PressurePros

I agree with Beth. Cut your losses, you have way too much time into this lady already. She has a few screws loose.

Very nice, Beth. It looks great on PT. That's the wet look everyone wants. I am not real thrilled with it on cedar though. Comes out too red.

Glock, hang around buddy, lot's to learn. Most of us use an X-Jet for applying soap and rinsing. You need to research housewash detergent, sodium hypochlorite, the X-Jet, and pricing. Feel free to give me a call if I can help you out.

When I first got into this business several years ago, I did restaurant exhaust cleaning, so I had no choice but to get a hot water skid unit. Some rules changed at my biggest account, so I had to go with an electric unit. Now that contract is up, and I am left with a decision. Liquidate the electric but then what? I am phasing out my commercial flat work too. I have one small portable I bought as a backup and have been using it on all my residential. It has served my needs just fine. With an eye towards expanding the residential work into two crews, would you buy a gas hot water skid and keep the smaller unit for decks? I am leaning towards a second portable cold water unit because I have found it easier to bring the machine out back with fifty feet of hose(s) as opposed to reeling out 100 feet of supply and then another 200+ ft of output that has to be carefully snaked through landscaping etc. Some other positives of a portable include winter storage, weight/gas savings. I have always used hot water on concrete. I also like the hot when mixing up chemicals but it hardly seems worth the investment when 90% of my work only requires cold. Any thoughts are appreciated.

I will use what a customer dictates if the product is sold in a paint store (Cabot's, TWP, Sikkens etc) I tell them my warranty does not apply and I make no guarantee of color based upon a sample color chart. This sways most of them, the few hardcore ones (with copy of Consumer Reports in hand) hold their ground. With proper prep and maintenance cleaning, most of the higher end retail products hold up fine

Tony, they don't always work as advertised. One the one manual start machine I have, it came with it from the factory and I still get the backbreaker effect if there is water in a closed output line.

Shane what would you do in the event you ended up with major furring? Do you take it off?

You can try some form of mineral spirits or if it's feasible sand out and refinish.

Dale, The couple of decks I put it on just faded a little too quickly for what I offer guarantee wise. To give you a frame of reference, it looked about the same as Ready Seal does after a season up here.

RC, it's just like people said above. I also have a little machine that is a pull start 13 hp. If there is a pressure build up, you will tear your shoulder out. Open the gun and let it flow then start...should zing right up. My machine is already equipped with an EZ-start and this doesn't alleviate the problem only opening the gun does.

I love the aussie oil's color and richness. I would prefer to use it all the time as it is available locally. I'm really opposed to stocking 50 gallon drums of multiple colors for all the obvious reasons. My results on a PTP deck with ATO were less than fantastic though. When finished it was ooh ahhh awesome. The following year it was very faded. I guess it depends upon what you are seeking to get from a sealer. I would like 18 months before I have to recoat with just a cleaning or two in between. My guarantee is contingent on cleaning, so I am not excessively worried about mold. That's another qustion though.. Everett, have you had issues with mold remediation using the Cabot's? (ie having to clean more often)

Here's the first shot I got at using Wood Tux Wet. The stuff is THICK. I had to lower the viscosity to get it to flow through the sprayer. For you guys that think this stuff is expensive, You can probably turn a five gallon pail into a seven and it's probably still superior to everything out there. (don't quote me on that though) Besides you get what you pay for.. I used HD-80 full strength to strip, 350 psi, 25 minute dwell, brightened with regular oxalic. Now the lady was a real wreck. She watched over us almost the entire time. You're not getting that on my plants are you, whats that stuff you're spraying now, is that the color it's going to be when it's dry, etc etc. I felt like dipping her yappy poodle into the stripper, but I digress. Anyway here are the pics. Notice how when taken from different angles the color seems to change.

The Austalian Timber Oil is an awesome product for hardwoods, but that is all I use it on. It doesn't have the durability (at least in my experience) on PTP, Cedar or Redwood. You will get the same effect with the ATO.. next year it will be faded significantly and the year after that, history. You are going to have to go with a more substantial product. I cannot tell you if the SRD will hold up any better because I haven't used it.

Excellent point, Robert, been there, done that too. I warned this lady about this effect but she was insistent. We do exactly as Seymore Butts aka Shane does... Take the plastic off as soon as we can. This time of year and with the more opaque mil it doesn't get too bad under there. I also use the thin mil blue tarps as they are more rigid and tend not to collapse around the plant making it an airtight greenhouse underneath. But they are also more of a pain to secure and you have to clean them.

With my new lowball pricing tier I come up with $400. I will use "five minute fence" to seal it and apply it with my garden hose. Just playing. Can you remove all the signage?

I would apply my chemicals with my Shurflo, brush the window frames by hand, and rinse with a garden hose from a ladder or make-shift scaffolding system. Like you said, one small mistake and you are in some serious trouble. Don't sweat making less money per hour. As you go you will refine your sytem and before you know it you will be *THE* name in historic house cleaning.

Now I am completely confused. I have used Cabot's semi-transparent stains on decks. As far as longevity, when I had a Cedar deck attached to my house and before I got into residential work professionally, I use the Cabot's semi transparent (oil) and didn't have to touch the horizontals for three years.

Hey Terry, Most contractors use Nextel and a Motorola phone. They cost a few more pennies but their coverage rate is good and direct connect is invaluable for when you have multiple employees. A little side note: I tried the Barlox. I can see what you are saying about cling. On my second mix I tried adding 16 oz to my 5 gallon mix. It was pure foam, stuck to vertical surfaces and underneath soffits and stayed there until I rinsed. I couldn't realy discern if it was an effective cleaner though as this house primarily needed mold removed and the hypochlorite took care of that.

Thank you for all the kind comments.

Wow, is that right? I bought a 5 gall container two weeks ago from a pool supply house and it was weak. I opened the container and knew right away it had been sitting but I had no idea it could spoil that fast. Are you sure about those numbers for a sealed, UV blocking container?

Use the semi-transparent version. It is fine for decks. Don't mix the two kinds, film forming and penetrating, results could be much less than desirable. Some respirators are made for paint spraying. I use one from 3M with replacable cartriges.

Paul, yes big jobs do present their own set of dilemmas. I agree with Henry, shadow box fences are a nightmare. That little overlap means you have to get the sprayer in there from different angles and back-brushing is tedious at best. I would have went full bore with my estimate, but you are asking how would I win the job. I would have sat down with the PM and talked. We would discuss how many square feet I came up with. I would feel him out to see what type of job he was looking for in terms of material quality. I think the only thing you can do is level the playing field and then stand by your price.

Everett nailed it when describing the Cabot's as opaque. I am referring to the semi transparent stuff which is what you should probably steer your customers towards. The Cabot's decking stains I believe are film forming. They can last longer if properly manintained, but most people call you after their deck has already turned into a peeling, flaking mess and without maintenance on a solid or semi solid stain, that doesn't take a very long time. I only wear a ventilator when I'm spraying sealer. Though I should probably be more diligent and wear it every minute I am applying. Sometimes I choose comfort over common sense and thats not very wise.

Does anyone know the algorithm a search engine like Google uses? Is getting a top listing possible using meta tags or do you have to pay therm to get top billing?

Do you guys have a minimum charge to go to a jobsite? This time of year I tell people $200. When things slow down I want a reasonable number. What are the rest of you doing re: minimums?