Littlefield

There's also having a bond, which is basically insurance that you will and/or are able to finish a job. This can be big bucks and big hassles, but many large jobs require this as well.

Wesley, I have a 1500 sqft shop. Part warehouse, part office. I love it.

My CPA is saying your payroll should always be 51% or higher of your total cash in to personal. In other words, dividends should never exceed payroll.

Daniel, are you telling the customer what you are charging per hour? Or are you bidding fixed price?

Kevin, will need some contact info on ya if we are to help you. I'm up north, and I moderate the wood section on this board, lots of blasting here if I could just call the number in your sig line....:)

Neil, I missed this when ou first posted. CAn I say WOW... Great work, we need to get together for a visit soon.

Florin, there will always be an opportunity to cut corners. I work my guys by the hour until I can separate the self motivated,( has nothing to do with money at all) from the external motivated (everything to do with money, get rid of them fast, they will always find a way to cut corners) workers. Once I am rock solid sure of their quality control, THEN they get the privilege of working on percentage. Also, always pay a little less on percentage then you do hourly, in order to have a pot growing for things that may need fixing. As much as they may WANT to, if they damage something and it was somehow unforeseen, it will be hard for them to be able to afford to fix, that's our job as business people, not theirs as employees.

I realize you want to use your pressure washer, but really, Craig, this might be a chance to learn something new. Soda blasting removes the char, done. No moisture problems down the road, no mold litigation...;) I would think you need some type of degreaser if you're dealing with soot, something to break down the stuff chemically. I'm not following what bleach is going to do on burnt wood?

Cob, dry ice, or soda blast.

Wipe'em down?! Guys, come on, a little sales help here. I've been charging extra for oiling the metal....

Jarrod, nice to see you. I've been busy too. Looks like you hit your marks this year. I'm booking thru winter, down south. Want to learn to chink?

To get started, fine. Surface cleaner means concrete, though, right? Maybe wait for more gpm's. Spend the money right, now, and you won't be yardsaleing your one year old stuff at a big loss.

4 o steel wool will remove spots.

I've had this happen a long time ago by an oversealous employee that didn't read the can. We mopped with mineral spirits, and it came out fine. Dont' worry about rubbing off the first coat in my experience, that one has penetrated and will be difficult to damage. Just get the second one off, and it should be fine. PS Now you're an expert, you've made the mistake of letting a customer tell you how to do your job, and it didn't work. Make them pay for the fix.

Regardless, it would be odd to see mill glaze on rough sawn wood....

Time heals all. Doubt the poor prep last time would do anything else but make things fail quicker. Got oen of my pressure washers at Home Depot 4 years ago, still going strong. Mounted on my trailer now, used it all day today. Call sunbrite for EFC 38, 866 5 supply Call if you need help.

Take a look at the pictures, huh. Seems weird a guy who has 14 finches at home would walk around killing birds for fun. there's a link to another story which seems to give his version of what happened. The reason I'm sympathetic is that I was attacked by a falcon on the 51st balcony of a building while going over the edge, and almost knocked senseless. All our boss told us to do was "get the windows cleaned as quick as you can" by the end of the day, the male would dive bomb anyone who came out of the balcony door, getting all four of us at least once with the talons inthe head. I'll admit, since the statute of limitations is up, that I finally took my safety, turned it around with the rope end loose, and nailed the bird good near the end of the day, and he didn't bother us anymore. Didn't kill'm though, he just flew away. By the way, the company I was working for in ATL at the time................................. You guessed it, cliffhangers.

HD 80 with hangtime will be way overkill in my opinion. Plus, the hangtime ain't cheap at all at $50/gallon.

Huskerfan, Nice job building the deck. Obviously you've read a lot about the chemicals needed, just a little help for you do take care of this yourself. In my opinion, anyone that can build a deck, should be able to clean and restain. Go with the EFC 38 to clean, it the strongest, safest version of a sodium percarbonate cleaner you'll probably find. Start early in the morning, soak the deck for a half hour or so, just keep wet, no need to waste chems. Get, rent, or borrow a pressure washer of some kind, or get a good nylon bristle block brush with 1.5" or longer bristles to scrub with. I highly recommend the pressure washer. Check out a nozzle chart and get a tip to drop the pressure down to 500 psi. rinse the deck, apply brightener, rinse again, let dry, buff the fuzzies, if you have any, and then stain with Readyseal.

by the way, if you think you've etched some glass with stripper or acid, try scrubbing with 4 o steel wool before you buy new glass. I've yet to encounter "etching" with my solutions that I can't get off with that.

it can also be dissolved with turpentine

Dang Jim, you beat me to it again. A lot of people don't realize that sod. perc. is alkaline just like stripper, just not as strong. However, with a wood like redwood, that has an abundance of tannins, even a mild alkaline can darken the wood significantly. Try hitting the areas with acid, and see what kind of color shift you get. If you decide to sand, may I suggest an Osbourn brush? You'll get great results, quickly, relatively speaking of course. And finally, get in touch with the Gothorps there at Carolina Pro Wash, even if they don't do the work, I'm sure they would be there with advice.

If you seal it right away, even if the moisture content is a bit high, you will be fine. With Readyseal, yeah, it might be a bit uneven, make sure to explain that up front. On the other hand, it will still dry out, as the penetrating stains are vapor permeable, and will allow the moisture present to gas out while wood is protected. I wonder, any evidence that slower, more even drying might allow the wood to cure out with less cracking? Anyway, like Jon said, then go back the next year and restain and you're good to go.

And even if you paint it, it can be saved. The Paint Removal King of North Georgia. TPRKONG

Have some Readyseal maint jobs coming up, new one with Wood Defender, I'll post pics, one coming up with wood tux, one with Weatherall, Just did two with Defy, ...... these are houses, not decks by the way. Or rather, they are houses AND decks, but not always with the same product, make sense now? Oh yeah, next week, Weatherseal, the thick oil stain that brushes and sprays nice, no dripping, penetrates nice.