big mike

Shows a good improvement IMHO. What's you're opinion?

Yes that's true. The old saying still holds true: Life is like a $*^# sandwich, the more bread you have, the less $*^# you eat!!

lmao!!!!

I don't know about getting a point across, but it is necessary if you want to remain in business. If you're just making up prices at each job, you'll never get the formula down for making steady profit margins. If you're just winging it for beer money, I guess that's OK, but in order to see where the break point is in your area, and to determine per-job costs and overhead, you need a baseline to go by. If you're not using a pricing guideline (such as sq.ft or linear ft.), you're doing your business a disservice, IMHO.

The season is short in our neck of the woods, so why waste those precious summer weekends messing with your deck?? Let the pro's at handle it for you. We offer quick service and outstanding results. With hundreds of satisfied customers in the Twin Cites area, we are easily the #1 choice for professional deck refinishing. Call us today to get a guaranteed quote for your project.

I see rep points!!

Leave them in 99% of the time. Customers know up front that the windows won't be perfect.

Unbelievable........

Good!

+1. Very common problem if your battery isn't fully charged. Your burner will work, but not very efficiently.

What ever happened to Reed? I think I learned the most about wood care from him and Shane B from TX. Anyone know if these guys are still in business?

Spoiling Grandkids is a noble endeavor. Glad to see you're still kickin'. Visit TGS when you can, many here could benefit from your wood care knowledge.

It's not necessary. But....I always have applied an acid after percarb wash. Wood tends to darken with the percarb, so brightening was in order. That being said, I am a "bleachnik" so I don't use percarbs much anymore. Either strip with hydroxide and neutralize, or bleach wash and rinse.

I was going to comment on this yesterday, but I held back to let it play out. I have to ask: why is it a problem ordering from a distributor? I've never had an issue getting stain delivered in a timely manner, and if you consider 5 gallons "bulk" what kind of decks are you staining? Honestly, your looking at this the wrong way. Simply having the convenience of running to HD to grab some stain won't help you business wise. We sell our customers on a superior product that they can't buy on the shelf at HD. Its what sets you, as a professional, apart from them as a DIYer. I guess if your doing 2-3 decks a year, then yeah buy local. I know that Olympic and CWF were mentioned as well, but you won't be getting much return business if you go that route. We refinish over 100 decks each summer, and most are failed, off the shelf, stains. Do yourself a favor, and "bite the bullet". Others have mentioned decent stains, and I'll tell you that we use RS almost exclusively. We've built up a very solid return customer base using this product. Simply stated: it works as advertised.

Well, as far as the oil staining is concerned, you are going to have a difficult time without hot water. It is the number one best method for lightening or removal. Now since you already have some staining on the driveway, applying a sealer over it will seal the stain in as well as keeping stains out. So you're kinda stuck. I'd recommend NOT sealing a stained driveway. As for the other issues you pointed out, a higher GPM washer will get you finished quicker than a higher PSI. The problem with that is, higher GPM pumps usually come on higher priced equipment. A Hydrotek washer is a good start (albeit overkill for a homeowner IMHO), but it would be a good add on for your current business as well. This will help you on the driveway cleaning, now as for vinyl siding, it's all about the detergent mix. Many don't even use a pressure washer for house washing. Do a serch on "soft washing" or "house wash mix" and you'll have plenty of reading material, without having to interact with the personalities on the forum. Good luck!

Brian, Forgot to mention the standard line: Add a signature to your user CP (under My Controls) at the top of the page, or you won't get many replies from the pros on this site.

Concrete sealer just helps prevent staining, and makes cleaning easier. It doesn't last forever, and needs reapplication every couple of years. Why do you need to wash your driveway so often? If you just mean spraying it off with water, that's not what is considered "cleaning". Generally, cleaning involves hot water, a surface cleaner, and possibly a detergent and a brightener application. This type of cleaning is required to remove mold and mildew, oil spots and staining, and irrigation rust. Simply using pressure to "clean" concrete will most likely damage the cream layer, leave unsightly wand marks, and shorten the life of the concrete considerably.

Never heard of that. Kevlar is good for abrasion resistance, but how does it protect from heat?

Can't go wrong with Labs. Looks like mine when he was a pup. Congrats to you guys!!

Should be Ok, just thaw completely and mix REAL well

Please explain this.

I agree with Dan. I just dropped my yellow pages advertising because the ROI was pitiful.

I approach it like Russ. One guy goes one way and the other goes the opposite way. We clean 400' sections then move the rig. Pretty efficient.