Palmetto Home and Deck

Thank your lucky stars you are still allowed to pressure wash. In the Upstate of South Carolina even professional pressure has been completely banned or is severely limited. I wouldn't charge more just because the homeowner is not allowed to do the work themselves. Take this opportunity to prove to the owners you can clean their home better, faster, and maybe even cheaper than can themselves and sign them up for annual service.

Hey MudDuck I don't think he decided to get some other bids because of your price. I think it is because you told him something he didn't want to hear...the TRUTH. He does not want to admit he made a mistake with going with the Sherwin Williams Water Borne Stain in the first place. That is why he has gone back and bought the same thing again. I lose jobs now and then, too, because I will tell the truth about a product. I think the biggest problem I run into is when the homeowner has decided to go with Behr stain on their deck. Most people are open minded to my information and opinion about different stains and sealers, but to a few, anything I say only against what they have decided to use only makes me a villain to them. They see the Behr commercials on TV and then they check it out on Consumer Reports that rates it as one of the best stains on the market and their minds are made up. It does not matter to them about my real world experience with it. I’m sure he will find someone that will come along and tell this guy whatever he wants to hear. From you have described you may be better off if that happens at this point. If he decides to go with you anyway and use what you know to be the best thing for him and his deck he would probably turn out to be super critical and be looking for things to pick on because he does not want you to prove him wrong.

“Brush the glass and rinse. The condition of the glass and how dirty it is has allot to do with how they come out. Glass comes out better with agitation. or get a De-ionizor.” Jim “If I were wanting to clean windows without physically cleaning them, I would clean the house as usual, but brush the windows with a soft car brush with the house wash.” Micah _______________________________________________________________ There are a lot of good tips here, but there is one key step to good looking glass and that is brushing as Jim and Micah point out . I know you want to avoid this, but brushing does not mean scrubbing. Just a little agitation goes a long way and it doesn’t take long. Another that helps is wet the glass before you apply your house wash mix and then again right afterwards even before you start rinsing the house. If you avoid putting your mix on hot dry glass and never let it dry on the windows they will be much easier to rinse clean.

Hey MudDuck, How are the rails constructed? Are they made with the standard 2x2 pressure treated balusters? If so it may be cheaper and easier to just replace them rather than try to strip the acrylic off of them. A 36" baluster cost around $0.98 and the 42" ones cost around $1.15 at Lowes. Put in around $2.00 each to replace them and you may come out ahead. Just something to consider...

I clean a lot of Hardi Plank homes. I always used my regular house wash mix until I read about Pressure X's problem with red streaks showing up after he cleaned a Hardi Plank home. I think it was the very next day after he first posted his problem I was working in a neighborhood that had a new house under construction. The home was at the stage where they were installing the house wrap so I payed attention to see if it had red ink on it. I have seen a lot of homes wrapped with Tyvek wrap before with Tyvek's logo on it, but the building supply company must have had this wrap made especially or them with their building supply company's name on it. I mean their name was printed all over it in giant red lettering. The house looked like a billboard advertising the building supplier. Hardi Plank is installed by most contractors by nailing a half inch down from the top of each board. They overlap the next board by only about 3/4" and put no nails where they overlap. This leaves the boards where they overlap very loose and very easy to get water in between the boards. Generally, you don't find the mold problem to be as bad on Hardi Plank as you would on vinyl anyway so I have cut my SH way down and I make sure I am standing back aways making sure I am not shooting water upwards underneath the overlaps. Since Pressure X had his problem I don't avoid Hardi Plank, but I am a lot more careful with it now. One more thing. Some contractors are now installing pre-painted or some call it pre-treated Hardi Plank. This stuff can fade and oxidize worse than regular painted HP while cleaning so watch and test for that. Also, the pre-painted boards can be scratched or chipped during handling and construction. Since the contractors pay extra for the pre-painted HP they certainly don't want to paint the house and these little nicks, dings and scratches can show up when you clean it. Before you take on a Hardi Plank house see if you can find out if it is pre-painted (the homeowner may not even know). In any regard, look over the siding as best you can before you start so they don't try to pin something on you later. The darker the siding the worse these places will show up.

Dan, I'm certainly not questioning your expertise. I, like you, am searching for answers through a process of elimination. I have seen some of the same problems you are having and I have cleaned unsealed wood with percarb, citralic, and other cleaning solutions or compounds. In addition to wondering about today's stains I'm starting to question if the treatment process of the lumber is having any overall effect. The old CCA seemed to do much better, but was it actually the wood or the stain in those days. Then come ACQ. I started seeing poorer performance and life expectancy of both the wood and the stain. And just this past year the treatment process has gone to MCQ. As a deck builder this is the poorest quality wood I have seen yet. I expect most decks built with this to warp, twist, check, and generally degrade in a much faster time than any previously treated lumber. Like I said, I am looking for answers myself. Is treated wood quality and stain quality going down at the same time a coincidence or are the stains reacting to this new treatment process in some way.

I actually saw this a couple of weeks ago.

“All phosphates, including trisodium phosphate (TSP), are so damaging to the environment, particularly lakes and rivers, that more than 19 states and several counties in 15 other states, limit the phosphorous content of household laundry products to 0.5% (this is assumed to be a virtual ban). The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) from Rhone-Poulenc1 states; "Do not flush material into public sewer system or any water way."2 2. “Trisodium phosphate leaves a phosphate film on surfaces that if not thoroughly rinsed will cause adhesion failure and/or blistering of new paint or encapsulant. Experiences with workers performing lead abatement activities in residential properties suggest that it is very difficult to have them clean every surface. Imagine also requiring the complete rinsing at all surfaces to remove the difficult to rinse phosphate residue so that new paint or encapsulant will adhere” Dan, Mold spores are present in the air everywhere and attach themselves even to freshly milled lumber ready just sitting there ready for other factors in order to grow. Regardless of specific species, all mildew requires oxygen, water, a food source, and a narrow temperature range to metabolize and reproduce. Mildew needs water to grow. Consequently, as the humidity of the environment continues to rise, the mildew flourishes. For food, mildew generally metabolize organic food sources like starches, sugars, proteins, and some oils found in paint systems. Specifically, mildew can also feed on pollens, bacteria, or many other organic contaminants on the finished surface. It’s obvious you know this by the way you described using bleach and TSP to clean your new 2x6. Using bleach on wood can open up a whole new can of worms on here, but perhaps your bleach solution was too weak to kill the mold spores letting them survive to come back and get you on another day. Trisodium Phosphate was once used widely in cloths and dish washing detergents, but it was found to be causing severe algae blooms in the nation’s lakes and streams and since has been virtually banned in these products as from the quote above. I don’t k now for sure, but if your bleach solution was too weak to kill the already present mold spores you may have actually fed them with the TSP. I know you said you solidly washed it, but since bleach and TSP are a base did you neutralize the board with an acid before staining?

Hey Celeste, On about those same lines, I cleaned a house the other day that someone hit with about a dozen eggs. The city couldn't stop me from cleaning up the acts of vandalism to this home owner. I can see the headlines now when people realize they can get their home cleaned if they get egged and start lobbing them at their own houses..."Police are baffled as reports come in that homes all over Clemson were egged last night. Pressure washing business booming"

"I'm thinking about inc. my buisness this week. which is better INC. or LLC?" Both INC. and LLC offer pretty much the same protection in separating your personal property and what actually belongs to your company. The basic difference is in the tax structure. The link below can give you some information to help you decide which is best for you. www.bankrate.com/brm/news/biz/Biz_ops/20000831.asp For more information Google INC. vs LLC

Ditto what Celeste said in Clemson,SC as well. We are in an extreme drought period here. One good thing about a drought...it never rains on the deck before you get to stain it. Bad thing about a drought...if it last long enough you get hit with mandatory water restrictions in the height of the season and you can't clean them.

I was called out to look at a deck back in September where the owner had already removed the deck boards then decided he was getting in over his head when it come to building the stairs, railing and installing the decking. His mind was already made up that he wanted composite decking so I steered him to the only composite decking I personally think is okay (Timbertech). If you can see it in these pictures the joist on his deck were spaced on 36" centers and they were only toe nailed into the ledger next to the house. I don't know how this deck was even still standing. We added extra joist to the substructure, added joist hangers, and beefed up the beam supporting the 36" cantilever.

Here are some pictures of the finished deck. The composite decking was cedar colored. I used cedar 4x4 post, cedar 2x4 and cedar 2x6 for the rail with Fortress balusters. I stained the cedar components with Ready Seal natural cedar before I assembled anything together on the deck. It was nice to stain everything while it was on the saw horses and not have to worry about doing it after it was on the deck. Anyway, I know there are strong opinions about composites on here. I for one am a true wood fan, but I think in this case the combination of composite and wood makes a nice looking deck.

Lab puppies...if you don't shoot them before they are two years old they will make you good dogs. I'm just kidding about that of course. Lab puppies will not only test your patients, but also your wallet. My girlfriend, Nancy, got a lab puppy about eight years ago and a few days later she had named him PITA (for pain in the ass). I finally had to bury the phone and cable vision lines in conduit to keep Pita from digging them up and chewing them to pieces. PITA turned my 75' of garden hose into 75' of soaker hose. He ate the gear shift knob and the back bumper off my girlfriends car, he chewed up the front porch, the window sills he could reach, and the handles off the wheel barrow. If it was made of wood, plastic, rubber, leather, and some metal it was fair game. Nancy bought him a dog bed from LL Bean that was guaranteed chew proof or they would replace it free. LL Bean replaced it three times. I swear it was something every day. Like I said that lasted about a year and a half to two years and he finally grew out his destructive stage and has become quite a dog. Actually I think Pita was wasted on us as he should have been a See and Eye dog or rescue dog or something. That is one smart dog. When we take Pita hiking he is not happy unless he is in the lead. It's like he is making sure the trails are safe for us. If any one in the group hiking with us falls behind Pita will notice and sit down in the trail to hold up the group until the stragglers catch up. If they don't catch up soon he will run back to check on them. To Pita, like all Labs, the concept of meeting a stranger doesn't exist. They think the world was created so everyone on it could love them and for them to love everyone on it. It is hard to explain the personality of a Lab, but they will not let you think of them as a mere pet. They become your friend, your buddy, your trusting companion. While PITA did his best live up to his name those first two years I couldn't ever imagine ever having any other dog but a Lab. If you have never had a Lab before, you are in going to be in for some tough times, but you will end up with two of the best friends (can't call them pets anymore) you will ever have.

NWBOC - National Women Business Owners Corporation When I was working on the bridges on I-85 in Greenville the majority of funding come from the Federal Government. In order for us (the bridge contractor) to be granted the contract we had to assure that a certain percentage of the total contract go to Disadvantaged Business Enterprise's (DBE) and to Women Business Enterprise's (WBE). It was actually a pain to meet the percentages and often the work we subbed out didn't even go to the lowest bidder so we could meet the governments goals set on us. Also, there were plenty of times when these DBE's or WBE's wouldn't show up when we needed them so we would have to do the work our selves to keep the project on schedule. Worst part of that was we still had to pay the DBE or WBE for work they didn't do or we would jeopardize our contract if the percentage (dollar wise) didn't get to those Subs. Point is you may be onto something. If the Federal Government takes over housing and contracts out maintenance aka pressure washing I'm pretty sure they will guarantee the work goes to a DBE or WBE contractor. Unless you have a greater proportion of minority blood in you, filing for DBE status may be out for you. What you might have to do is turn over 51% of your company over to your wife and get her certified as a WBE. The link above tells you about this. Actually, that would be a great shoe in for any city, state and federal work.

I think I have a way to end the drought in the Upstate of South Carolina. Last Wednesday I stripped a deck in Greenville (about 28 miles from me) which is one of the few areas near Clemson that is not under mandatory water restrictions. Keep in mind that throughout the entire upstate no more than a light sprinkle of rain has fallen in the past thirty days or more so the odds of stripping a deck and getting it stained without a rain delay looked very good. I was scheduled to stain the deck last Friday, but wouldn’t you know it…rained moved in. It rained on the deck most of the day on Friday all the way through Saturday morning. Yesterday the forecast predicted a 0% chance of rain most of the week so I schedule the deck staining for this Tuesday. Just before I was going to pull out this morning to drive over to Greenville to stain the deck, I turned on the morning news and found out that 1.25 inches of rain fell in Greenville last night. (where did that come from?) I called the home owner and she confirmed that it poured rain last night on the deck. Funny thing is, all this time we have not had any rain at all in Clemson. I think Clemson should let me wash a bunch of decks asap. I’m convinced that if I had a bunch of decks to stain here that the drought could be over in no time. Oh well, no deck staining today so I guess I’ll go work on that boat dock where I have to deck over one of the boat slips on. With the lake being so low I can do the work standing on the ground now.

Hi Randall, Yea, I always try to keep something lined up to fall back on. The only thing I was whining about this morning was I had loaded the truck up with deck staining stuff Monday evening so I could leave out early Tuesday morning. When I found out the deck was too wet to stain. I had to unload everything and reload up with my carpentry gear. I think I am going to buy two more enclosed trailers and have one for deck staining etc and equip the other one with my saws and other carpentry tools in it. That way I can just hook up the one with the tools needed or the day and go.

Its nice to feel needed! If you still need me in about a month I might just take you up that. Would I need to bring my rig or my carpenter's belt?

I'm not so sure. Sometimes it actually looks like Obama is running against her harder than he is McCain. Besides I like her better than McCain anyway...

I vote Palin/McCain...

When I first read about a round table being planned about I was very excited about attending from the very beginning. As the drought got worse in the upstate of SC and mandatory water restrictions have shut down just about all pressure washing I have been working harder than ever trying to hustle up deck re-skinning and other projects to get me through this tough time. I didn't think I could afford the time nor the money right to attend the Myrtle Beach Round Table, but at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to go any way. I called Jeff and asked if I could still get in and he told me to come on. He said he would pull up a chair from somewhere if he had to and I could pay my $19.50 at the door. I don't know how Jeff accomplished all he did for the admission price because this had to be one of the best deals of the century. First we were set up with excellent facilities at the Holiday Inn. We were not in a bad area of town and I am sure everything probably would have been okay anyway, but Jeff had his crews on guard duty 24 hours a day watching over every one's trucks and rigs that were parked in the parking lot. Jeff give us all a JL pressure washing coffee cup, tee shirt, we got a nice note book loaded with examples of letters, fliers, etc. that we could look at and get ideas of what we could all do for our our companies. Jeff provided lunch to us all on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. We all got to hear from speakers on topics from how to contact the right people to talk to about attaining commercial work, environmental issues, the plans for the *****, how to make sense of those MSDS sheets and why it is so important for us to have them with us. Ron ********** did an excellent job speaking and keeping everything rolling. I don't think I have ever seen anyone that could be speaking and giving out prizes at the same time and never miss a beat. I got to meet people in person I have all been talking to in the forums for years and I met Randall Brooks from Blue Ridge Power Wash. Turns out Randall and I have known each other for about fifteen years from our previous lives. We were both surprised that we had been talking to each other on the Grime Scene and we had not put our names together. I got to meet and make friends with other people and it was great to see the face of the person I have only known by name on this forum. It was great to meet and speak to Carlos from the ***** as it was for so many others. We all got to meet and speak to vendors that we have done business with, but never talked to in person. We got to see new products and demonstrations and I have got to have one of those 1hp Honda pumps Bob from Pressure Tech demonstrated for us. Pete and Tracy from Sunbright personally delivered 10 gallons of Ready Seal to me at the MB/RT and that saved me more than $19.50 right there in shipping. So not to make this any longer than it is there is no way to write down all that I got out of this for $19.50. The information I got out of this and all friendships I made during this RT is priceless. Many thanks to Jeff and to Ron for making this RT such a success. Also my thanks to all the speakers, vendors and all that was in attendance for making this such a great weekend. Jeff, put me down for next year. I'll be there!

I used to live on the coast in South Carolina so I am all too familiar with what a storm like Fay means to you guys down there so I hope for the best for all of you. Right now the people in the upstate of South Carolina are so desperate for rain they are praying that the remnants of Fay makes it our way and hangs out on top of us for a few days.

Going after lobster in the North Atlantic? Man, that's hard core stuff. I did my 'bug' gathering in the Florida Keys. That is why I was there so many times. Twenty five feet of water, an 80 cu.ft. tank will last over an hour, no decompressing, and all you wear is a dive skin if that. I don't think there can be anything that taste better than catching a Florida lobster and having him on your dinner plate in the same hour. Oh man, I am getting 'bug' fever. I think I am going to plan a dive trip down there for next year.

Rick, you are a diver too? I was a PADI diving instructor for ten years. I agree with you about the diving in Cozumel. I have been there several times. I have been to the Fla. Keys about twenty five times. I spent a week on a live aboard dive boat in the Bahamas once...Get up and make your first dive before breakfast. Eat breakfast and make two more dives before lunch. Take a good nap after lunch and make another dive before dinner. Eat dinner and make a night dive before going to bed. I used to regularly do black water diving in the Cooper River near Charleston, SC. Lately I have been settling for diving in Lake Jocassee in the upper northwest part of SC. With 18~20' visability it is good for around here, but definitely not the Caribbean. I still want to go to Bonaire and the Caymans sometime.

I have stripped Penofin from three IPE decks since the first of July. One of the decks was one that I, actually, was the one that applied the Penofin on two years ago due to the customer's insistence that I could use nothing else. She stated that the warranty on the IPE would be void if anything but Penofin was used. ??? I thought that was weird, but to satisfy the customer I agreed to apply the Penofin. I explained to the customer what she could expect from the sealer she insisted on and if it turned out she was not happy with it that I could strip it off and put something else own she would be much more pleased with. When I said deck it was actually a covered wrap around porch so the IPE was not exposed to direct sunlight and true to what I said two years earlier the Penofin had turned her IPE black as coal. She called me this spring and told me she didn't care about the warranty anymore and wanted that stuff off and for me to put on what ever I thought best. Getting back to my question, after hearing that customer stating that anything but Penofin would void her warranty on her IPE, I started asking my other customers why they used Penofin on their IPE and they told me the same thing. Recently, I had a phone call from someone that wanted their IPE deck re stained and wanted to know if I used Penofin. When I tried to explain I had a better product she said if I used anything, but Penofin the warranty on her IPE would be no good then hung up on me. So what is going on here? Is Penofin giving kickbacks to the salesmen at the lumber yards that sell IPE to scare the homeowners into using their product? Have any of you run into this?