Midwest7

I have been lurking on this forum for quite some time and attempted to do my fair amount of research, I know there is much more to learn, and look forward to it. My current setup is much less than desired but with college student budget its what funds will allow. I am running a mobile 4000psi 4gpm coldwash unit that is faucet driven only. I have cleaned a couple concrete walks, driveways and siding at my duplex, all with low pressure and downstreamed 1:10 mix of 6% SH bleach and splash of dawn and had successful results. I plan on purchasing some Simple cherry very soon. but as for now I am only using my resources from local store. Prior to today I had never washed or stained any deck. NOW FOR THE QUESTION A friend let me use his deck as a test today. I have a local sherwin williams and spoke with the rep today who seemed so so on his knowledge. My goal today was just to wash the deck using rinse on the Pressure washer and then scrubbing with Sherwins deck wash. I applied the deckwash covering the 250sq through a hand pump spray and scrubbed throughly. after letting it set for 15 mins I came back and rinsed off using minimal pressure. I was not satisfied with the results as you will see in the following picutures. Next step, I went back and spoke with the rep and he suggested Oxalic acid as a bleaching agent. I mixed it as directed to so many scoops per gallon of water and then applied and scrubbed. It defintely lightened the deck but I still have a green and black tint to much of the deck. while I know the deck is still wet I am curious what the end result will be if I apply stain to this deck. I know you can only polish a turd so much and this deck as set untreated for years. IS THERE ANYTHING FURTHER I CAN DO BEFORE APPLYING STAIN? Thank you for any suggestions or help. Here are several pictures of before and after. for some reason the step brightened way more than the rest of the deck maybe it is just newer. BEFORE AFTER RINSE OF DEBRIS AFTER DECKWASH AFTER OXALIC ACID MIX

I understand completely your said statement and believe me, I will have minimums under different circumstances. The reason from being such a lower price is the problem I run into is Im currently located in a " Divison 2 college town" very small population about 20,000 much older homes very few nice sub divisions,in this area not many care what there property looks like or are looking to invest in it. I am planning on moving to my hometown in Kansas City, following graduation which will be the complete opposite. another unfortunate reason for having to somewhat accept lower prices is, without doing any type of small work im stuck twiddling my thumbs at home losing any possible experience this summer and with not even the slightest profit I have nothing to reinvest in expanding my equipment Inventory.

apparently I misunderstood this lady who expected the deck done for free?!? I contacted here after looking at the deck told her I'd cut all the weeds around the deck, remove the 20 potted plants and chairs she had, and strip and stain INCLUDING materials and when I told her $200 she was like ummmmm I'll have to think about it and call you back. lol I guess welcome to the business for me huh.

Well crap!!! Haha I knew there had to be a different way to stain I do not have a bad back ... Yet lol, but it never crossed my mind that a big brush would work or was avaliable I'm picking one up asap. I just picked up the neighbors deck again slowly working my way up it's only 168sq with rails and she has stain I'm going to strip and stain for 200. I just ordered f18,8,13, and gutter grenade today from bob as well as delevan pump 5800 for roofs and smaller whisper washer classic. Thanks again everyone

Just curious on this subject what are some common jobs many of you northeners take on if any during the slow season, I live in Kansas city region and I've started doing decks and flat washing just getting my foot in the door. Is fleet washing commonly done yr round...? Any other ideas. Thanks again. Also What temperature is considered to you as to cold to be doing staining and deck cleaning ?

Well crap, sounds like I need to send him the second half of his bill! Lol

thats purty :) do you have any before pictures? as you probably have seen Im fairly new at this sorry, what all is considered full restoration? do you ever replace boards or do carpentry, and what happens when you encounter rot or things of that matter? thanks for the info, hope Im getting decks to this quality someday

you'd be amazed how many people come out of the wood works when you offer to stain a deck at cost. It worked out well I told my buddy to cover all supplies, which included stain, wash chem, gas, brushes, sweet extension and tape. I went through one full gallon and had to crack the second one on the last portion of the deck, $30 for like 3 boards! damn... I told him $95 which I still came up little short, and believe you me when I was brushing I was thinking MAN THIS SUCKS, I'm paying to stain this! haha, the next job Im going to probably price it $1.00 sq ft and just work my way up from there. As a college student I've commented to building this business over the summer I cant justify working for the local pizza place only to walk away with maybe $250 at the end of the week full time!

Everyone thank you with all your help, everything to me is taken as constructive criticism. I definitely learned alot being this was my first rodeo. I have looked at several different products and I will be ordering something shortly. This morning the deck was quite a bit brighter, while I agree completely that it needed to be stripped and rewashed, my friend thought it was just fine commented its only going to have beer spilt on it and due to rain in the near forecast he asked me to go ahead and stain it. The following pictures are what this morning looked like untouched and then following stain. for stain I used semi transparent not tinted from sherwin williams not my preferred choice of color but its growing on me. what route do many of you prefer or find the most effective when applying. I used a roller and then came back over with brush section by section I would have liked to perfect my edges and drips little better, I have read many pros and cons on sprayers, but im sure its to each his own on opinion. any and all comments are welcome. Ironically the neighbor asked me to strip and stain theres this week, so a test job picked me up another one! I mentioned I was just starting and she seemed pleased with this deck and showed no concern. I will soon be posting the next project. In regards to pricing, my curiosity was not related to what I wanted to charge based of others here I was just curious what others would have charged on something small like this... I didnt know if many have a intial set up fee for smaller projects. THIS MORNING FULLY DRIED SHORTLY AFTER COMPLETION

I appreciate the advice Adrian, I went ahead and edited my signature sorry about that. while at it, it pushed to to go ahead and purchase my domain name, I think ill do my buddies deck following this fix and have him build me a site. I completely agree on your comment, I definitely was the sucker who bought from the sales guy for his stuff!!! it was kind of a only option and it was cheap enough I tried it out. lesson learned, I actually started to wonder the DECKWASH from sherwin mentions three ingredients SH (sodium hypoclorite), water and one Im not familar with sodium chloride, so does that mean I pretty much just bought expensive bleach? I understand what you are saying about the oxalic acid as well like I said I defintely went into this blind it was termed wood bleach but that was just there name for it, it was powder form so it was usable for 4 gallons not there house brand which was twice the price and 1/4 the chemical. Im going to do further searching inlcuding current vendors, I am not sure I know what you mean when you say Hydrox bath are you referring to chemical application and then brighten as neutralizing? Is there a temporary over the counter product that you have worked with at all with that I can wash and stain and then allow time for vendors chemicals to ship? sherwin williams had a stripper but I didnt look much into it as you mentioned I like my brushes from them thus far, thats about it. TELESKOPTIC!!!! Thank you again.

Another question what would you bid a deck like this? I dont need your exact estimate maybe just rough figuring for your region. Ive read the pricing guide I just want to see different regions and levels of pricing.