CannonW

What is the most efficient way to stain the outside of a 2nd story deck? 1. Ladders 2. Scaffolding 3. Stand on the deck and reach around to the outside. 4. Extension wands 5. Other

I just posted a new thread to sell my equipment. "Trailer, PW and all accecories for sale." Call me if you are interested... 507.210.1446 I live in Minnesota.

I just posted a new thread to sell my equipment. Trailer, PW and all accecories for sale. Call me if you are interested... 507.210.1446 I live in Minnesota. http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2236

Robert, I received your personal message here. Then, I missed you again when I called.... left a voice message. Basically, I am just curious on how you bid one of these roofs if a lift can get to it. THANKS! 507-210-1446 cannongroup@rconnect.com

I have Rhino Lining in my truck bed. I wonder if its the same company. I would think flat, resturant/bar roofs would be the only application of this stuff....

Just keeping this thread on the top of the list.....

I just looked at one of these myself this weekend. Same situation, large square footage (2400), steep, 45 degree angle... mold & small trees starting to grow out of the roof... and getting to the roof is going to be very difficult because they have trees all the way around their house. (I am not built for repelling). I told him it was out of my league because I am just starting out... pump up sprayers are no match for this job. (Of course it may be a good reason to get a shurflo setup and a deckster)... but he wanted me to give him a bid that he could compare to some companies from the twin cities (MN). Here is what I came up with... I figured it was the same process as a deck... strip, brighten, seal... so I took the square footage 2400 * my deck price of $1.25 = $3000. Then I checked into lifts. To be safe, I estimated that it may take 2 days to strip & brighten and another 2 days to seal. 4 days of rental on a 45 foot lift was about $900. So, the total bid would be about $3900. The customer was shocked at the price. He is going to let me know what kind of prices the companies from the cities quote him. Did I give him a good estimate or was I way off the mark. Again, I am not taking this job... I just want to know for the future. Another thought I had was to charge him by the hour with a certain cap on the price. It may go faster than anticipated which would bring down my cost and the lift rental fees.

I recently stripped a cedar deck with HD80 at full strength. When the deck dried I noticed that the wood had fur on it. There are 3 possibilities... 1. The HD80 did it. 2. I used too much pressure (I know this is not the reason) 3. The customer pressure washed the deck themselves last year... they may have used too much pressure. If the HD80 was the cause, how do I prevent this?

cannongroup@rconnect.com

I just stripped a cedar deck and the customer wants a clear coat. How does the Crystal Clear hold up compared to the Honey Gold? (I have Honey Gold in stock they would have to wait for the Crystal Clear.) I told them that the pigment protects the deck from the sun. How hard should I push this? Any idea how much longer the Honey Gold would last over the Crystal Clear? I need to know by Friday or the customer will just go with the Honey Gold I have in stock. FYI... After I looked at the sample stick, I liked the Brown Sugar the best. One more thing. I sent the picture as an attachment to myself. When I viewed the picture, it looked good until I tried to enlarge it. Any ideas. I sent the full size picture and the smaller picture option... same result.

So... I spend a 1/2 hour taping along a deck so I woudn't hit the house with the stain. Then, of course, I hit the house with stain right above the tape. I quickly wiped it off and was pleasantly surprised when it wiped right off. I hit the house with stain later and discovered that it wiped off even easier if you have a little paint thinner on your rag. So my question is... does anyone skip the taping and just carry a rag to wipe off the stain marks on the house... or is that a bad idea?

I have the same question on the sprayers... I am hoping someone can answer. I used a pump up last weekend. It created large drops that landed everywhere. I am thinking that an airless would create a mist and actually be easier to control the overspray...

I cleaned a deck with EFC-38. When I came back to stain they had replaced some of the bad boards with new green treated wood. The moisture content on these boards are 30% and the rest of the deck is around 12% - 15%. I held off on sealing the deck. I was hoping that if we got some dry hot weather the moisture content may come down on thos new boards. What should I do if those boards are still at 30%? Should I stain the entire deck and leave some stain with them for fixing those boards when the stain fails? BTW... I am using Wood Tux Honey Gold.

Where do you get the sheets of cardboard?

Just did my second house wash this past weekend. I have a question... When I washed the vinyl sided house, the pressure forced water up underneath the siding which washed the dirt and grime out from underneath. The problem is that the grime kept leaking out. I tried hitting it hard to force it all out... Then I tried just rinsing it off the top after it leaked out... but it just kept coming. Any suggestions? BTW, I used 6136 & Bleach (2 passes) to clean... worked great!

I went back and cleaned up the mess. I redid the trouble spots with LOW pressure. It still leaked. So, I ended up using an extension pole to wipe it down by hand... over and over and over. 3 hours I will never get back... but, I have a satisfied customer.

I did my first house last Friday. It had dirt, grime, mold & rust on it. First, I hit it with Pressurtek's 6136... that worked pretty good... got all of the dirt and grime (used hot water too)... but the mold and rust remained. Next, I hit it with Bleach... That took care of the mold. Then I hit the rust stains with Oxalic Acid... which took care of the rust. The house looks great... but now I want to speed up the process. Can I mix the Bleach and 6136? Will that give me the desired results? Is there a shelf life after mixing? Is there a better way to apply? I downstreamed the 6136 and the bleach with a chem nozzle and extend-a-wand. I sprayed on the Oxalic Acid with a pump sprayer. Is there a Shurflo setup that would work better? How about an X-jet... is it time to buy one? Thanks for all the help...

No one wants to touch this one... I have had a couple run ins with people from Russia. I worked with a girl from Russia. At least once a week she was on the phone argueing with someone about her bill... Phone bills, electricity... etc. We sold our 2nd house to a Russian couple. The called and demanded that we replace the door that we stole. We never had a door in the doorway they were talking about. One more... Our local grocery store finally stopped doing business with a couple of India women. Every time they came in they tried to mis-use their food stamps, then complained when the store would let them. I don't feel that I am prejudice... I just think that it is reality that people from different cultures act differently. You can ignore it or use it to "profile" your customers. To be fair... I work with a middle aged white guy that is constantly on the phone trying to "negotiate" his bills.

OK... I am going to put my ignorance on display... I have never cleaned brick. What are you talking about when you refer to the sand? Does brick have a layer of sand on it?

Thanks everybody. The homeowner just called me to let me know that it continued to leak after I left. He was cool about it and knows that I am just starting out. I plan on going back and making it right. I will wipe it all down if I have to.

I am having problems getting the locking pins to release so I can collapse the shaft.

Is F-13 a concentrated form of 6136? 8-12oz doesn't seem like a lot of 6136 in a 5 gallon mix....

If I had any brains I would have turned down the job... or tripled my price. But, desperate for the work, the experience and $$$ I plunged into the job. It is a second story bay window with cedar shingles on 3 sides with a steep roof along the sides with tough access at the peaks. First, the rate... I bid the job at Deck prices $1.25 sq/Ft. It should have been close to $5 sq/ft based on the access and the condition of the shingles. They had black mold and old stain. Second, I applied the HD80, EFC-38, Bleach and Oxalic Acid (yes, I tried them all) with 1 pump up sprayer. What a waste of time changing chemicals... not to mention dangerous! Of course the sprayer broke so I had to go home and get a new one. Next time... I will have spare parts... I will have a separate sprayer for each chemical... and I may have a different setup entirely... Shurflo or X-jet. I need some help here... I want to apply some of these chemicals at full strength... can the X-Jet do that? This is why I have been holding off the purchase of the X-Jet. I assume that I have to use a Shurflo setup to accomplish full strength application. Next Lesson learned... don't use the sprayer as a mixer. Next time I will mix in a 5 gallon container and strain the chemical into my sprayer. I plugged up the sprayer several times. Another time waster... walking back and forth to the trailer. Is there a way to setup a pressure washer so you can turn it on from the gun? Has anyone set up a "remote car starter" sort of apparatus? Well, I will be going back to stain this week. Hopefully I won't have anything else to report. I've learned enough on this job, I just want to be done with it. Later, Jeff Swanson The Cannon Group

Here is why I have been holding off on the purchase of the x-jet... Can an x-jet apply HD-80 and EFC-38 at full strength? If so... how? Do I mix the chemicals stronger in the container and then dilute them with the x-jet? Will the water absorb the chems at higher strengths?

I am just starting out this year doing this part time. I may be moving to full time depending on the amount of work and other factors such as "do I still have my day job as a contract programmer". Winter starts in October here in MN... I am wondering if any companies in FL or other warm places would be interested in taking me on as a sub-contractor trainie for 2+ weeks in the Ocober/November or March/April time frame? I would want to learn how you do a variety of jobs, from Decks, to roofs, to flat work, maybe fleet work. I could provide my own insurance, a 3500psi 4gpm hot/cold machine and a truck. (I could use my trailer, but it has my advertising on it). E-mail me if interested... Work: jeff_swanson@cargill.com Home: cannongroup@rconnect.com