PressurePros

Hey Jon, how are ya man? The antifreeze is not a wetter per se. I think Rich was just sharing personal experience. I haven't necesarily experienced the same thing. The ethylene glycol is a boosting agent for making HD-80 much hotter. (nothing against concrete cleaners, I never used them to make a deicision one way or the other) The reason I never mentioned on here is a) I don't like to promote backyard chemistry and what you get when you add this compund to HD-80 will knock your socks off and can burn you bad. b) ESI sells/used to sell a product called Boost. Rich, great great post. I think some furring problems may actually be attributed to getting more of a certain chemical that is aded to HD-80 in mixing some batches.

Yes, Dan, I did mean smaller orifice. Thanks for the good info.

I just told you this the other night when we spoke. LOL. I know it boosts HD-80 not sure about the stuff made for concrete cleaning though.

Hi Rick, This is an amateur explaination as though I understand the very basics of sealers and their composition, I can only explain in layman's terms. You are right about the tonations reflected by trans oxide pigmentation. Wood Tux photographs poorly unless you get the perfect angle. "Richer" is perhaps the tone I was looking for... By using the word "even" I mean the oil and pigments are pentrated uniformly and at the same depth throughout the wood. A part of my problem yesterday might have been the temp and sun level. When I say 'cures' I mean it seems to dry. Again my lack of technical undertanding of Gray Away prevents me from giving you factual information as to why this is. The best way to compare is to tell you that Ready Seal seems to give a longer working time (no cure). A hose was loose on the sprayer and a smal stream spurted across the deck before I tightened. I left this little oops there because in my past experience with Ready Seal, one could just go right over the spot and have no blending issues. The Gray Away left evidence of that streak when I went over it and check it fifteen minutes later. I am off to stain a monster today. I'll touch back later.

Go Go Gadget Extend-A-Wand.. nice work

Two against one, I guess we are using bleeech. I don't what happened to the original it's out there somewhere I think.

?????

Sure.. stop over in Philly and pick me up.

Jon, You may be right about the brush thing versus a pad. It seems to be the only missing variable. It could also be that this deck is exposed to sun all day, hasn't been treated in five years and was bone dry. The sun was also a factor, I would liked to have let it sit longer before brushing/wiping. Hard to say until I do another similar deck and use a pad. Again, Shane, jump in here. Yes, it was a PITA to mix. It comes in a plastic pail. The pic I used from the reverse angle to show clean has the pails on th deck.

For those who are not familiar with the product, it is a paraffinic oil with properties similar to Ready Seal. Some of the pros and cons of the product are inherent to this type of oil. It is excellent for wood moisturizing. It is very conducive to maintenance and never has to be stripped. It is also very runny and drips especially in the hot sun. The colors of Baker's Gray Away rock. I haven't seen them all but I liked what I saw in Super Cedar Gold and Dark. What I don't like about this type of oil can also be considered what makes it a good choice for wood. It penetrates like no tommorrow. Unfortunately that equates to time and product. Two things that reduce my bottom line. This deck was very dry. We applied three heavy coats to the floor, brushed them in evenly, waited five minutes bewten coats and wiped off excess oil. I had them wipe it because the sun was causing some flash curing. I am not thrilled with the results on the floor though I do think it looks good. The problem with this type of oil is, when you start with fresh wood it takes a few applications (meaning year after year) before it looks even. I will say that I like the Gray Away better than Ready Seal and it does seem to have a cure to it. Maybe Shane can step in and offer more tech stuff.

Cabot's SPF is JUNK. The person to whom I wrote that little aside will be caling me tonight and cursing me out. Stay away from acrylics. Yes I have put it on PTP. It goes on as a yellowish clear. Just not my bag. Some people have said they love it. It's just a personal preference. It's the closest you can get to a clear and still have UV protection. I get my products and tints directly from ESI.

Definitely a valid sugestion. You could probably go with a number 18 or maybe a 20 orifice on a 5.5 gpm machine and have the DS'er disengage (so to speak) I use the same tip to apply chem and rinse the heights but next time I am at the parts supply house I am going to pick up a larger 0 degree. Dan what size do you use?

Downfalls are a personal thing. It's hard to tint it to the right color unless you can test it on the wood. The color in the can, is not what it sets up as.. I find it hard to work with on a deck that is soaking wet. I prefer to schedule two strips one day, then return the next to seal. I do not like it on cedar. It's hard to get away from the oragnge-ish tone. Also, cedar furs and applying a sealer right away after cleaning is not a wonderful idea. It should be dried and de-burred first. I have enough experience doing wood resto and with various selaers that I can tell Wood Tux will last. The few decks I did last year with it look I did them yesterday. Granted we had a mild winter but I doubt anything else out there would look as good..(except maybe Cabot's SPF, right, Rick?) This is a personal thing but I think the stock color is a bit too yellow. You have to watch what type of wood you put it on.

My pleasure, Tim, I am not sure about the roller on a pole, someone else might be better suited to answer as I have never used anything like that. You can setup a sprayer yourself using a shurflo type 12V DC pump. You can search for a product called a "Decker". You can also look up the terms HVLP and airless. I prefer HVLP sprayers. I use a Shurflo setup I made which is decent. I also have a true HVLP system I run off a compressor. I also use the throwaway Wagner Control Sprayers so my guys aren't sitting around waiting for me to spray so they can backbrush. Those work well on spindles and lawn furniture.

Beth and Rod would be best to advise you on wood tux longevity. I can only tell you from my limited knowlege that it is a fantastic product. It penetrates nicely and does not form a classic film by any stretch of the imagination. I have walked on it 30 minutes after application with zero footprints. You can see by consistency it is a quality product. Many abandon the product after one use because it is unfamiliar to them. I think that is a mistake as the profit potential is great (the coverage of this stuff is phenomenal) It has it's downfalls but so does everything I've tried.

Spraying is the only way to go for even coverage and getting all gaps.

Adrian what would you guys get down there for that? As much as you love your X-Jet, it doesn't work rinsing dirty stucco

Jeremy, using your zip codes (35045,35046) in my remodeling cost estimator to build a 6600 s.f deck with PTP, ground level, plain posts, no fancy caps, 2"x2" railings with spindles on 5", the price comes back as $96,563. I was giving the benefit of the doubt by saying $80k considering there may be guys that are uninsured, work for beer money etc in your rural area. So with all due respect either you measured incorrectly, the customer is full of sh*t, or perhaps he built it himself which seems unlikely if he wants to hire someone to clean and seal it. In my area $19 per s/f is commonplace for deck construction and not inflated. There are area that guys are getting $28 per s/f (Manhattan, NY etc) and that's using the cheapest wood possible. I think you may be getting a bit defensive. No one is trying to discourage you but we have all been faced with the same dilemma you find yourself in. I never sugested anything about how much you should charge. I gave you realistic information based upon the information you gave. You are looking in the ballpark of cleaning and sealing over 10,000 square feet of wood. One thing I learned about is selling a job based upon your own wallet and expectations. It can put you out of business. My uncle paid $50,000 for a pair of stereo speakers. I could never fathom that and at one point in my life I would never have been able to sell something like that. Things cost what they cost. Jon's post was right on point. If you walk into a car dealership and expect to pay $20,000 for a new Cadillac, you had better set lower expectations. You are making too many assumptions based on what maybe you can afford or would spend. Sit down with the homeowner, discuss what type of job he is looking for. Explain (in a nice way) that his big bloated deck is going to have a bloated maintenance budget. It's not up to you as a contractor to compensate him for former excess by taking food from your table. If a person buys a 12 cylinder Jaguar he better be prepared for the very expensive and frequent maintenance schedule. Do you think the Jaguar mechanic is going to be sympathetic to the owner and lower his price on repairs? Not likely. Do this deck. Learn from it. If your hourly rate is peanuts, oh well. Think about this in your final assessment. If you end up turning down 5 other smaller jobs while you are doing this bear, you are going to kick yourself. Good luck to you.

four gallons of 12%, one gallon of house wash, have employee turn on downstreamer, spray two sides, have employee turn off downstreamer and then scrub gutters, rinse, repeat for other two sides. Roll up hoses. No mixing extra chemical..the amount I applied with X-Jet always required proportioners because I put 5 gallons of cleaner on per side so that was four buckets. No dragging buckets which are heavy when full, cumbersome and can spill. Customer sees no buckets of chemicals nor does he get burned grass where chem spilled. The most important thing for me is not speed. Its not chemical amounts. It's height and the M5 does not hold a candle to a proper nozzle. Like I mentioned, whatever works for you is cool. Same results (I'm assuming)

I don't care what part of the country you are in, a deck of that magnitude would cost at LEAST $85,000. Builders around here would charge well over a hundred and twenty thousand. 25-30 gallons of sealer? Are you kidding me? Try closer to one hundred gallons depending on what you use. You are looking at probably $2200 in materials alone. I strongly suggest using Wood Tux Wet unless you are in a very dry area. This is one helluva project.

Never apply any type or urethane to a deck. It will peel 100% of the time. Sealer is the only product you ever use on a deck. If the cusotmer wants color you get a tinted one. Interior wood and exterior wood get different treatments. What the customer wants is a clear sealer. Let him/her know that a clear sealer will let the deck go gray in as little as six months. Then you have to strip the selaer to remove the grey. Look for a product called Clear Solutions from Cabot's or Deckscapes toners. Thjey have very little pigment and allow the grain to show through nicely while protevting the deck from UV for a year. Everyone asks me for clear and I talk everyone out of it and 100% of my customers marvel at how wonderful their decks look.

Welocme to wood resto, Lou. When we were talking the other day and you described the deck I knew what you were in for but I figured it was best to let you experience it for yourself. So what do you think, do we earn every dollar doing wood restoration or what?

It's all what you like. Like I have mentioned. I have done both. X-Jet is overkill for housewashes and it does not shoot high enough. It also give killer overspray in windy weather. It has its applicatons but it has its downfalls. It can also damahe aluminum siding and can have priming issues. There are times when chemical continues to flow from X-jet when you lay down the wand. When I shut my wand off, everything stops. No priming issues. I use one 5 gallon pail of housewash mix for a decent sized house (and I saturate every square inch) I also have less issue with killing plant life because the housewash mix I am using is synergistic and overall sodium hypochlorite ratio at the house is low.

Lou, some people are more sensitive than others. One of my guys can stir it with his arm while whistling Sweet Georgia Brown. I have another guy that dresses like we are fumigation bombing an airtight trailer. I am somewere in between. If I have a strong strip I wear a chemical approved dust mask and face shield. I have third degree burn scars on my back from wearing a back pack sprayer that is why I warn people against using them. I mainly worry about my eyes and face. Keep a bottle of lemon juice in a squirt bottle and immediately neutralize anything that gets on you.

definitely no water. In fact on flatwork I am surprised you can downstream at all and still get decent results.