big mike

A little off topic here, but I read an interesting article about "Diamond Jim" in Cleaner Times last night. Good article. Never thought they'd let a bleacher in there......:lgbounces

Celeste,But efficiency is relative to what you do and how you do it. I'm assuming you're using an airless? All it took me was one large sprayer mishap (hose burst - pool deck made of flagstone and side of painted house covered with RS), to seal the by hand method. An HVLP may get revisited by us though. Our Shurflo setup kicks butt on large expanses such as fences. Maybe you could share some "fine tuning" techniques? I want to be THE KING;)

David, It's been debated before on here and other BBS, but we don't spray because of the time it takes to set up plastic, etc. Also, many in this neck of the woods have seen the result of careless hacks who don't know how to prep properly. I do sometimes spray spindles with a homemade shurflo sprayer, and we always spray fences. I just like the control of applying with a pad, and my workers have less to screw up with, LOL. I get Shurline pads at HD, Lowes, etc.

Well, we use both on occasion and 3M defelting pads . The Osborn brush really makes fast work of floors and handrails. We do use sandpaper on spindles or areas that may have raised grain issues. Ideally, the best route is to try to perfect your chem use and washing techniques to avoid the furring. I think I only broke out the defurring equipment 5-6 times last year out of 60+ decks. If I could only have one item to defur with it would definitely be the Osborn brush. As for back brushing, use whatever works best for you. Some use rollers, some use lambs wool, some use pads. We almost exclusively use Shurline pads because they will soak up any puddling, and don't drip as much as the others. The only spraying we do is on the spindles. All horizontals are by hand for us.

Yeah, we do some roof snow removal up here (often). Anyway, the most effective way is get a roof rake and remove the 3' - 5' edge of snow along the roof edges. Clear it down to the shingles. If theres an ice dam use the hottest water you can get, or steam. Remove the ice, cash the check.

Jamie, Rick is right, second coat in a couple of days or longer. RS doesn't penetrate very well under 50 degrees. I deal with this alot being in the great white north. I generally stop my staining operations with penetrating oil when nighttime temps dip below 40 degrees.

I've done lots of these. Be careful of the Oxalic, that reacts with aluminum (think about aluminum door and window trim). James and Reed are right, keep them wet and rinse, rinse, rinse. As for staining, don't worry too much about getting stain on them. Just be sure that when you are done staining the railings, you wipe every spindle down with mineral spirits. This will hide any residue from the stripper or acid, and will remove the Ready Seal. This seems to be the trend in new deck construction in my part of the country. As a side note, they are fairly inexpensive (about $1.00 each), so if you do mess it up, they can be replaced easily.

Celeste, You are right on the money about that. I should have noted that I'm tipped down to around 1000psi using my deck wand. Too much pressure will aggravate the problem. As hard as brick may seem, its only clay thats been hardened with heat. I am assuming that most folks who visit here are professional enough to not start out with the 0 degree tip at full pressure. I have actually cut an Old Chicago brick in half with a 4000psi cold water machine with a 0 degree tip, as an experiment/demonstration. Scary.

I go 8oz per gallon mixed warm. spray on full strength, dwell for about 3-5 minutes keeping wet, then hit it with 160 degree water 3500psi. Worked for me several times... Ox is cheap, try it.

I second what Phillip said. Run don't walk.

I've had success using plain old Oxalic mixed strong.

I read a thread a while back that claimed Oxalic took the scale deposits off boat hulls real well. Not sure about the barnacles though.

I've been collecting a 25% down payment (non refundable) for any job over $1000.00. This is generally for wood restoration work thopugh.

Deck for $3000.00 The house for around $5000.00. Don't waste your energy on this one, she's looking for a painter (they usually don't know squat about wood restoration). That's my 2 cents....

Just wondering if anyone else gets to a point that they are booked out too far? I'm currently booked with deck restorations until late June. I book two a week and do it by location so I'm not running all over town. I'm starting to get people who balk at the fact that they have to wait to get their job done. I guess people don't realize that quality work is in high demand. I would love to stop doing estimates for a month or so, but it goes against my nature. Maybe it's time to hire more help....Anyway, my question is this: How far out do you usually book jobs?

To all, thanks for the replies. Jon, I have raised my prices and still get the jobs. I had a guy the other day tell me he got four bids and mine was $600 higher than the rest. Guess what, I got the job. I sell with the idea of high quality workmanship and many like the premise. They see that I'm not a 21 yr old looking for beer money. I have logo shirts, lettered vehicles, and a website to refer people to. Most of the other contractors in my neck of the woods don't. I guess people feel more comfortable dishing out 2 grand to someone who actually looks like their going to be around next time they call. I do agree that booking out too far will lose some customers, but if they are at all informed, they understand that a contractor that's in high demand is most likely a quality craftsman. I use High School aged kids (my own and their friends) for my summer help. I can teach them a trade, and they get paid well. The problem is that school isn't out until June 10th, after that we really get cruising on the decks.

Minneapolis / St. Paul area

Timberpro again. Used it all last year and so far this year. Timberstrip Pro and HD-80 are very similar. EFC-38 and Timberclean Pro are very similar. I like the timberpro pruducts because the ship 30lb tubs vs. the 10lb tubs. Brian, i'm surprised you are using Timberpro LOL.

From looking at your pictures, it would appear that the wood you're working with is extremely neglected and UV damaged. Thus, the recommended 2 coats are going to soak into that wood really deep. This will happen gradually and pull the pigment in the Ready Seal with it. When I run into these type of decks, I plan on several coats over a period of a couple weeks, to get the lumber replentished with oil. I would recommend 2 additional coats of Ready Seal. The first being clear, to replentish that thirsty deck, followed by a coat of the light brown. Improper neutralization will show up rather quickly, and usually appears as spotting or blotchy areas.

Lance, I like the wand, but the squirrel??? I guess I have issues with squirrels. There's another forum to vent about the furry creatures so I won't hold your squirrel love against you. How big is your Shurflo and what size tips do you have on that contraption? By the way, your avitar FREAKS ME OUT!!

Jamie, you might be the youngest and I'm probably the oldest. My first car was a 68 Mustang coupe. I loved it and so did the gals.... I just sold a 1960 Chev Impala 4 door sedan that was "show condition". I didn't have time for her anymore with my pressure washing biz going full tilt in the summer months.:lgtear:The plus side to selling the Impala was being able to buy a new truck and 5.5gpm skid. Life is strange as to what's important at any given moment.....

Cuprinol is not that hard to remove. I've used HD80 & Timberstrip with good results. Like always, do a test spot or two, and figure out dwell time and how hot to mix it up. I'd add that the dark blue color may be difficult to remove from the cracks between the boards. 100% removal is difficult, and you should bid the job as such.

Beth, How bad did that deck fur up? I almost always get furring with HD80, pretty hot stuff.

I'm averaging 3 estimates a day for the last two weeks. I'm booked for residential work through the middle of May. Getting quite a few roofs this year already. The mildew up here is outrageous. Starting my deck restorations tomorrow. Up til now, I've been doing house washes exclusively. Hooray for warmer temps:lgbounces

Congrats on landing that big fish!! We should all strive to be the kind of business you are operating. Jeff, maybe you should write a motivational book or something. I'm happy for ya, and also glad that you're not my competition:D