smokey51

As part of a package I want to give my customers after restoring their deck, I want to give my customers a preventive maintenance list they can perform before the next mainteance stain. I have come up with a short list off the top of my bald head but would appreciate any ideas that you may have, so fire away. Terry

Rick, I try to use WoodTux when I can and Ready Seal if I have too. Just my preference. I'm thinking retaining every three years with WoodTux and two years with Ready Seal. If the deck gets that dirty before hand, the customer can call me back and I will be glad to do a maintenance wash for them. As far as preventive maint is concerned, I was thinking along the lines of not storing metal on the deck, raising flower pots up off the deck so dirt and water do not collect underneath them, keeping the leaves off, etc. Maybe I used the wrong title. Terry

Looks great! WTW is my favorite stain as far as looks and longetivity. Adding a second light coat to add gloss, would that not make the surface more easy to be scratched?

While surfing the web today, I came across a website of a deck restoration business that showed a worker actually using a service cleaner to wash the deck floor of a combo deck (http://www.carpetandwoodcare.com/deck_restoration..html) or maybe I'm just looking at it wrong. It does not look like he is using any cleaning solution. Anybody ever tried this? I don't think I want to. Terry

Barry, I feel your pain. I also just started my business full time this year. As a matter of fact, because of circumstances beyond my control, I just got started about a month ago. And to add to the stress, I just moved back to this town also. Trying to get settled (I'm not married and just turned 60) and starting to get this business going is getting to be a bit much. I even had a write-up in the local paper and did not get 1 telephone call. What hurts even more is knowing how much work I turned down just to move down to the coast. I could have worked 60 to 80 hrs a week and still would not have gotten caught up. Am I discouraged? Yes. Is it getting me down? Hell no! It just motivates me to work even harder. I know I am good at what I do and it is just getting that first one under my belt and the gates will be open. I have been networking with realtors, contractors, and anyone else I can talk to. Just got through talking to my neighbor and he gave me a lead on a rather new development about an hour away. It has five contractors in the development building 1-2 million dollar homes, and also has some homes that are already built that already needs some work. Am I going to follow-up? You better to believe it. Just do 1 in a development like that and you will get more phone calls. And thanks to all the encouraging words the other posters have given. It motivates me even more. It sure as hell beats working for someone else. Terry

The stain paddles I use are so cheap ($3.00, but still pretty good quality), I save time and money by just throwing them away or if I am going to another stain job, wrap them up in plastic and reuse. Smokey

Great jester, Jeff. When we share our "wealth" with others, it not only makes us feel better, but also makes the world a better place. Smokey51

In this area, combo decks are very popular, i.e. solid color rails, pickets, etc and natural deck floors. My question is what brand is the best solid color stain. In talking with people around here, most people (painters) just use laxtex paint. I would rather use a stain even if I have to do a primer coat. Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Smokey51

OK, so Exxon Mobile earned $36 billion in profits last year. But who profited even more? According to the Tax Foundation the biggest price gouging profiteer was the US government to the tune of $54 billion in oil and gas taxes. Since 1977, the US and state governments have collected more than $1.34 billion in gas tax revenues in inflation adjusted dollars. That is more than twice the domestic profits of all the US oil companies combined. What gamble did the govt's take to earn their "profit". The sad part is, Exxon Mobile could lose $36 billion (their profits are cyclical) but the govt's would get their profits just the same. The only way govt's lose is if we start using less oil. Of course then, they would just raise taxes to make up for the loss. Happy "Tax Freedom Day", April 26,2006.:) Smokey

Ken, you talk about your family's beer distributor works on 10% margin, you have to realize the amount of people that effects, the amount they put back in the business, who gets paid what, etc. Admitted, billions sounds like a lot, especially to this feeble mind, but just think what they reinvest, all the thousands and thousands of stock holders they must pay, the risk they have taken, etc. If you compare the two equally, then I think you can have some kind of respect for the oil industry. I keep hearing people talk about a "windfall" profits tax on big oil but that would never work. What would their incentive be to make a profit. I bet we would be in gas lines then for sure. And as long as they are at it, why not have a "windfall" tax for Microsoft, Dell, and GE, all who had better profit margins than the oil companies. Its just business! Smokey

Yes, and the oil companys have to make all that money so they can reinvest in finding oil (well, where the liberals will let them drill) invest in more equipment, do research including alternative energy sources, pay all them stockholders, etc, etc., etc. I think our biggest problem is we don't realize just how much it takes to bring us gas to the pump, and quite frankly I have a hard time digesting just how much all that money really is. I work better when it's percentages where the numbers stay in the 2-3 digit range! By the way Jeff, would you be satisfied making 10% profit each year? I don't think so or you would not be out there busting you butt everyday. Have a great day Smokey

The $36 billion profit figure is correct for 2005 and revenue grew to $371 billion for a gross profit of 9.7%(low compared to many other companies). The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon, and the average state and local tax is 28.5 cents per gallon! Of more interest, in the past 25 years, oil companies directly paid or remitted $2.2 trillion in taxes, after adjusting for inflation, to federal and state governments including excise taxes, royalty fees, and federal and state corporate income taxes. That equates to more than three times what they earned in proits for the same period (Department of Economic Analysis and the Department of Energy. And Jeff, I am not 100% sure, but I believe the $400 million is spread out over many years. Smokey

Come to think of it, does it work on concrete? Smokey

Jeff, my feeling is get the govt out of my life as much as possible. It has grown way too big and spends way too much money. It is more of a hinderence than help. It gets in the way of business and the free market system. It, now I know you don't want to hear this, robs from the rich and gives to the poor. But that should be left to us individually and organizations. I know everyone was thrilled when the Fed govt finally started helping the Katrina victims, but do you realize that after the Chicago fire and the San Francisco earthquake, no fed money was used to help or rebuild those cities. Get the feds out of our lives and we would be alot better off. Actually haven't started work yet in CB. I just "retired" from my other job last week. I wanted to do it a month ago, but they asked me to stay one more month to help them out. Stupid me did. But I have been reading and learning all I can, buying equipment and supplies and doing some jobs around here. Unlike you, I want to specialize in decks which New Hanover and Brunswick county have plenty. Today I have to do a house wash, a driveway, and a church steeple (don't worry, it is not too high). I also have a fence and a deck lined up to do early next week. My target date is to move May 2, I hope I can make it. I went and had an estimate on lettering up my trailer yesterday - $1250! That may have to wait. Maybe I will come down and see ya soon! But I must warn you, I can talk the paint off a wall! LOL Smokey

Jeff, don't take it hard, Philip is not attacking you personally, just what you believe. Of course I would not have called you a fascist, just a damn hard core liberal! LOL By the way, name me one thing for which Scooter Libby has been convicted! Smokey51

I think it was Jon who said "They either call me or I never here from them again'. Jon, why don't you call them back the next day or two and ask them if they have any questions and also thank them for the opportunity to talk to them. This gives the customer the thought that hey this guy really cares and wants to do the job right. Do this even for customers you think you will never have a chance to close. I believe you would see your closing ration move up and your profit margin increase also. This not only works for decks, but anything you are trying to sell. Smokey51

Being the good neighbor I am, I was talked into doing my neighbor's driveway for him. What a mess! He has had several "collector" cars in bad need of repair parked for months on in. They have leaked gas and oil, created rust stains, etc. Since this is not my area of expertise and I don't have a surface cleaner or hot water washer, what cleaning mix do you folks recommend I use. I hope to get rid of most of the oil and dirt and hopefully some of the rust stains. He already knows not to expect micracles, but I would like to suprise him a little without washing the concrete cream away. Smokey51

If you take into consideration inflation since 1981, gas prices should be over $5 a gallon. Do I like the prices now? Hell no! Is it changing my buying habits? Hell yes! Do I charge my customers to cover the added expense? Yes, what ever the market will bare! I remember in the 70's when Carter put price controls into effect for gas. I lost three months of my life waiting in lines for gas. At least now there is no shortagage of gas. I have to pay a premium (no pun intended) for it, but at least I can still get it. Why should the oil companies produce more oil if there was not a profit motive? They should out of the kindness of their heart, or for the sake of the nation. Give me a break. Gouging? As an example Jeff, lets say a hurricane hits Myrtle Beach and you need water for your expectant wife and little one. A grocery store has water at the regular price ($1.29 per gallon as an example). A shopper comes in before you and buys every drop of water in the store. So you get no water for your wife and kid. But if the grocery store charged $8.00 per gallon, then the shopper before you would have to think twice about buying all the water. Thus you have a chance to buy water to save your wife and kid. Price gouging? It is all in how you look at it. I tend to look at it as supply and demand forces at work. I don't always like it, but some times it is for the best. Let's not forget that there is a greater worldwide demand for oil now. Everyone is using more, especially China. And why have we not drilled for the abundant oil in the US or built a new refinery in years? It's just politics. So there is more blame to go around. Smokey51

Thanks Ken for reminding me who posted it. Here is the link to it: http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2951 And thanks to Reed for sharing it with us. Smokey51

If I remember correctly, someone posted an Excel spreadsheet on the board for estimating deck restorations. Seems like it was named Logan's or something like that. It does require more measuring but shows more in detail the cost of doing a deck restoration. You can adjust your pricing behind the scenes for pita factors and even adjust your stain coverage estimate thus giving more detailed pricing and an extimate on how much stain you will use. I like using it because I can show the customer more detailed information than most deck restorers do, thus the customer has more confidence in me to do the job right. It is just another bullet in my gun when I make my sells pitch. I use a laptop and portable printer so I can print the estimate and contract while I am at the customers place. This puts a little pressure on them to sign right then (without them knowing it) instead of waiting several days or weeks to make up their minds. Smokey51

I just recently found out that I can get navigation (very similar to what is in cars) on my Nextel telephone for about $20.00 per month (vs $2000 on a car). Are any of you Nextel users using this? In the area I work in, it seems to me this would be of great help saving time and money because of all the small streets, streets that all of a sudden change names, no idea where a street is, etc. Hell, I would save $20.00 a month just in gas:lgsideway if the nav worked pretty good. Smokey51

For those of you who do take credit cards, have you had any problems with chargebacks initiated by the customer? I would hate to do a large job, get paid by credit card, spend the money, and then have the customer dispute the charges for some reason ( I think they have 30 days to do this). And the bad part about it, the customer usually wins in these situations. Smokey

To be "potically correct" for work you did in 05 but did not get paid until 06, you claim the income for 06. If you paid your expenses for work you did in 05 in 05, you claim the expenses in 05 even though you did not get paid for the work until 06. That said, if you did not pay for the expenses until 06, then you claim them in 06. What did I say?!!!:confused: Anyway, that being said, unless your accountant does not catch it and/or it is not a huge amount, I doubt the IRS will say anything or care. Smokey51

(On September 17, 1994, Alabama's Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America 1995.) Question: If you could live forever, would you and why? Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever," --Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest. `````````````````````````````````` "Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff." --Mariah Carey ```````````` "Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life," --Brooke Shields, during an interview to become Spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign . `````````````````````````````` "I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body," --Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward . ````````````````````````````````````````````` "Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country," --Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, DC. ````````````````````````````` "I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president." --Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents. `````````````````````````````` "That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a donkey , and I'm just the one to do it," --A congressional candidate in Texas . ```````````````````````````` "Half this game is ninety percent mental." --Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark `````````````````````````````````` "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." --Al Gore, Vice President ``````````````````` "I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix." --Dan Quayle `````````` "We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?" --Lee Iacocca ``````````` "The word "genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." - --Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst. ```````````````````````````````````````````` "We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people." --Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor. ````````````````````````````````` "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." --Bill Clinton, President `````````````````` "We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur." --Al Gore, VP ```````````````` "Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas." --Keppel Enderbery ```````````````` "Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances." --Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina ```````````````````````````````````````````` "If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record." --Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman Smokey51

"This is the basic plan for my new house, if the bank says OK. We aare addin a little more sq ft to living rm & kitchen, about a foot wider on the master bedroom and a little longer , the sitting area will be walled off for my office. The bonus room instead of 2 skinny window dormers its going to be one wide dormer" Jeff, make sure you talk to your builder about this. Making "small" changes can cost a lot of money because the changes you make on the 1st floor must be duplicated on the second floor to protect the structural integrity of the house. Wish you luck in all the decisions you have to make about the house, ie colors, carpet, tile, bathroom fixtures, lighting, etc. But what a great investment in the area your are in. The house will be worth more the day you move in than what you are going to pay for it!!! Smokey51