PressurePros

For what it's worth, I know a few contractors that grossed $600k last year down in Florida.

I wouldn't be too hasty to decline it. I had a similar situation. But the variables of mine may have been different. What material will you be cleaning? Is it vinyl siding? Stucco? How do you apply your chems? Do you have hot water? Is the roof moldy as well? Can access all areas to be cleaned via ladder or lift? If it's vinyl siding...Saturate the cedar shakes with plain water, get your final mix hitting the house to 1% sodium hypochlorite and car wash soap. Apply via downstreamer with large orifice 0 degree nozzle. Stream is very direct and you can control overspray. Work in very small sections and as soon as you apply your housewash mix, re-rinse shingles carefully. Let dwell fifteen to twenty minutes. If you have hot water turn it on..160 F...and rinse with the same nozzle. It's going to take you twice as long working cautiously and methodically. Hopefully this guy is aware that what he is asking for carries a premium price.

I am in the unenviable position of cleaning up another contractor's work. The customer is having hard time picking a solid color stain and I don't have a portfolio of solids as I rarely use them. Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks, Jon. Project is slated for this Friday. I am using Cabot's. What product do you like in solid?

10x10 decks are usually at least 200 sf with rails, steps and fascia. I'm not telling the customer to take a hike nor am I charging an exorbitant rate. By neccessity, it would have to be worth my while. We are discussing minimum charge. I could have 4 hours into this. With labor, materials, estimate time and gas, and amortized expenses my deductions from gross would be about $100. $350 minus $100 ? I'm not getting rich on that.

Littlefield, there is no problem in questioning. Let me give you a background where I'm coming from. I read cans thoroughly. I call manufacturers. I talk to contractors around the country before I jump into anything. I have heard incredible hype about Ready Seal and I wasn't impressed. I have cleaned and sealed about 250 decks the past couple of years and have gotten to know just about every product retail has to offer. I am a perfectionist on my prep. The right products, the right dilutions, pH tested, moisture content tested, all previous sealer/dirt/mold gone. I don't know what happened with the customer tracking but when I walk through an oil spill on a driveway I usually leave boot prints. My warranty is based upon workmanship and life of sealer based upon speaking to manufacturer's reps. In my warranty explaination I have disclusions about fading now. Like I said, stripping the Ready Seal was a knee jerk reaction. I could have resealed but every single one of those customers commented on how faded the product looked. I never said I didn't put down two coats of it. I did. They were light coats. The "tracking" deck got two very heavy coats but there was no standing sealer on the deck. I just didn't have the goof proof experience everyone raves about. It's easy to apply I'll give you. In my experience, easy and best are not often synonymous.

:bday: Happy Birthday, old man! :bday:

cool music

I tell them one day. If there is a seal I tell them we come back on a second day. I think most people want to see how long you are going to be on their property.

If it's small and can fit in on the way to or from another larger job I will do it. Top rate though. 10x10 would be $350-$400

I would go with the Ready Seal or try the Wood Tux DMC formula. These are products you will have to reapply yearly but are more forgiving in application. Based upon my experience of measuring wood square footage I would say you have about 1400 sf which would bring your cost down to about $2000. The products and tools you are going to need are some type of sodium percarbonate cleaner, oxalic or citralic acid, a couple of pump up sprayers, some type of sealer sprayer, paintbrushes, masking, extension poles, 24 foot ladders and (not doubting your ability) probably a solid week of eight hour days. If you have any more detailed questions, please email me. I will have products available for your cleaning by next spring. I will also offer you assistance in making the job go more smoothly.

Georgia prices are probably lower than here in the northeast but here is a starting ground. You have a thousand square feet of floor (per your measurements) More realistically with rails, steps, benches and posts you are well over 2000 sf of wood. You also have to factor in extra time and danger of the height for the exterior of the rails. On the plus side it looks like a sodium percarbonate cleaning versus a strip job. Here would be my breakdown. Using 2000 sf: Clean and pH balance with acidic wood brightener: $1200 Seal using contractor product, 2 year guarantee on workmanship: $1000 Materials (16 gallons sealer) : $560 Total for project: $2,760 My guess is a homeowner/inexperienced contractor would be working on this for 6-7 working days. If you could tackle it on weekends, There is a good possibility parts of the deck would turn grey before you got to seal them, in which case you would have to start from scratch again. A deck like that could easily cost you $35,000 to have built. The faster you get it cleaned and sealed properly, the better. Things to look for in a contractor: Liability insurance, uses the proper detergents, does not exceed 1000 psi (and knows how to nozzle down his machine to achieve that pressure), before and after photos of his work and ten references. I'd call five of the ten and visit at least two of them. Doing a deck this size and height requires more experience. Countless times I have seen guys underbid this type of project and abandon it midway through realizing they will not be making a profit. Be choosy and don't give anyone more than a third down. (I take nothing until the first day of work is completed) Remember, like anything else, you get what you pay for..Best of luck to you!

Rod is more of a GI Joe than Ken doll. :topic:

Which pH side was the soap? How much pressure did you use to clean?

I just filled the truck with gas...ouch My poor bank.

::laughing:: then I stand totally corrected!

The previous contractor should have explained that no pigment = grey deck. I don't think this was an issue with Ready Seal, just the customer's desire for a clear.

I agree with KC. You answered your own question, Len. You will be shooting yourself in the foot. As a deck professional you know you cannot apply anything over a solid but another solid. Follow the customer's lead and yes, you will get a reputation in this community alright..as the contractor to avoid using.

To be fair to Ready Seal, the experience with the tracking problem could have been my fault. It was done after the first customer complained about fading so I put much more down on this lady's deck. The other eight decks I did with Ready Seal initially had no complaints and I did maintenance on all of them this past spring. Unfortunately, all were very faded, and in keeping with my two year gurantee, I stripped and applied an alternate product at a reduced rate. Knee jerk reaction on my part...Like Jon said, different contractor, different results. It just doesn't meet my needs. Cost of sealer is irrelevant to me, I pass it on to the customer. I need a product with one coat coverage and durability. Customers already know that using any quality retail product is going to cost them $30-$50 per gallon if they were to buy it themselves.

Jeff, I am the same way. I have cleaned walkways and deck furniture because I didn't want it to detract from the work I performed. My point is, where does it end? While making the world a cleaner place can have it's share of altruism, I am a businessman doing this for profit. Perfectionism (ie performing extra work you aren't paid for) can cost you a good deal of money. Countless times my guys have point blank asked me why I was cleaning this or that.. it's a weakness in me. I want the customer to be not only happy, but thrilled. I have learned now that if that result is to be achieved you have to have foresight when you are selling the service. Think ahead to anything that can detract from the cleaning and ask the customer for the sale then before you spend an extra 30 minutes here, 20 minutes there. If you have the right housewash mix, your gutters will look pretty good. In my opinion, pulling out an extension wand, and either stopping to brush or having your guy do it constitutes additional labor. Then there is the factor of expensive specialty chemical. If you build all of this into your housewash price, great. But to me, pricing yourself above competition for the sake of including hidden charges is too risky. Let me ask you this.. A customer has a 20x20 concrete pad. In the middle of cleaning, he interrupts you and asks you to get the mold off for him. Do you break out concrete cleaner and a surface cleaner at no adittional charge? I could have my guy's have the cleaner out, the chemical on, and when I finished rinsing I could attach the surface cleaner all in under 20 minutes. Twenty minutes on a housewash can equal $40 in bill rate. In business you have to look at every margin, every minute.

It was posted above that one should use what works best for them. While I found Ready Seal to be child's play to apply, I found it's one coat coverage to be less than adequate. I did maybe ten decks with it and got two call backs. That ratio was enough to make me run. One call was, it's been three weeks and my deck is very faded. The other was, my white carpet is ruined by my back entrance. It has footprints tracked in from the sealer you used. This was after two months by the way. I am not bad mouthing Ready Seal, it also has it's place but it is not the panacea for every deck that comes down the pike. I cringe a bit at the term film former too. It is ingrained in every wood professional to avoid these like the plague. The fact is, if you combine a film former with a penetrating oil you get the best of all world's.. deep conditioning with pigment drawn below the surface and a moisture barrier to lock it in. If that barrier could be formulated to not peel, in my opinion you have bliss. Is Wood Tux this product? I have to admit I have my own skepticism, but then again I don't understand thermal coefficients and resin alkyd systems. If one can make a product achieve the above mentioned wood protection AND provide infinite moisture content flexibility with application... at the very least it's worth listening to with an open mind.

Russ, received my Citrallic today.. Thank you! Whats the dilution? Says 2/3 of a cup, as in measuring cup or 6 oz of weight?

Celeste isn't great when you can raise your prices and not worry about losing a few customers? Congrats, I know you guys work hard and help others as well. Roger has given me some very good head's up timesavers as well... pass him my gratitude. I'll have to call and harass him again soon.

Richard you read my mind. Just another reason to stay where I'm at.

You couldn't ask for better. Good idea using your own wood as a test bed. I say you are ready to make some profit from it. How did that grass hold up to the HD-80. My only observation would be to try the HD at weaker dilution. I'm guessing 50% would still have given you similar results with less furring.