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Littlefield

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Posts posted by Littlefield

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Both of the things you asked about protect you even more than the homeowner. In my mind, it wouldn't be worth the risk to myself if I was just making a few thousand bucks.

    Consider, you're washing a house, and someone trips on one of your hoses while you are around the back of the house, pitches forward, and burns their face on your equipment. (extreme, I know, but I'm trying to make a point here).

    First, after the screaming stops, you need to know how you are going to pay for their plastic surgery. What, you don't have that in savings? Even if you do, you should be protecting it with insurance.

    Second, the corporation is supposed to protect you from being sued personally for something you did while in the operation of business. Even if you have insurance, and they are taken care of medically, they are going to come after you for everything you own for the pain and suffering, negligence, etc. If you have a valid corporation, they can sue the corporation, not you. Of course, the first thing their lawyer will try to do in court is "pierce the corporate veil", and try to show the judge that its not really a corporation, its just you with some paperwork, and you never had a corporate meeting, never kept minutes of those meetings, etc. Do your homework and find out what you need to keep up to date on!!

    Hope this helps!

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Russ, no good deed goes unpunished. Been there and done that. It stinks, but depending on the situation and the customer, you will either strip it the right way without complaining, or horse trade with them and use the 10 step Crystal Ball conflict resolution argument with them and spend as long talking to them as it would take to strip it. BTW, how much of an area are we talking about? I always carry a pail of *-*** with me just in case, I can shoot it on a deck surface and strip to bare wood in 10 minutes or less, and never even bother the homeowner, until after when I show them the freebie.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    So it seems u r recommending Woodrich Timberoil applied lightly in about three weeks, and then again in spring and then again when?

    Apply next fall, say Early October.

    What should I clean the deck with prior to application of the stain?

    If you're using Woodrich Timber Oil, EFC-38 will get it clean. Also want to acid wash with Citralic acid to brighten up, then rinse.

    Subsequent cleanings can be easily done with..........bleach and car wash soap, as long as you are washing stain, and not wood.

    First time, Is Timberoil really as easy to apply as advertised? Yes

    You know goof proof for an amateur like myself?

    Yes.

    What is the durability of this stain? As good or better than Readyseal.

    Have read that it turns black rather quickly.

    That hasn't happened to me. Like I said, I've literally received and applied pallets of this material.

    Is ready seal as easy to apply as Woodrich?

    Yes, RS is just as easy to apply as the Timber Oil. It looks great when applied. I've used it many times and still do sometimes for maintenance on existing jobs where I want to keep the color exactly the same.

    There are so many who swear by it that it must be beautiful as well as durable.

    Its a good product for many to use in their business. It needs regular re-application on deck surfaces just like I recommended with Timber Oil. I would hesitate to call it durable until after several coats are applied, esp. on a deck surface.

    I also see that you have reservations about Armstrong Clark. What are they and what makes you feel this way? Isn't it also a penetrating stain with high pigment, solids content?

    I wasn't the one that mentioned reservations about AC. But, I haven't jumped on the bandwagon with everyone yet and switched off of Woodrich products. I understand some of the reasons others felt the need to switch, but I personally like the WR products, and have been using them consistently for the past 3-4 years.

    As a business owner with several employees, consistency in what I use is important for consistency of application, etc. I don't like to change around that much. That's why I tested but didn't feel the need to switch to the AC products 3 years ago when I first tried them.

    Thank you so much for your advice. I Appreciate all of your valuable advice. And you are very observant and honest as you pointed out I am in the position to have a gorgeous deck and have the time to do as you suggest. Looking forward to hearing from you all.

    Again thank you.

    See my insertions above in green.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Max, I have used AC some on some timber and log samples, used RS extensively, and gone through pallets of WR Timber Oil.

    I simply like the way that a non filming stain/sealer works. What I have found is that even in the realm of non resin stains, the mix of oils that are available in the stain, as well as the type and amount of pigment, (the only real solid in a stain like this, if you don't count the oil) is the really important thing. I think all the stains mentioned are quality products, but I appreciate the fact that the Timber Oil has a high load of transoxide pigments, and alkyd oils that help keep the pigment in suspension.

    Converse to common sense, the more solids (pigments) in a stain, the further it spreads as well. You'd think a thicker stain would not go as far, but not so.

    Anyway, any other questions, feel free to ask away.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    I don't get it - the pictures of the sanded cedar look great - yet the stained photo looks really bad with furries. Does ReadySeal kick up the grain on cedar?

    Rick the reason I ask if you use an osborn brush - is that I found that the furries are just the erosion of mostly spring grain - and yet it takes forever to sand down the 'peaks' of the summer grain to get far enough down to sand the spring grain flat. With the osborn brush - it kind of gets into the crevices and knocks all the furries out - without having to get all the summer grain peaks down level with the spring grain.

    Anyways - just thought I'd let you know about that - as the few times I came into contact with either Fir or Cedar - the furries were out of control - and no amount of sanding seem to get rid of them.

    Daniel, what you are seeing as fuzzies is actually sanding swirls. However, when the RS sets in, those will virtually disappear.

    Good points you made on the Osborne brush though, getting the soft wood out without having to remove the hard grain.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Craig flat at about 2000 rpm. Keep it moving as it can burnish wood quickly.

    Hold on now, 2000 RPM? Thats too fast in my opinion.

    The 9227c is only rated for a high end of 3k rpm, even thought the wheel is graduated into 1-6 increments. So, between 2-3 on the wheel is what I use. this is around 1,000-1,500 rpms max. Also, a slight angle gets the job done quicker. Don't press down, let the grinder do the work.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    I agree with almost everything Adrian said, with one exception.

    If you use a penetrating stain like Readyseal or Woodrich Timber Oil, you can clean and stain now, get a light coat in, and help the wood acclimate slower, helping to reduce the cracking from a quick dry down. Then, in the spring, say around early May, soap the deck and lightly rinse, and get the second coat into it, building up the protection.

    Max, in my experience, if you have the time, you are in a position to have a showpiece deck by doing what most homeowners are not willing to do, and that is to apply multiple coats of a parafinnic oil stain a few months apart, and build up the oil in the wood.

    Trying to "lock it in" results in stripping down the road 90% of the time in my opinion.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    You don't need a source for the anti-hot water with high pressure on wood. It is common knowledge that if hot water is used on wood it will; (pro's and cons)

    No disrespect, Rod, but he does need a source. Claiming its common knowledge to someone who doesn't know it infers they are stupid. Third party standards are great sales tools, and its something the PWNA should have available for use by members.

    If they don't have it, the PDCA website may have something in their standards, but I doubt it.

    I'm sure there are some making progress on standards for wood care, and this is exactly the reason it would make sense, lots of wood in the US that needs to be washed correctly according to standards, and it would be great to go in and reference a wood care standard to back up your own opinion.

    One last thought, go in and do one deck this way as a test demo, after they are convinced, fix that one and do the rest right.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I agree with Mr. Thomson. A miswritten spec is nothing less than a golden opportunity! I live for these, because it lets me show how I'm different, and eliminate competition from the bid process, thereby cementing my price as the only "qualified" contractor.

    Basic sales strategy 101 is not to always sell apples to apples, but to differentiate!!

    Follow Scotts advice to the letter. Be well prepared. In order to secure the meeting, you may have to ask questions of the gatekeeper that you know they will not know the answer to. IE Due to the furring of the wood because of the high pressure, what grit and type of sandpaper are you speccing for the sanding phase? I've noticed there is not a spec requiring sanding, does this mean you are requiring all other contractors to seal over the wood fuzz? What does the mfg of the stain say as to the application over furred wood and their warranty, are you aware that many other stains would consider this grounds for dismissal of a warranty failure claim? Let's get together and talk about an industry recognized standard to remove the old stain gently, avoid sanding, and make sure we get you a warrantable job.

    BTW, YOU are going to warranty the job, not the stain co. If it fails, they will always find a way to blame the applicator, not the stain. So, you may well want to work out a warranty/maintenance package like I have that mandates annual cleaning and touchup as part of the 5 year warranty.

    Figure up your real cost to lightly wash and restain the horizontals every year, it should be quite a bit less than the initial strip/stain. If some of the houses are on the north side, or are otherwise protected, you probably can stain them every other time, make sure thats in the proposal. Submit all this together with your initial proposal, and get them to commit to the whole thing up front, if possible.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    Interesting size tip, Rick, that 217, I've never seen that size orifice with that fan width. Anyway, you'll always get misting with an airless, but still, a lot of time I just seem to get too much, period, with a high volume unit. I opt for the 211 or 213 on the spindles, and a 413 on the deck, too. Controlling how much comes out is still the more important thing for me, I think. Also, keeping the tip only an inch or two from the surface helps, too.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    I'm sure the HD 80 will take it off. If some sticks on the knots, and you are going back with a similar color of transparent, it will still look pretty good. If it don't work at first, get it boosted up with glycol, propylene I think is the "safe" one.

    Guys, be sure and correct me if I'm wrong on that, it's been a few months since I stripped for money...:)

    I checked myself, I'm right. Sold under Sierra or Peak brands around here.

    Use the search to get some ideas on the amount per gallon of stripper to add the boost.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Early on in my stripping career, I thought a back pack sprayer was going to be a good idea for mixing up a larger, 4gal, amount of stripper.

    Sometime during the day, it started leaking out of the top somewhere, and dripping down my back behind the sprayer.

    Lucky I was using some cheap grade powdered stripper, not HD or F18, cause it healed up in a week or so.

    Never used backpack sprayer again, though.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Getting close! Guys and gals, things are looking up for the Roundtable here in Ellijay!!

    So far confirmed: Paul Dinos, Roger Gothorp, Brent from Sawtooth Restoration near Asheville, Beth and Rod, Jim Foley, Dave Knox from near Knoxville, TN is a former Sashco rep, and has been doing application for years. He just ran through 1100 sausages of chinking on his last job! If you come to the show, you'll know what that means!!!

    Dave Knox will be bringing a Sashco Snorkeler and some Log Jam with him as well for us to play around with using a chink pump for the first time for many. We'll also have some Albion guns for applying the chink sausages.

    I've got our standard 375 CFM compressor we use for blasting, and a couple hundred square feet of sample walls that will have Sansin SDF, Messmers Timberflex, and some paint applied for blasting practice.

    I've got several others calling for directions from NC and GA, and should have several local contractors as well, hopefully.

    Hope to see anyone that can make it show up!! We'll be having lunch right down the street on the square in Ellijay at River Street Grill.

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    By the way, check out Contractor Events for the scoop on directions, etc for the Workshop...

  24. Posted · Report reply

    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.

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