Littlefield

Matt, looks good. Sometimes hard work is the only way to make something look great. Don't begrudge that, view it as a testament to your character. Lots of guys would have just stained over the fur. If you mixed HD 80 at 2 oz per gallon, and it sat only 5,6 minutes and furred like crazy, heres what may have happened. 1. Too much pressure. Water volume is what you want to depend on. 2. You accidentally mixed stronger than you thought. 3. Sometimes crap happens. If you already cleaned/stripped it before, it may have just been too much for the wood to handle. Today one of my guys freaked because some sodium percarb on a wall for 15-20 minutes, and rinsed with a soap tip; furred slightly. Sometimes something surprises you even after years in the biz. If nothing ever does, you're not out there enough. by the way, an osborn brush at 3.5 would get you out of there at about 200 sqft/hr. They disperse the fuzz much better than any sandpaper I've ever used. Jonathan, http://www.theloghomestore.com/clean.shtml#buffing-brush

Readyseal light brown. Even if you're brushing, its easiest to use, esp. if you have a helper....helping.

Rick! that was you and Shane out on the road behind my house the other night in the red pickup? Lucky for me, I could just make out the new billboard they put up that says call if you are illiterate and want to learn to read, or I would never have known you were poking your cheek at me with your tongue. Now if I could just figure out how to use more periods..... Guess what I found in my pressure washing trailer tool box yesterday? An almost empty bottle of Clorox! I felt so ashamed, I almost drank it. All kidding aside, I think you may have misunderstood my earlier post, or just want to misunderstand me. Either way, here goes. Some people may know how to use bleach and get great results. They don't live near here. Unless your name is Earl and you live near me, and you know who you are... You can't take offense at a geographic remark unless you pack up and move.

You can be fined for just attaching, (read: magnet to outside) it to the mailbox. Stinks really, we pay for the mailbox and the government owns it?! I thought maybe I'd send them a bill for the lease on the post. ;)

buying PowerHouse is buying peach of mind. Phillip, sounds like a new slogan to me..;)

Scott, I clicked the wrong button, but mine was 14% last year, no big purchases to drive it down. EEEEK!

I agree to a point, Jarrod. What about with a stain that is designed to accumulate in the wood, adding further protection, such as Readyseal, for decks, or Woodguard, for verticals?

The hardest thing is going to be that first day when you don't have to wake up at 1:45. Try and get planned out your exact daily routine so you don't get sucked into the black hole of web surfing for better ideas, or putting out some flyers and going home to look at the phone. Make a list of every painter, homebuilder, realtor you want to contact. Have your marketing material designed and ready to go. Get in the phone book. Get your truck lettered. Talk to Ken Fenner about your marketing budget month by month for the first three months at least. Let people know you're booked out a couple weeks when the phone starts ringing, and bid them on the weekend. A lot you may already have done, just use as a check list.

Jarrod, whats your percentage of gross? If its lower than 15%, quit cher whining. Higher than that? Maybe its time for a private thread with folks from aroun the country benchmarking each other. PM me if any are interested. We will use real figures, and get a real picture of how we stand against each other.

Matt, dwell for 15 minutes each stripper and acid, then rinse after each.

Also, Matt, pick up a variable pressure wand for those times you want to adjust the pressure of the water hitting the deck, and not the speed of the water... ;) Just teasing, Jim. By the way, these work so great, I had a couple of my guys strip three coats of 6 month old Sikkens Cetol system, (wrong color) from a railing on Friday, and the furring after a couple hours dwell time was finer'n frogs hair. Just enough to let me know where I'm at when buffing. What we did was adjust up the pressure slowly until the stain juuust started to slide off, then tweak it up an 1/8 a turn more and go to it. Here's a shot of the Sikkens givin' up the ghost at about 200 psi....

I've found when stripping or staining with an oilbased stain, get chem resistant soles, not rubber ones. I've got a nice pair of Geaorgia brand loggers that I never wear because of the rubber sole. Nothing like walking back across the deck after staining and leaving nice black footprints in it. .....

Sounds like an x jet or m5 for sure to me. I do wood work only, so I use a Shur-flo, but I can tell you its not as quick as applying chems as an x jet.

Mike, really great work! Nice to see some good new pics of Ready seal.

Jeff, 12.8 % here in GA for residential painting. You're right in the ball park. My friend in Dallas pays 40% for WC on his window cleaning business, hi rise. I'm also surprised you were ever at 5%, seems way low. Just think, a 10% raise in your labor cost, which should only start at 30% or so, is just a 3 % raise in your gross price to cover it. Most just raise rates the 12% to cover the hassle, and push it more in their marketing.... Just don't forget to pay in regularly...

Nope. Don't believe in film based deck stain unless they have a way for it not to peel, ever, and it wears evenly....

8500 sqft to buff, I'll have a few left over, but not many.

Good idea on the clause for it not growing. Also, I would try this first thing in the morning when the temps aren't too high. Even with wetting, you can burn, or steam things very quickly under plastic.

Mike, weird, but the fuzz always ends up looking white with those really penetrating stains. The film forming, or surface drying, (yes, they're different) seem to make the fuzz appear darker, not lighter. Depends on what looks better. I get my brushes locally, can you believe I just bought a dozen for one house?!

Bill, if ou're not going to buff or sand that out, being that its a fence, you need something that will sit closer to the surface and help them lay down. I would never advocate this on anything but a fence. Wood Tux Wet will do that with the fur. You'll have to back brush it into/thru the furring. Have you ever tried an Osborn brush on a 9227c buffer from Makita? They're amazing.

Mike, is that near your gun or the machine? it would be kind of cool to have one right there on the gun to see all the time, esp. when using a variable pressure wand like I have....

Bill, I guarantee in writing, right after the price in my proposal. PM me for details, I don't post stuff like that for my competitors to read.

You mean Sherwin Williams? ;) (DUH!)

Baking soda dissolved in water will buffer oxalic acid, and leave with a barely over neutral surface. Apply, rinse, repeat. I've been told a tablespoon per gallon will work, I just throw a whole box in a 30 gallon drum.....

;) I'm having visions of a little fleet of these things going around doing deck resto. Only thing is I'd have to move, AND change my biz just to use them. Still thinknig on it though, I'll figure out some way to justify one of these babies for my biz....