tropical wave

This is a great topic..... The x-jet sure has its place, we've done houses that were pretty clean to begin with, just a bit of mildew and surface dirt which required nothing more than an x-jet low pressure soaping, dwell, low pressure x-jet rinse and the mild dirt that was there pretty much melts away. (and as nice as those are to run across, it almost feels like its too easy) on many days that is not a bad thing :) But there is no way the surface of the siding is getting as clean as if each row of siding was rinsed with a "fan" of water from a regular nozzle, at a better angle than from below, but like I said earlier, that isnt always needed. Don't get me wrong, I use the x-jet exclusivley plenty, but there are times (many) where that isnt the approach we use. We'll x-jet the soap, dwell and break out the regular wands (from extension, 10 foot, 6 foot, 3 foot) pop in the old 40 or 25 degree nozzle and rinse, row by row. If that is whats needed, thats what we'll do, in the grand scheme of things it doesnt take all that much longer anyway....longer yes, but not so much to make it really painful on the bottom line.... here are some lines from a publication that many have heard before, just putting it out there for the heck of it----- "Splash and Dash refers to the person that splashes bleach or chlorine on the house, rinses and leaves. There are various levels of clean, and various qualities of work" "If you are working on a tall house, use ladders or an extension wand. Do not use an x-jet type nozzle because it will force detergents under the siding. To properly wash houses you need to pressure wash each row of siding and pattern clean. This cant be accomplished with an x-jet. An x-jet nozzle is great for the "splash and dash", but when using real detergent products it will force the detergent underneath the siding where it will emulsify (dissolve) pollutants and cause them to drip out over the siding later." and it goes on and on, blah blah blah....... these quotes certainly arent from the pressure cleaning bible, but the thread tickeled something in my pea brain and recalled this article, thought I'd "put it out there"........... and, whether anybody agrees or not, or does things differently isnt the point, just relaying what is in print. and if we can find it in print, homeowners can find it too. granted we're the professionals and some homeowner isnt going to tell us how to do our job, but perception is a big deal.....if it looks clean from the ground, is it clean 25 feet up? If you "educate" a customer that the "new way" is great soaps and an x-jet with no ladders or long wands needed, and you leave and the house dries looking good (from the gound) and he/she opens a window upstairs and wipes a hand across the siding and comes up with fingertips of grime, he'll be thinking to himself, "I knew that looked to easy"........ This isnt x-jet debate, it falls under the thread title and question about weep holes and staining..... P.S. we use the x-jet a lot (wanted to clarify that, again)

We finished this deck up this week also. It is aprox 15 years old and had a clear sealer applied awhile back. Half of the area is covered by a roof with an exterior plywood ceilling. There was plenty of mold and mildew and quite a bit of dead wood, primarily where there is no roof and the outsides where the UV rays have been abusing it, as well as the snow etc....We stripped everything and were even contracted to handle the roof trim, soffit, ceilling etc. (even the vent cover). which was another day to prime and paint the ceilling and trim. Took a lot of primer and a top coat of a color that the customer chose.......

and they retire the big ones..... we'll never see another camile, katrina, andrew etc etc....... I moved my dad down there last year right after Frances, Im sure he's loving my dumb a$$ right about now....

Tracey Deg, Yup it is. The color when finished really depends on several factors, type of wood, prep, age, condition and so forth. This deck has 2 parts, one exposed to the west and the covered part. Since the exposed part sits in the sun and rain during summer and under snow in the winter, the condition of the wood is different than the covered parts, so they will look different. But they're both 15 years old or so. Here is a pic that shows a lot of floor and the bench, not the same exact angle but the idea is there...I dont know if you can tell by the before pics, but the clear that was on there had like a varnish look in areas that it was hanging on toughly.... :)

Bingo....... its pretty much like Jeff said. Or stand back further so your not shooting straight up, or use an extension wand so your hitting the siding straight on. The soap leaking out is worse than the rinse water leaking out, the soap will leave more of a visible drip.

Finally wrapped this one up prior to the Chicago weather taking its turn for the worse. Pics arent that great, cloudy, cold, dreary day...... But at least its done before winter and everyone is pleased.... :)

Ken, I dont recall how much sealer is left in the pail, but I used less than 4 gallons....It was super windy so I brushed it all, so not too much waste. Tracey Deg, yea its the RS natural cedar. The temps are getting low, the grain was tight and the wood is pretty new, so I didnt take much sealer at all......was applied pretty lightly, so it would penetrate without sitting on top forever in the cooler temps. I actually thought it would take more in since it was a strip and sand job, but it didnt.

Beth, I reduce them to 195kb as required, its just that it says Ive reached my pic limit, so I have to enter manage attachments and delete some older ones from older threads....

Thanks Guys N Gals...... Jeff, I'd need more space cleared out to put more pics on, :) Beth, gimme more room...... :) LOL Ill remove some older ones from my posts, maybe I'll toss a couple more on later---just for you jeff, as I KNOW your a pic kind of guy !!! Matt, This project was a referal from a deck we did that was a real disaster, like 25 years old, and we sealed that one with RS natural cedar, the owners of this one wanted the same finish, so thats what I did. Im glad we got to do the ceiling with this one as the transition from the 6x6's with the header to the new finish above really makes a difference.

too funny.....I see Home Depot is getting roped into this one too.......

Thanks guys, Shane look at the other one we did with the roof and all, that is the same sealer just on much older weathered wood....you'll see a big difference in the color.... :)

Cute Shane, very cute... :) The roof needs replacing, lots of shingles are curling up, they just replaced the siding, did the deck, next year they'll do the roof and a patio down near the deck.... trying to work the neighbor, they need a serious deck restoration....would be another challenge, its so gray, its black and the green growing on it looks like astro-turf...... went by today, weather was better and the color settled in a bit after just one day, it'll look even better in a few more, but since I was there I snapped a couple more....you can see the difference in color already....

Your awfully fast there Celeste... LOL, couldnt even get em loaded up :) ...

what the heck...last ones..... :cool:

this shot shows how nasty it was before.......

a couple more.......

Im really dissapointed with the way the first pic came out, looks poopy, but the second one (with the floor) is the way the whole deck looks. Is this "the one"? well, lets just say this "is just one" and leave it there. :) the color is Natural Cedar. It was supoosed to rain today, but the sun is out, maybe I'll head back out and check it in some good light.

It wont let me sign up, maybe its my popup blockers or other security crap on this thing.......but then again, Im sure everyone pretty much knows where Chicago is......

I think the "free day of training" offer has been revoked !!!!!

Hunter, great looking work !! what chems did you use? if any..... at the top of both pics, it looks like the neighbors sidewalk is a mess too, did you knock on their door or leave a card with them? could be an easy sale..... nice going :cool:

Looks really sharp......outstanding job guys!!! How much sanding did it take, the whole thing?

Mike, CONGRADULATIONS....DADDY!!!! Im sure you and yours, have a few books on the subject, they're pretty good.....some good stuff there.... sleep will def. be a premium, too bad you cant bank it now.... if you have a boy, when your changing him and hes on his back nude, make sure you cover him with a diaper or something, if you dont you'll be standing under a fountain.....weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (it never fails) one big thing to remember, it will be a bit scary at times and you might think you have no idea what the heck your doing, but the only thing you need to do is------LOVE him/her.. and everything else just kind of falls into place....!!!! good luck and get the cigars. :)

Jamie.... That looks great !!! nice match with the buildings. Im really surprised the center hired outside contractors to work inside the perimeter. Did they have to do any kind of backround checks on you and the company? again, looks fantastic, nice job!

Glad it worked out for Jenny and you !!! great job..... Jenny was a big ole baby wasnt she??

Yup, they dont remove the dew claws from the Great Pyrenees....we have to get this beast groomed every 3 months or the hair is out of control, too much to keep up with at home. Cant shave em too close to the skin or they'll sunburn, the skin is a pinkish-white. another I.D. is the pure white eyelashes.....Tough animal for the south where you are, they're cold weather mountain dogs.....our monster loves it when it snows here and struggles in the heat of summer.... if you havent already, try the rescue link, Im sure they'll point you somewhere....but Im sure the owners are looking and worried sick about their baby !! one more thing, this breed loves to wander, no matter how well trained, they cant be walked off leash, there little explorers......ours has gotten out 3 times and went "walk-about".....but when looking for her, its pretty easy to spot the big white monster in the neighborhood.....she never wandered more that a few blocks from home, so maybe its the same with that guy... good luck