PLD

Here in Ga, you can't buy a six pack after midnight (or on Sunday) and take it home to drink, but you can go to a bar and get really trashed until 4am then drive home. Good planning...

If I were gay, my wife would be awfully surprised! :)

Yes, when that fear subsides is when you should start to worry. Philip

John, I agree with you on all counts. But... this issue is MUCH larger than second hand smoke. It's about the preservation of private property rights. Quite simply, it is not the government's call to dictate to businesses who they may and many not serve. Govt buildings, yes. They are owned by all of us. Private establishments, no. Let's play out a scenario: A smoker and a non-smoker enter a bar. They are sitting there (just the two of them) drinking their beers and the smoker pulls out a cigarette. He asks the bartender if it's alright, and receives an approving nod. He then lights up and proceeds to smoke. The non-smoker pulls out a pistol and orders the smoker to leave. He makes it very clear that if the smoker fails to comply, he will kill him if neccessary. Now for the question: Do you have a problem with the non-smokers actions?

Yes, they do. And in order to make sure they have no problem exercising this right they should familiarize themselves with which restraunts do not allow smokers to dine there. My business, I select the clientel... Your money, you select the businesses you patronize.

Draino is mostly just sodium hydroxide and a little surfactant.

Mar-June rocked. July slowed, and August sucks. The net result is mixed. Better revenue than last year, but much lower than plan for this year. Expenses rose as a result of growth, so profits are flat despite a large increase in sales.

Ditto. Let me know if you want to tak team it. 800k of asphault is a tall order...

You're right. I just got so excited about 4000ft of vinyl fencing that I forgot about that little detail...

Just kidding. ;) I found that pic on the net.

Dang, and all I've got is my mangy old tom cat...

I disagree with Jeff on the pump up. Burn the chems and save the labor. FWIW, I did two 250lf sections (solid fence) at an apartment complex and charged $0.50/lf/side. Great money!! Applied chems (housewash) with an old style xjet (low press) and removed the remaining gook with a #40100 tip. Used a gun with no lance for all of it. It took about an hour per 250lf (one side). One section was even on a main highway and only afforded 6ft of working room. That added about 30 minutes. My neighbor has two 75ft sections (also solid) that I do for free twice a year. Takes about an hour and a half. Some people love flatwork, but give me my Xjet and some housewash and I'll take ALL the vinyl fencing you can offer up.

Remember, they called an electrician. He has probably never heard of coil cleaner, nor has any idea how to use it... Probably just assumed that bad buildup + small thin spaces = high pressure cleaning. As someone said before, why not call an HVAC tech? I fix my own AC about 90% of the time, but when I am stumped I don't just guess which component an order one. I call an HVAC professional...

Purple power is Butyl Caustic. The store variety is quite a bit weaker than that available through a chem supplier. I use it in a pinch myself.

Profit vs. what the market will bear. If I could make $10,000/hr I would and not feel bad about it. Alas, I cannot. So I set my prices accordingly and work like hell to control operational costs to increase profit. Note: That does not mean simply slashing expenses. Some expenses (like those that create quality) actually increase profit margin and can severely decrease margins if cut. Others (like chems) increase expenses (labor) when cut. I personally think that making money is pretty easy if you remember one KEY rule: The buyer sets the price in EVERY transaction. Find that price, and develop a means to deliver it at a workable profit. And never forget when you are the buyer (i.e. chems, equipment, labor). That is the only place you get to negotiate price and affect the bottom line.

Ditto. That's when I am "personally on site" supervising.

I get better than response that with my trucks, but not much. I did invest in 10 polo shorts with my name on them, and I wear them anytime I am not behind the gun. Shopping, kid's schools, out to eat, etc. And I ALWAYS quote in khaki's and a logo knit. Even if it means stopping at a gas station and changing clothes. Also, when I talk about my business I always talk big. Truth only, no lies, but always BIG. For example: "The _crew_ will be here on Monday" "I'll have to check _the_ schedule" (as opposed to _my_ schedule) "I will be on site to personally supervise your job" "Here is my direct number" "_All_ of our employees undergo a background check" "We do not schedule on Saturdays, it is reserved for an overflow day" "we are presently booked until next ___sday" I use this alot and sometimes even when I am not booked. If they must have it tomorrow, then I will have to get back with them after I make some calls and try to re-arrange some jobs. When I call back, I have managed to move some jobs and get them a slot tomorrow afternoon. Of course, I did it especially for them. ;) I always speak in plural. We, our, the company, our crews, the office staff, our billing people. My cards don't even say owner. Unless it comes up in conversation, I'm just the overly honest sales guy happy to be working for a very reputable, and somewhat large, enterprise. Think big, project big, peform big.

I misunderstood the first time you said it. Yes, bleach and emulsifiers will affect stain performance by begining the decomposition while it is still in liquid form. You must neutralize when using a high Ph cleaner. BTW, Oxalic acid exposure can lead to sterility and kidney damage whether or not it is mixed with citric acid. For purposes of selecting PPE, please treat citralic as you would Oxalic and Citric seperately.

My guys get pretty annoyed. To be fair, they are caught between me pushing them to meet my standards, and me pushing them not to be so slow.

Neither am I. And I certainly don't have nearly the experience with staining/sealing that you do. Hence, my comments are from a chemistry background, and not from a "Woodie" background. Anyway, my original point was that what we call neutralizing is actually lowering the Ph below neutral. As for the the wood returning to neutral after time, that will happen but not in the time frames we work in. Keeping the surface wet and rinsing certainly assists in the process by diluting the acids, but drying would do very little. In the absence of water, acids form soluble salts that would adhere to the wood fibers and remain until they decomposed, recombined, or were flushed away by huge amounts of water over long periods of time.

Did you neutralize that spot? If not, the high PH and emulsifiers present in that location would have helped degrade the stain and affected it's results. That would be a plausible explanation for your results.

It certainly does. I consider it a benefit! :)

Yep, that's what I have found and also that agitation is required.

Come on up and I'll show you more than your share of just that. I commonly have black roofs that laugh at 50/50 12.5% (i.e. 6%). I apply 6%, dwell 5-10 minutes (keeping wet), and then still must agitate it off with a low pressure fan. I usually use a close range tip on an old style x-jet or a 40100 on a 4 gal machine with about an 18" working distance. That is why I hate doign roofs. Almost every one requires that you walk and fan every in^2 twice. Once for chems, once for rinse. Ground rinsing with an x-jet is a fantasy for me... We also get black spots on the driveway that I call age spots that resist 6% or the surface cleaner. Both will usually get 'em, but not always. 6% and 190^ water will get 'em consistently , but often in two passes. After the rest of the concrete is clean, they sit there in patches like leopard spots. If you will look closely, the mildew almost always keeps about a 1mm margin around them like penicillin mold does. I keep a sprayer in the truck loaded with 12.5% for spot treating these bad boys.

Doesn't make sense to me. Othewise 5.25% would never decompose at all. And it does...