Little Buddy

I've read all the post with you guys ripping on this nozzle, which i can see why, but it makes more since to me than carrying a bucket around the house like with an x-jet. Who uses the ladder saver or something similar? If you made your own, please post some pics. Thanks, Joe

I thought this would be neat to see. How much did it cost to start your company, and how much did you make (gross) your first year?

western red cedar acrylic restoration, ready seal natural cedar

Wood with deckscape solid

I have been working on a general script when someone calls for an estimate. During this phone conversation, i want to accomplish a few things. The first is to screen the customer to determine if they are a price shopper or someone who shops on quality and convenience. I would do this by telling them my average pricing for the selected service. If they scream, that saved me time and money in gas not going to do the estimate. If they don't scream, i can continue to screen them. Next, my goal is to schedule the estimates on a Friday so i can map them out to be as efficient as possible. I want to tell them that they don't have to be there, without flat out telling them they don't have to be there. If they say. "I’m not going to be there, Friday doesn't’t work for me", this basically means "i want to be there because i have no idea who you are", so i will try and setup the estimate for next Friday. If i struggle to setup a time to do the estimate with them after that point, this is telling me i really don't want to work with them either. Like i said this is just a rough outline of what i was tinking of using. Have some small talk, but continue to get a feel for the customer and what they want done. Set their expectations on how my business works (email estimates, convenient because they don't have to be there, blah blah blah). If they are there Friday, i will just tell them i will email their estimate later that evening and continue to talk about the process, quality, and what ever else. So tell me what you think of the pre-sceening verbiage. The First Call For An Estimate Hi this is Joe. Hi this is Eric Hanley, um I was calling to see if you can give an estimate for a house wash? Hi, yea we can give you an estimate on that. Just to give me a better idea of what we’re talking about here, can you tell me what’s going on with your siding. Sure, there is a lot of mold/mildew on a couple sides, and some dirt and debris on the rest of the house. Well, I can’t give you an exact estimate without seeing the siding just because there are a lot of variables; however, I can say the lowest you can expect is around $350 and usually it doesn't’t go any higher than $550 or so. If you’re still interested, I can stop by and take a closer look this Friday, and send you the estimate later that evening. I’m not going to be there, Friday doesn't work for me. That’s ok. It isn’t critical that you are there, but if you’re more comfortable being there to discuss any questions or concerns, we could set up a time next Friday evening. Would this work for you? Sure, I can set aside Friday evening. Great, so what is the best number to reach you at? 715-781-5565 And the address where the work is to be done, and a name and e-mail address I can send the invoice too. 1687a west church rd star prairie, wi and lindbejb@uwec.edu Alright, I just was wondering if you had the time to browse our website at all? Yes, I did actually. I really like the before and after photo gallery. I also like all the information that is there. The photo gallery is my favorite part too. Previous customers’ are really happy and surprised when I ask them if I can use their before and after pictures to add to my gallery. It is fun to watch someone’s house, roof, or deck transform so quickly. Great, so I will see you Friday evening then. If you have any questions before then, you can reach me at 715-781-5565. Thank you and I hope you have a great day.

mike, this is just to help pay for school and a new truck. Dental school is only a year and a half away!

i really like F-18 but i have used timberstrip on the last 4 jobs and seems to work a bit better i think?! But my season is done in 2 weeks and i couldn't be happier with how it went. Have 4 jobs booked for next season already and i hope i can book the entire month of may before spring break. This industry is a lot of work but it pays to be in it. JL

thanks for the great comments guys!

gotta start somewhere

I was going to strip the spindles but they didn't budge. So i just stripped most i could (2x stripping with the max at probably 12-13 oz) then the makita and osborne went to work. i did the top and bottom rail and post then applied another coat of green to cover up the over spray and such. Over all, about 20-23 hrs into the job.

F-18 to strip and the green is deckscapes solid acrylic. It was a lot of work and made a small fortune on it.

couldn't find much info on here but i was wondering how you clean it? Thanks, JL

Just updated my insurance through joe walters, supper affordable, and was also looking to file form 8832 to go from single member llc scheudle c to s-corp schedule to avoid the 15% self-employment tax. Do you guys think its worth the hassle? Thanks, JL

So I was out on a job finishing up a big cedar deck when I check my phone and see 3 missed calls and 2 voice mails. At first I was thinking I’m in trouble or something but turns out its some lady who almost sounds like she is crying asking if I could wash her house. So I call her up and there was a storm that went through their town and the insurance was paying for her house to get washed before the guy comes out to assess the damage. Got the call Tuesday evening, had it finished in 2 hours on Wednesday (my day off). Who knew you could get $550 for a house wash? Oh it was a referral as well!

how do you gys deflet between the spindles?

I just use the defelt pads for finish work because they are not durable enough...bulk of the work is delegated to the osborne brush.

i have 1 already, spindles not post

These are just some rough ideas of the new logo I am making. The rain drops need some work, but not bad for a good ten minutes of work. Any input is welcome.

5 year old Western red cedar, wolman solid stain, and they dont really want to strip the railing top and bottom rail) but are willing to do so if they think it will look bad (which it will) with the stain. I dont know which color to use to go well with the house color. They want to leave the green spindles because they like the color. I like how sharp the natural cedar looks on western red but confident it wont match the house... Much thanks, JL

yea so just got done stripping and brightening this deck...IT WAS AN ACRYLIC! I was able to get about 95% but man was i in a bad mood when i got there. The bill for this deck should have been $450 more than what it is, but they were still happy getting the wood back. Now i just have to defelt the crap out of it and stain. Im just gald my next one is just a wash and stain!

mine just got a bath today and the battery is getting recharged tonight...what a back saver.

it just seemed very sketchy from the get go...got my stain so i dont really care anymore. What did you have to do to let the driver leave it there without a signiture?

i'm kinda mad at sunbrite right now for throwing a curve ball and using this R & L carriers company thing...They left almost a grand worth of stain at the end of drive and didn't even notify us, the driveway is probably 300ft long. They didn't even leave a note on the door or anything for a signiture like fedex or ups do when they tried delivering in the middle of the day (probably going to leave it at the end of the driveway again)... also deliveried 4 days late. But anywho, I'm also a fan of the Seal of Ready and my deckster as well. Is there a way to let sunbrite know that i do not want signiture conformation when you order or do they not even look at the messages?

just got my deckster in the mail today. That thing is going to get a workout the next two weeks.

top and bottom first then finish with the solid green right?