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Littlefield

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Posts posted by Littlefield

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Neil, I missed this when ou first posted. CAn I say WOW...

    Great work, we need to get together for a visit soon.

    I don't much want to see this one again for atleast another year;) Finished up yesterday. Tad over 1,600sqft, 5 light days, 2 of us on this particular job.

    Stripped failing Messmer'sUV that was builder-applied when home was completed in April of this year. HD80 at 2oz/gal, Citralic to neutralize. This one got WoodRich, a light 'buff' with the Osbourne, then a top coat of WoodTux. Looks absolutely chuh....chuh....cherry! I'm anticipating this wet on dry application to rock the casbah.

    Here are a few pics.

    /neil

  2. Posted · Report reply

    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.

    By paying a percentage of the job, won't it give the employee the temptation to cut corners so he can get the job done faster so he can get paid more. For instance he might put chemicals on a roof to get the mold and mildew off but it does not completely remove it after the first application and dwell time, he would just be tempted to just crank up the pressure a little bit and go to town instead of having to wait another dwell time and application time. If he causes damage it might not even be noticed until the rainy season but it will still come back to your business insurance.

  3. Posted · Report reply

    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?

  9. Posted · Report reply

    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.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    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.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    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.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    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.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    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.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    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.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Make sure you cover yourself for not being responsible for the paint sticking the next time, considering you aren't puttin g it on. Also, make sure you spec scraping LOOSE paint, the PDCA would have standards for that I'm sure.

    As far as that goes, I would soak on some HD-80 or something, and try to help as much of the loose paint as possible come off without scraping. then plan on going by with a grinder/buffer like the makita 9227c and a 7" disc of sandpaper, probably 60 grit on a 4 setting, and make short work of the scraping phase.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    If mixing two pails together get an extra empty one, set them up in a triangle with you in the middle. Dump half of one into the empty, dump half of the next color into the first pail, dump the third pail into the first, etc. Work in a circle around three times, dumping the fuller one into the emptier one. Always keep some in every pail, don't empty one completely. In painting, this is called boxing, and is followed religiously by the good ones.

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