Littlefield

Gross profit after COGS better be 50%-60%. Overhead is not part of Cost of Goods Sold. Owners salary should not be considered part of Net Profit, either....

You will have your tank set up with a float valve and pull from customers water supply anyway, right? If your truck is holding you back from getting the right equipment to do commercial work, the solution is one of two choices: Upgrade your truck, or don't bother getting into commercial work. Stick with what works for you, but don't ignore good advice from people that have made the mistakes already and regretted it. I've never heard a single person on here complaining about their 5gpm being "too powerful, or too fast." If you're doing resi, go ahead with a 4 gpm now and use it as a second or a backup next year, otherwise save your pennies for the 5 or 8 gpm.

Around here in the malls, the Hat Shack will embroider your logo on a nice hat for 6 bucks. If you do a dozen, you no longer pay for the logo, just the hat, and the logo is free.

Interesting the builder had you use the Woodguard inside. It must have been the stain that was shipped with a package, and he was trying to get some use out of it without wasting it. As far as I know, Woodguard was not ever designed for inside use, hence the lack of drying. It's still not "dry" ya know, it just penetrates until you can't feel anything on the surface. I wonder how it will do for cleanup in the future, though? You're right about the WG in the eyes, don't you hate that? Got so I didn't even want to spray it with a Deckster, the little bit of overspray was murder... I stopped using it altogether about 3-4 years ago when my maintenance showed it would never last the 5-8 years or even close even with their application procedures. Does look pretty when it first goes on, though. Also, hope you read the fine print on the bucket and didn't use any acidic cleaners anywhere near it, or it will turn black in the next 45 days or so.... Looks great!

Having blasted with cob, walnut, soda, and dry ice, you really only need to stay away from soda over the water, it will raise the ph in the immediate area. The old paint- once it's dry, it's not toxic to anyone, I doubt that paint has been on there since 1978, the last year they had lead in the paint. Shane, call me about the blasting, I can now help you out.

Guy in the vid is a rookie, IMHO. First thing I do is stop new guys from making all those small passes. It shows up after the finish is on. Every time you change direction, feather, just like spraying paint. Never, ever, go back and forth like he is doing, unless you have the pressure reallllly low, and are spotting knots or something like that. BTW, soda kills grass, plants, etc, NOT plant friendly, despite being advertised all over as environmentally so....

Jeff, just a few notes on procedure. Forget the remote start, plumb the washers bypass back into the tank. Forget the 200 ft of hose connecting to a neighbor, get a trailer with a tank. I set up both my washers with a 500 gallon tank, which kept me washing this summer during a drought where people were concerned with their wells going dry. I hauled water for a few days, but kept working. Last, give Wood tux a try, its a penetrating oil modified to work on wet or damp decks. I think you'll be impressed.

Just one note, if scraping and cleaning, get the dry chips out of the way before you introduce any liquids, or they stick like crazy. Another solution that's been working for us on these jobs, is to cut down the railings, leaving the main supports where possible, rebuild with new wood, strip the deck, stain the railings on the deck, stand them up, and finish the deck. Just make sure you stain the deck as you go, don't get started with drying stain overlap marks... Finally, install the new railings, get the check.

My builder was a little miffed this morning that there was red clay mud tracked on newly ( 2 days ago) poured concrete. He is sure it will not come out. I told him I thought otherwise, and would see what I could do for him. I'm trying to convince him that I can servic e all his new homes, instead of his hourly cleaning girl with the little P/wer he bought her. She already tore up a deck using way too much pressure, although she trys hard. Any suggestions on cleaning and later, sealing for him??? Thanks in advance...

Jon, I feel for you, man. I've been there many times. I've found using a suite of different products can up the chances of getting the crappy stuff off. Call sometime and I'll share. BTW, just stripped one coat of white acrylic deck paint, one of green paint, and one of green solid stain off a deck, posts, and rails. Went a bit long, due to the heat, but staining finishes tomorrow. I'll post pics.

Following is a set of mixing instructions I wrote up for my guys after speaking with Russell Cissell. This is in no way officially endorsed by him, and I welcome all critiquing of this method. It is premised on the fact that you cannot scoop from a bucket of HD-80 and get consistent results every time, because of settling and stratification of the powdered ingredients. By mixing a whole bucket, you get exactly the mix ESI intended EVERY time. If you've ever had problems with HD 80 not being consistent, THIS will fix it. We jsut stripped 3 coats of 6 month old Sikkens Cetol system off a tongue and groove ceiling with NO furring with this mix! Pics to come in a day or two. HD 80 Mixing instructions Empty and rinse well 20 gallon mixing drum, saving what’s in it in 5 gallon buckets that can be marked. Fill halfway with water. Dump one 10 lb container of HD-80 into the water, and begin mixing while filling to the 20 gallon mark. Be careful not to touch the sides of the drum with the paddle mixer, or you will shave off plastic that will clog the pumps. You now have a full strength mixture of 8 oz by weight per gallon of water. You will want to add 1 gallon of ethylene glycol, (safe antifreeze) to the 20 gallon mixture. Save half the strong mixture into two other 5 gallon buckets, and add 1.5 oz of Hangtime per gallon to each bucket. This is your boosted, thickened mixture for stripping full film Sikkens. It stillwon't be fun, but it's doable if you have the patience for it. It won’t LOOK thicker, DO NOT ADD more Hangtime, as it will not work better than this, and will turn the whole bucket into gel that cannot be pumped or reconstituted into a thinner mixture, no matter how much you paddle mix it!!!!!! Take what’s left in the drum, and add 10 more gallons of water, this is your 4 oz per gallon mix, suitable for reapplications to where the stain is ALMOST but not quite gone. If you have a failing penetrating stain, cut this in half again to strip with little or no furring. Keep the thicker mixture wet with the 4 oz stripper. Don’t keep reapplying thick stuff to rehydrate.

Call me if you have blasting experience and the equipment. Job is ready to go, need to get on it quick.

Got a guy who is really nice, just a little too far for me to travel. Need a woodie who would like to take on a new kind of project or who is already experienced. I will help with bidding and give a day of training in the deal. Need someone to take pictures and send them to me, and I will walk through the bidding/specification process with you.

For everyone that inquired on this, it turned out to be a cob blasting job, and we're taking care of it after all. :) Check out the other lead I'm posting in Senoia, GA.

Beth, ditto. If you want easy, use the Stain and Seal. Or practice. Personally, after using a lot of different water based stains on log homes, I can't imagine something much easier to use than WTW. Now, driving around to rinse off decks for people because stuff is sticking to them, that stinks. The control idea with the Japan Drier is a great idea, but not as good as having it like it used to be. JD is just another thing I have to buy, carry, stock, measure, and add....

And your safety shouldn't be below you. Fall factor of 2 there, risking a broken back.... Not uncommon in China, you should see their coal mining operations...

Not to mention that the soda will kill every living form of vegetation it touches within a day or two....:(

Kevin, absolutes are easy. They make a sales presentation easier. Better, though? I'm not sure of that. there is of course a danger in overeducating a customer to the point that you "lose" them "talking shop". I think a responsible way to handle this balancing act is to practice simplification in explanations, rather than fall back on easy absolutes. They leave you too exposed. The next guy along can add more information, and make it look like you were lying, instead of informing. IE the linseed oil argument that claims it always breeds mold and mildew, easy, but not really correct. The correct explanation of why a stain may be failing that has linseed oil in it may seem too complicated to explain to a customer, but with a little forethought, we as professionals can simplify difficult explanations and not lie, or mislead, or omit, but rather educate truthfully in a simple way.

WTW was just approved by a major ipe importer as their stain of choice after three years of testing. Have your friend call Russell and get the details. Sikkens- never was there a more appropriate name for a family of stains....

So, what do you all think? A stain manufacturer is handing out your card with (possibly) several others, recommending you as a preferred contractor in the area, but nothing on paper, IE certification. You know when you arrive that the house is a candidate for their water based stain, but the deck is shot. Dry, cracked, lots of sun exposure, etc. You feel that a heavy dose of non-drying oil is the ticket to get the wood conditioned, followed by a compatible drying oil, or not, depending on which camp you're it. ;) Manufacturer rep insists that referral jobs stay strictly theirs. Do you A: say thanks for the referral, I gotta feed the family, use all their products? B: Tell them to take a hike, and get all your own work from then on. C: Explain to customer and manufacturer reason for alternate product and just take the chance on losing referrals in the future from territorial manufacturer? Yes, it's happened, I'll let you know what happened at the end of the thread.

Phillip, nice response. That's an angle I hadn't really verbalized yet to myself. You know, if they refer to someone else that's less professional, they may get to replace their stain for free as it's incorrectly applied; they may not "get" the job either, as that person may actually give them a bad name, too. Larry, ggod point about handling the SW referrals.

All, good thoughts. Paul, some of their products work, and some don't. I know where to use the ones that do. Thing is, they feel like we should use all their products only on a referral project, and I think we should do what is best for the customer first, as well as us, then finally the supplier. By the way, just to make it clear, I'm not confused as to what I should do, I just thought it would make an interesting thread. Rick, first time, I'm going with open and up front with both customer and manufacturer. Second time, if there even is a second time, I'm telling the manufacturer to shove off, I'll get my own leads. After all, I don't need yet another person telling me how to run my business, the customers are tough enough...;)

anthony, very interested in the foamer on that deck. Video would be great!

Rick, I like your second choice. Even with the mortgage late, the choice is C for me. I'll still get this job, just not some in the future. I guess my side point to this for newbies is this, if you are charging enough, and are good enough at sales, you wil lbe in a position to always give the customer the very best job, no matter what that is. Mess around trying to price cut your way into work, and you'll end up being someone who makes money first, and does the best for the customer second. In the end, it's YOUR reputation that will take the hit, not the stain. Either you' will end up fixing it, or the manufacturer will run you into the gorund to the customer when they call to complain, blaming 100% of the failure on you. Any other ideas on how to handle this?

I like the square, nice design work.