PressurePros

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?

When you use any type of caustic on wood, especially cedar, it will darken. You need to pH balance/brighten the wood before you apply your sealer. Oxalic acid is what most guys use. There is a product called Citralic from Extreme Solutions that is a milder blend of acids that achieves this result also. I loaded in a hundred lbs of oxalic at the end of last season, but when that is done I may give the Citralic a try. You put the acid on right after you are done stripping.

Congrats on getting the job. That is good money for a deck that size. Best of luck with it.

I use a standard truck brush on my extension pole. I have seen those ones shaperd like a "V". They seem like they would make it easier to get under neath the gutter. Does anyone use those, I am heading over to the supply hous on Thursday. Should I get one?

Holy cow, great job. Man that was disgusting.

Here is the walkway we also did for her. Home brew concrete cleaner followed by light acid wash.

odd

I would think using an oil semi-trans like Ready Seal the sealer would penetrate into your taped off area and look like crap

I have been approached by several guys willing to do exchange labor for the chance to learn. Some of them are not yet established businesses (no insurance) I am concerned about liability. If someone were to get hurt on the job, they are not my employees therefore are not covered under my workman's comp or my damage liability insurance. They are also not certified to be subcontractors. How do you guys/gals handle this? Do you just have someone stand around and watch? I am not real keen on this idea, either. I want to help someone all that I can to get started properly and learn proper technique, but you are talking about having uninsured people hovering around a jobsite where there are dangerous chemicals, high powered machinery and ladders and that makes me uncomfortable.

I wasn't correcting you, I just did not know it was legal to touch them. More details please?

Thank you, Matt. This is exactly what I was thinking as well. I regretfully have to decline on any offers to do labor for learning. I am available at anytime via phone to answer any questions I can.

Beth, when someone comes to work for you for a couple of days, you hire them, put them on the books then lay them off?

Are you saying the hydroxide chems won't kill the growth? If that is true, I am in trouble. For heavy organic growth, I use HD-80 on untreated decks at 3 oz per gal and let dwell ten mins. I put percarb down on a deck that was so thick with mold, a scraper blade was full of it after an eight inch path. I had percarb down (str8 percarb not EFC-38) and after 45 mins of dwell it was diminished but the deck was still slimy and green.

Good morning Beth. You mean fire hydrants?

In the case of well water (which I run into often) could drawing from two taps cause damage to the well pump by forcing it to overwork? This may be a stupid question but I am not familiar with how this type of water system actually works.

If the mold is real heavy I would just go ahead and use the F-18. You can mix it less hot. Pure percarbonate products take a long time to cut through heavy growth.

Sometimes you shut it off while you change chemical, mix more chemical or are waiting for dwell. Mostly this on/off occurs during deck work. On hot days you have to work in sections. Also doing hoods you have to frequently stop to scrape or rinse an area.

I was driving by the local high school and I heard.. Tony, Tony .... he's our man, if he can't strip it.. ........... noone can! yeahhh Tony! I wondered what that was all about. Nice Job Tony, thanks for the report.

I was just about to make the same exact post. I think it's a very good idea, especially if you are a one man show. I have done jobs without a helper where the machine was 200 ft away. It's a major time waster not to mention tiring to go back and forth.

My competitor is going around telling customers this is the best stuff on the market. I am not a tech guy when it comes to trans oxides, solids content etc. Will someone with some deeper understanding check this out and get back to me? Russel, you out there? http://www.in-wood.com

The In-Wood company seems to have been around for awhile and my competitor Mr Powerwash is a reputable company. They advocate low pressure deck restoration, so I'm sure they use a process similar to my own. I don't really want to say anything negative about their choice of sealer especially if it is a quality product. After all, he could spin his sales pitch in the same way, because I use products that are distributed out of state and have no product name recognition among the masses. Mark, you are right about In-Wood's marketing machine. Mr Powerwash leaves a beautifully designed, full color, 8.5"x11" brochure distributed by the manufacturer of In-Wood. In-Wood also advocates that it is wet application friendly. In response to my questioning their product via email, I was sent a detailed email the next day with multiple MSDS sheets. Mr Powerwash has more time in the field doing wood restoration than I do. I am bidding against him on almost every wood job (so far with decent success) This year I have changed sealer choice. I am still not 100% certain of which sealer I will stay with. A certain wood guru whom posts on this board has also given me another choice product. After seeing enough of his pictures, I am assured that his is also a quality product. As of right now, Wood Tux stands in the front running. I know it's quality surpasses almost everything out there and as far as Russell Cissell goes, you couldn't ask for a more knowlegable guy. But it's also tempting to run with the In-Wood because it seems to offer the same attributes as the WT, is price competetive and solves any issue I have with regard to sales pitch.. Customer: "Mr Powerwash is going to use In-Wood, they say it's the best product on the market" Me: "In-Wood is an excellent product, that is why we use it also"

There are times (especially this time of year) when using warmer water probably would have made life easier. The nights have still been 40-45 degrees and the chemicals are slow to activate in the morning. With that being said, the warmer the water the more likely you are to start raising grain. It's like anything else, there is a point of diminishing returns. Setting a burner for a 25 degree rise is probably fine this time of year, but it's not neccessary. The wear and tear on the machine and the cost of fuel oil make it even more prohibitive to using heat when doing a deck.