big mike

#1 is be honest with yourself. Can you truly accept the responsibility of being your own boss? Can you devote 100% to your business? Will you strive to build and increase your client base even when you have enough work? All of this takes determination and focus. Some people are really made to be their own boss, and some aren't. I bailed out of a government job making good dough at the ripe old age of 40. I've never looked back. Just be sure your not doing it for the wrong reasons, and you will succeed. Best of luck, whatever you decide!!

Something you may want to look into is a battery minder that charges your batteries off of your vehicles charging system while you drive. It's more powerful than the solar panel, and I believe it's cheaper. Look in the Northern catalog, I believe I saw something in there. If I find it, I'll post a link.

Pete, I noticed several things that should be pointed out. First, Sodium Hydroxide wasn't necessary if it was just graying wood with some algae. Also, Percarb mixed too strong will result in furring. A simple bleach bath followed by an Oxalic rinse would have been the easiest in my opinion. There's a great debate concerning bleach on this forum, and I don't want to start that up again. Anyway, I think a 25 degree tip is too intense for wood restoration and that was a large factor in the furring you experienced. 500-700psi with a 40 degree tip about 12 - 15 inches away from the surface, and about a 3-5 minute dwell with the chems would result in substantially less furring. If your not stripping off an old finish, all you basically need to do is wash the fence and brighten. Also, I never sand fences.

Carlos, sign me up too!! Thanks. http://mike@a-1pressurewashing.com

OK, first of all, their website says it only sells to government entities, and non-profits. I'm doubting that you're non-profit right? Anyway, the pool shock is just plain old sodium hypochlorite, but usually around 10.5%. I use it quite a bit since I don't have a chlorine supplier real close by. The stuff I use is in liquid form, not the granulated stuff. Do a search, you'll find tons of useful info in the "up on the roof" threads.

I always try to throw in something extra. Usually I like to do something in the front, where neighbors will see or notice. More exposure=more jobs. Give them a little more than they expected, and you'll see your return business as well as your referrals go up dramatically. my .02

Jeff, Champlin is a northern suburb of Minneapolis. I hear alot of people mentioning that they "had" relatives from up here. Must be the weather that drives 'em away LOL

Easy on the pressure and light on chemical strength. Aluminum is real sensitive to both, and its easy to remove the paint. If it's really chalky, be extra careful. Good learning experience though. Just go easy.

Those are houses? I've seen smaller hotels!!!

Tim, I worked with alot of hail stuff at the end of last year. I'm not certain what causes the spotting, but I do have a couple of theories on the subject. First, Reed is correct that sanding doesn't take care of the dents, it will always show as dark spots when stained. Crushed fibers are definately the culprit there. The spots I believe you are referring to happen after smaller hail (pea sized) lay on the wood and cause a freeze spot. This hail is to small to cause physical damage from falling. I've removed these with stripping and refinishing, and you never knew the spots were ever there. I've also encountered spotting on cement from hail. I'm thinking that the deck spots and the cement spots are cause by pollutants in the air as the hail is forming. When it falls, it sits in one spot for a long while until it melts. These pollutants screw up the fininsh. Think acid rain ice cubes. Scary huh? Of course this is just a thoery, but I'd bet that if someone was to collect some hail, and have it analyzed, there'd be some interesing stuff in there. I've started telling customers the that it will look spotty after I'm done refinishing, and they usually are OK with that. (Insurance is paying the bill).

Hello all, Did a search and couldn't find anything addressing this situation. I have a house wash booked for the spring that has hail spots over the entire home. It's vinyl siding thats a light brown or tan color and the hail spots are darker than the rest of the siding. The siding almost appears to have that chalky look of aluminum siding. My question: has anyone cleaned vinyl with hail spotting, and what worked or didn't work.

Minneapolis, MN Uff-Da

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, it's kinda strange that the hail would leave marks like that. I have noticed that hail will leave spots on concrete also. Maybe its from pollutants in the air (think acid rain). I'm just hoping my standard house wash mix will make it all blend without having to use elbow grease. I've seen lots of hail issues on decks and fences, but thats mainly from the force of the hail crushing wood fibers. I do like hail though, lots of insurance claim work!! I'm booked through May already just from some local storms last fall

I hail from the frozen north (Minnesota). What I try to do to get through the winter is formulate a budget that my family can live comfortably with, along with a margin for any emergencies that may arise. From that point, I begin to sock away cash in the summer when business is really booming. I know my outdoor end date usually falls in mid October, so by then I hopefully have enough saved up to carry me through til April. Doesn't always work, but I usually get pretty darn close. I also do misc. minor handyman, and painting jobs for my summer customers. Many summer contractors up here plow snow for the extra money. It really takes getting the word out to your clients that like your work ethic, that you have other skills. Many are more than willing to help out an honest, professional contractor. In a word "multitask". Oh, when other contractors ask what I do in the winter I tell them "ice fish". Drives 'em nuts!!

Jeff, I will do roofs until the daytime temp drops to less than 40 degrees. Up here in Minnesota that could be mid July LOL..... no, seriously, usually early to mid November.

Hey Don, I'm sure that someone on this board could help you with that little rust stain on the driveway, LOL.;)

Krep, Contrary to some replies here, anyone who attempts to remove a solid stain and go to a semi-transparent, will have an extremely difficult go of it. Sanding will be required, and the solid color between the deck boards most certainly will not be completely removed. I've personally done 5 or 6 decks in the last two years of this nature, and the results were mediocre at best. The homeowners were thrilled, but I was disappointed. Cuprinol semi-transparent is an easy strip job, solid is not.:bluecry:

I had a guy last month that had landscapers in to do pavers and retaining wall UNDER the deck I was going to stain. I had done the prep work the Friday before, and on Tuesday (holiday weekend) when I came to stain, here's a bunch of machinery and workers hard at it. The homeowner had the b@lls to tell me that his $14,000 landscaping job trumped my $2400 deck job. He did however pay a $100 rescheduling fee. It got done last week, and he was more than happy to pay to finally use his deck (above some beautiful landscaping!). I don't think this will be a repeat customer though, darn:rolleyes:

Mike, I've used WD for a few projects and it is very similar to Ready Seal. Application is very forgiving, and wet on wet, or wet on dry works about the same. I do two coats on all horizontals and one coat for verticals. Fence stain works great on fences, one coat seems to be fine.

I'm with Lance on this one. Brushing on gutter cleaner is more efficient and involves less waste. Gutter cleaner is pretty strong stuff. I wouldn't want to risk the overspray / drift issues with a shurflo. Besides, don't you find that you need to brush gutters occasionally anyway? Extension poles with a carwash brush gets my vote.:)

I agree, a $100 housewash is way too low. I wouldn't even consider a contractor that came in at a rediculously low price. I tell potential clients up front that I'm not going to be the low bid. I do tell them that they can expect professional results and will not be disappointed with the money they spend. It works for me. I was able to resign from a $24 an hour job and run my business full time. NEVER SETTLE and don't give up!!;)

If you're going for a repaint, forget stripping at all. Use your pressure washer at around 800psi, loosen the peeling stuff, then lightly sand the surface to feather the area's that still hold paint. Apply 2 coats of paint, collect your check.

You will almost always get variances in your readings. Try checking around a knot and see how high the moisture content is there (usually very high). Shaded areas dry much slower. Also, try to insert the probes to the same depth when taking readings.

Either repaint or replace. You will almost certainly be sanding and probably never get all the paint from the cracks between boards. Been there, done that. PITA.

All of the black decks I've run into were due to failed Penofin. I believe A-plus (Tony) has posted some pics of this on another thread in the past. Try a search for Penofin and see what you come up with. At any case that deck should get stripped with Sodium Hydroxide. Do some test spots for strength and dwell time.