construction. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=atlanta,+ga&ll=33.792665,-84.395835&spn=0.008640,0.014636&t=k&hl=en It is a long URL and you may have to copy it your browser. To see the streets that are next to the site press the Hybrid button on the map. The site is next to 17th Street. I know that a number of people here in the Atlanta area have spoken to John over the phone. I will try to bring some sense of order with some digitals I will take of the job site. If you have not played with the Google mapping program yet, plug in your home address and enjoy.

I thought I remembered Beth one evening at a wood chat mentioning that a hand held spray bottle is used by a number of people. We use our Decker for the inside stiles right now. But the outside stiles, we like to work between the stiles from the inside. Is there one type that is better than others? A small Hudson, pump up first and then spray for a while; or a squeeze as you go bottle. Any thoughts you might have would be appreciated. Jim