CLASSICPW

If we're talking about sealing and spraying stain, I found a great tool this past fall. I've always held a piece of cardboard against the house and edge of the deck when spraying sealer or stain, but Sherwin Williams sells a 3 ft piece of plastic attached to a handle. They use it for cutting in when spraying paint. It's about 18" tall and 15 bucks, a godsend.

Even a 20x20 ground level deck in PT would cost around $5000. My 2nd level 12x14 deck with stairs cost $5000 and my cousin is getting a 20x40 ground level built for $16,000!! I would bid @$940 for a strip job at that size and I would 3 out of 5 times get it, but it would involve a heavy sales pitch involving the whole restoration process. Fortunately we only have to use hd-80 on maybe 1 out of 10 decks. EFC-38 removes most of the crap around here and the people with the solid stains usually want the same color solid reapplied. Oh yeah, 3-4 hrs to strip and about 2-3 hrs to spray and backbrush a semi.

I'm with Henry, 30 miles and some exceptions. I'm in Baltimore County and if it's big enough then MAYBE I'll go to Carrol, Howard or Ann Arundel, but that's it. I'm very lucky, I guess, to live in a very populated, suburban area.

I recently bought some equipment from a guy in New Jersey who went out of business, His X-Jet set up was the best I have seen and I have it installed on one of my trailer rigs. Heres the Deal. On a hose reel he has 200 feet of X-Jet tubing hose (1/2 diameter) with fittings on the end with a gate valve to attach an X-Jet. The hose reel is attached an ON Demand 12 volt sureflow pump that drafts my soap mixture out of a 30 gallon tank on my trailer. It work really nice... I can even X-Jet soap off of the end on my extension wand. It knocks an hour off of my house jobs... And is a lot less work That's a great setup, but I usually change my solution percentage per side of the house. In example, if the house is only moldy on one side I use about 2 gal of bleach for that side and 1 gal bleach for the sides that really are not that dirty, plus when people have untreated decks I minimize the solution so the deck doesn't get bleached.

I'm sure this question has arised elsewhere, but what kind of hot water washer do you guys prefer? I'm considering getting one, or a hotbox for my cold washer, but I'm confused on the burner options. 12volt? Deisel? What's the best?

Has anyone tried the raincoat in cedar yet. I've been using the TWP for awhile and have had various results, most good. The last 5 gal pail I bought had tons of crap floating in it and it kept clogging my sprayer.

Both look very used. The magnum washer cost $12,000? Yeah right.

It's not seeping in my thick skull. 12 volt is deisel? Does 12 volt mean electric start? Or maybe electric ignition.

I find it hard to believe that it's hard to strip Raincoat. I barely even penetrates the wood. Beth, the TWP that I used looked like there was a film on the top of the drum. When you shook it and stirred it the stuff was all over the mix. I'm guessing from over exposure to the heat, but not on my end.

That was great. I got a thank you card once just full of compliments and praise. It felt great.

It was the very first bit of research that I did before starting the business. It was very helpful at first, but when I skim through it now, I have to laugh. There's a few helpful hints, but sometimes I feel like I know more than the author. I'm still fresh in the game, it goes to show what the internet and a little experience can do.

Since nobody has used this yet, I'll put in my 2 cents. I used the raincoat clear(only because they insisted) and I tried out the tinted cedar. Both go on looking like you're spraying milk, very weird. They cure in about a 1/2 hour, and look pretty good. The cedar was a little light, but turned out real nice.

I think the best bet would be a flame thrower.

I'm curious, please send me a few copies also. Show me yours, I'll show you mine :) classicpressurewash@comcast.net

Do you guys every worry about lightning. Nothing ruins my day more than being 3/4 done washing a house and hearing thunder or seeing lightning out of the corner of my eye. I either wait it out in the truck or leave my equipment there. What would really happen if lightning hit the wand. If your hands are dry you would think that it would follow the water through the hose then fry the washer, but if it's lazy, I guess that it will jump the wand to your hand.

APlus, you lease your trucks? I've heard that you can write off 90% of your lease, but I've heard many different things. What are the pro's and con's to leasing. I've been contemplating leasing on of those nice F150's, but the way I destroy my trucks I'm not sure if it's worth it.

I usually spray around them, but sometimes I get ballsy when there is actually mold on the siding that's close. How can it be that dangerous? They get soaked when it rains.

I ran out of my store bought concrete cleaner today, that works very good actually, and decided to rummage around in my chems to find a substitute. I never knew HD-80 was also used for filthy concrete until I read the label. Well, it worked great, the concrete was black as night and came out brand new with little effort. I'm very mad that I left my dig camera home. Doh!

I've never washed a roof, but there is a huge demand in my area. I was just about to research it when I read your thread, thanks. Now, how do you rinse? What about cedar shingles, there's alot of moss infested cedar roofs here.

I saved myself about 20 min per house with this new technique so I thought I'd share it. I use a portable washer for my house washes and it became a pain in the ass to constantly fill the 5 gal bucket w/ either the faucet on the other side of the house, then carry the heavy bucket all the way around or pop off the gun and fill it with the high press hose, but then I started going through o-rings like crazy. So here's what I did: I attached a dual ball valve y connect to the water hose intake. I reattached the quick release for the water hose, then on the other side I clamped on a 1" clear hose and zip-tied it up and around to the back of the handle. On the end I clamped a pvc elbow. Now when I fill my bucket, I plop it under the washer handle, hit the left ball valve and it's full in about 10 sec. I hope this makes someone's life easier.

I just started using car wash with wax and it's been working great for windows and rinsing been much easier than using Dawn dish detergent, but it doesn't foam as well as the dawn so on some of the moldy spots I had to hit it 2 to 3 times with detergents. What's the best foaming car wash with wax? As for awnings, I've never had a problem with bleaching. The sunsetter brands actually bead up so any water and chems seem to roll right off.

I can tell you that there was some old paint splatters on the front porch that it didn't touch, but my concentration was low. I bet if you pumped it up a bit with some serious dwell time it would do wonders. Actually, just ask Russ.

Beth, I can't figure out how to make my pics smaller for the post.

here's a few pics

Awhile ago(lets say 6-8months) I was whining about efc-38. It was performing horribly. I used it on a fence and 3 decks and it absolutely sucked. Well, I ordered a new shipment from Beth to see if it was worthy. ( Even though it sucked, it was still better than bleach) This new shipment is the ****!!! I guess the last batch was a factory defect because this new tub is the most wonderful addition to my business that I've ever had. It literally eats all the mold, grime, old sealer up and requires almost no pressure to remove all the crap, I love it!!