Jump to content

mikew

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    359

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by mikew

  4. Posted · Report reply

    President turned out to be a super guy.. a chemist so of course I had to go into chem talk with him, but it was nice not having to break things down and use words like sodium metasilicate without a blank stare. He actually gave me some very cool information about hydrogen and sodium. My wheels are truning, anyway..back to topic.

    I did half. Not one to miss a marketing opportunity I printed some "wet paint" signs with my name and logo on them. You won't confuse them with a Keith Bruce design but they did the trick. This should have taken me two hours tops including tinting Tux, finding power etc. Took me three because I must have been stopped at least 12 times and asked to give 7 estimates for various homeowners that drove by. I should have just gathered them all up and did them at once but i like to capture an audience while I have it.

    Ryan, they would need to have an ambulance in the parking lot on call. I met just about every homeonwer today and they were all over 70. Very friendly.. though, I got asked to do everything from paint a door to change a lightbulb lol.

    Ken,

    Great idea with the signs. You don't miss a marketing opportunity!

    Mike

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Yes it is true as others have said.

    I think other factors can cause the seals to break as well. I have 2 windows on my own house that have broken seals and the fog between the panes. These seals broke before I ever got into pressure washing and before I ever washed my own house.

    Bottom line is use very little pressure on the windows. I use a dual-lance wand as others have mentioned in order to dial back the pressure.

    Mike

  12. Posted · Report reply

    I just got this in my inbox from QuitNet:

    Your Quit Date is:Friday, October 21, 2005 at 11:59:59 PM

    Time Smoke-Free:202 days, 5 hours, 31 seconds

    Cigarettes NOT smoked:4044

    Lifetime Saved:1 month, 21 hours Money Saved:$710.50

    Hurrah for me! Unfortunately, you poor ba****rds will have to listen to me ramble on for 1 month, 21 hours longer than you would have otherwise. ;)

    Hi Philip,

    Congrats! Quiting smoking can be difficult from what I hear. This deserves a pat on the back.

    Mike

  13. Posted · Report reply

    For the last 10 days I've been talking with the park owner of a manufactuered home site and for 10 days things have been changing, example1.. do 30 homes single and double I gave a discount because of the amount of homes. Now she says there are 9 and expects the same discount, but wants a 1 home demo to see if she likes my work> ahhh thats what pisses me off. 2.. She never returns emails or calls always seems to busy for me..3..wants me to do my inspection in 15-30minutes I want to see if any damage or something i need to document as so i don't get screwed. please reply, I'm thinking of not doing this job.

    Then clean the one unit at the higher rate as her demo. She can have the rest at the discount if she wants.

    Mike

  14. Posted · Report reply

    Cudas,

    To add what Beth has posted, in my truck is a set of spray bottles with various concentrations of sodium hydroxide strippers. Included in this stripper test kit is Biowash's Stripex-L, a stripper formulated for latex coatings, and other specialty strippers, including Back to Nature's BFS II, a stripper that will remove nearly anything, including multiple layers of foul acrylics.

    If a normal mix of NaOH stripper starts to emulsify or removes the finish within 15 minutes, it is with high confidence an oil based stain.

    Latex is different. If the finish is peeling in places, remove a piece and try to stretch and feel its properties. If it is a bit like rubber, it is probably a straight latex. Stripex-L should start working within maybe 20 minutes.

    Foul acrylics will also peel off exterior wood. This is one of this finish's most endearing properties. Take a piece and examine. If it is hard and brittle, not rubbery, and has a "shine" to it, the stain may be a foul acrylic. Put on a thick dab of BFS II and check back in 10 hrs.

    Rick,

    Where can you buy the Back to Nature and Biowash strippers?

    Thanks,

    Mike

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Whatever you do, DO NOT use more than a few hundred psi on this brick, or you will remove the coating - which is baked on, but usually fragile.) Your normal housewash mix is fine and oxalic on the rust is OK (rinse after washing and rinse after applying acid. If you don't rinse before applying the acid, the chlorine will neutralize the acid.) but as we don't have red clay around here, I can't advise you on that.

    Hi John,

    Thanks for the reply. Once I saw this brick up close I knew that very light pressure is going to be the only way to go. Thanks for the info about the house wash and acid use as well. That's really what I'm look for is confirmation from others that my house wash mix will not damage this surface.

    Thanks,

    Mike

  16. Posted · Report reply

    i ran into a similar problem at a church,they had put what was supposed to be a water sealer that would help prevent leaks and it turned a nasty milky white and now they want to remove it because of its unsightly appearance.i did a test spot with a rotomax nozzle and it came clean after a lot of slow washing ,i bid it out at a 75.00 per hour rate and im waiting to hear back i will let you know how it works out....the only other alternative is to put a stripper on it and let it set to see if it will break down the shell and wash then,they were trying to avoid the chemical cost so im just following orders ....but i will update you on our progress

    This isn't a water sealer in my case. The brick was made this way. It is what I would call a decorative brick. Brick itself is really not dirty but in a few places. Really want to make sure that my chems won't harm this brick.

    Thanks,

    Mike

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Hello,

    Got a call to do a house wash. The house is all brick with the usual white trim. The

    brick on this house looks very different. It appears to have a coating on it. The brick looks

    almost white and you can see faint hints of the red brick underneath because the white

    top layer is of random thickness.

    What do you call this type of brick?

    Will my housewash mix (PowerHouse & 12%) harm the brick exterior coating?

    My thoughts were to prewet each side. Apply my house wash mix lightly on the brick

    and normally on all trim and gutters. Allow the mix to dwell and rinse, rinse, rinse!

    In addition I would use very light pressure for the whole wash.

    There are some red clay stains and possibly a water rust stain that runs down the

    wall below the faucet. Would a light acid be needed for those places? Would the acid

    harm this brick/coating?

    Thanks in advance,

    Mike

  19. Posted · Report reply

    I am a house painter - and I helped a mentor last summer with a house, and he included stripping the deck - which had latex paint on all the deck boards.

    It was an absolute nightmare! We used gallons and gallons of paint stripper, methylene chloride - and we still had to use grinding wheels for days and days and days. If he had asked for 4 grand for the deck, he would still have lost his shirt, he didn't even ask for half of that! My advice - go to this website diedrichtechnologies.com and look into their 606 product.

    -Dan

    This is exactly what i want to avoid. Homeowner knows that another solid will have to be done. I just need to make sure that I do the proper prep on this deck to accept the primer and a new solid.

    Mike

  20. Posted · Report reply

    You have to do a test spot. A job like this can take your shirt if you promise bare wood and the use of a semi-trans. You will rarely get all paint from a deck even with very expensive specialty strippers. It appears to be solid stain but a little difficult to ascertain from photos. Cute kids.

    If you try a stripper like HD-80 at full strength and 20 minutes dwell time and it doesn't budge, your best bet is to prime and recoat with solid.

    Hi Ken,

    Thanks for the response. I told the homeowner that using a semi-trans was out of the question. I'm going back tomorrow to do a test spot with HD-80 at full strength and see what I get.

    If it doesn't budge...what would you use to prime and recoat?

    My kids went along as my little helpers!! Homeowner tried to give them sandpaper and put them to work!

    Thanks,

    Mike

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Hi everyone,

    Got a call to have 2 decks cleaned, sanded, and painted. Got there and the decks appear to have been painted before. Not sure if it is a paint or a solid stain. The painting was done by the prior homeowner.

    I'm looking for suggestions from others who have tried to tackle jobs such as this.

    What would you use to strip this? Would you recommend trying to strip this or would you do a heavy cleaning, sanding, and repaint given the current condition of the wood?

    Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

    thanks,

    Mike

    post-936-137772155654_thumb.jpg

    post-936-13777215566_thumb.jpg

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Good morning...I'm curious if anyone has one these portable hose wagons from Rapid Reel and if it's decent quality? Thanks!

    http://www.apex-unlimited.com/ghgahorewa.html

    /neil

    Hi Neil,

    I have version of it prior to the Triton. Mine is green, Rapid Reel Pro Series. Pretty much the same as the picture, 4 wheels, handles, and mine has a metal tool tray in the bottom. Haven't had any problems and quality seems good. It is pretty heavy duty. I paid around $150 off ebay for mine.

    Mike

  23. Posted · Report reply

    Staying super busy except for yesterday with the rain. So busy, I forget to eat and passout. Not good. Been pushing it real hard since the surgery trying to forget the pain of it all.

    I am pretty sure that the courts are painted with asphalt paint and can take the 12% really well. Was just thinking that it is not that much surface area and would probably not take more than a minute to re- apply w/ x-jet if the first time was too weak. But , I bet there are a few on here that do courts.

    I am now curious if we are on the right track. I'll keep checking this thread to see if I can become more educated on the topic.

    Hey your website looks great! Hope you are staying busy as well.

    Hey AC,

    Hope the pain goes away soon.

    I believe it it painted asphalt. It is only 1 tennis court. It is actually the court in my neighborhood. I'm cleaning the pool furniture and the tennis court at the same time. Plan is to move the pool furniture to the tennis court so I can clean the furniture. Was going to use my house wash mix on the vinyl pool funiture as well. After the pool furniture is cleaned and moved I would then apply my mix to the court and do a light rinse.

    House wash mix should work well for the pool furniture. I was thinking that there would be so much water down on the tennis court that my chems would be diluted enough to be ok but I'm looking for everyone's opinion on this.

    Thanks for complimenting my web site. It's a work in progress. I make changes to it as I have time.

    Thanks!

    Mike

  24. Posted · Report reply

    Sounds like you already got the right idea. I might suggest that you go very light at first with the 12% and see where that gets you. If not you may be the first to invent the "white" tennis court. But then again, that might make it easier to see those neon green balls.

    Show some pics when your done.

    AC

    Hey AC,

    How are things going? Staying busy? I don't want to invent the "white" tennis court!! I don't want to damage the court just lightly clean.

    Anyone else have experience cleaning tennis courts?

    Thanks,

    Mike

  25. Posted · Report reply

    What chemical would you use to do a light cleaning of a tennis court? The court is going to be resurfaced next year. Just wanting to do a light rinse really. I was thinking I would use my house wash mix ( PowerHouse + 12%), xjet it on, dwell, and rinse. Any thoughts or suggestions?

    Thanks,

    Mike

×