Celeste

This is a terrific thread to get started. With this being our first, I was flying by the seat of my pants and was very lucky that it went as well as it did. I do already have changes in mind for the next one we hold! I will say that holding a RT from 11am - 5pm and including the eating in this time frame severely detracts from the time available to experience everything when there are multiple demonstrations going on. Our next Round Table will be started much earlier in the morning with a bit more of an itenerary. This last one was very loose which worked to a degree, more so for contractors than it did for vendors. Celeste

I found this on another bbs - seems appropriate here :) Do you know where you are going? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A boat docked in a tiny village. A tourist complimented the local fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. "Not very long," answered the fisherman. "But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the Tourist The fisherman explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family. The Tourist asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and relax with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs . I have a full life." The Tourist interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat." And after that?" asked the Fisherman. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise." "How long would that take?" asked the Fisherman. "Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the Tourist. "And after that?" "Afterwards? Well my Friend, That's when it gets really interesting, answered the Tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!" "Millions? Really? And after that?" said the Fisherman. "After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, relax with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends." And the moral is: Know where you're going in life...... you may already be there.

We had a demo of it at the Round Table.....see the NC Round Table thread :) Celeste

Yes James, I do believe we are all aware that you are in a class all by yourself. Please refrain from insulting folks, especially when most of the folks in this thread are away for the weekend.

3 stories shouldn't be more than 40 ft max - you could feasibly put the x-jet on the end of the extension wand and be able to apply chems to the third story with no problem.

Are you sure you'd need a lift for that? Our Coress allows us to rinse up to 45 ft or so beautifully from the ground - for the cost of lift rental, you could afford to buy the wand and you get to keep that! Our personal choice on that siding would be Citracleen - we've done siding that looked that bad and it was a cakewalk with the RPC chems. Can't offer any advise on the awnings - SORRY! Celeste

Jon, I don't know if others noticed, but I personally don't see you getting things wrong very often! Celeste

Very likely this is an older painted house with cedar shakes ON THE ROOF, not the walls. In our area older homes often have small roofs jutting up, out, over in all directions and as I read the question, there are sections of shakes that are going to be subject to getting hit by housewash. The owners do not want to have the grayed out appearance changed by getting the house itself washed. I believe that Ken had the jist right the first time. It's going to be a delicate housewash, but not impossible. Celeste

Cabot solid decking oil stains are custom tintable - a good paint mixer can match anything you take to them :) This is one of the best solid stains available we've been told- it's really thick though - goes on like old paint :( Add the PITA factor in! Celeste

That is a beautiful "beast" - no wonder you want to take care of it! Sure wish it wasn't so far away from us! Celeste

If you want to back up further - Wolman's I believe came up with the first 2-step application multiple years ago, which fared badly. Flood then purchased the notion and re-worked it into a two product system - oil going down first then an acrylic on top. I got thumped two years ago when we talked about that product. This is NOT the issue or point of this thread I don't believe. Celeste

WOW - anyone up for a road trip :) Celeste

Oh Man! Missed the big day - Hope you had a Happy Happy Birthday and have many, many more! Roger & Celeste

We call those "weavers". At any given time we will have 3-4 of them in our yard - very fasinating to watch until they build the web 2 inches from your front door. We used the back door for 3 days until he packed up and moved further into the yard :) Celeste

We've branched into concrete overlays as far as diversification. Estimates are still free but homeowners now have to wait until we're in their area. I have a Suburban that cost me $120 to fill yesterday (cough cough choke choke) for work purposes but for estimating, the 73 MGB is getting back on the road :) (But it's getting a new paint job with logo this winter!) We haven't raised prices or added surcharges - no one else is getting raises and they're paying the same for gas as we are so we're chalking it up to the cost of doing business, just being more careful with our planning. We do plan on an across the board increase in January for new customers though - but that's cause we've earned it :) As far as estimating in a small car or bike, as a homeowner, I personally would see it as a smart business person trying to conserve fuel so as not to have to increase their job costs. Celeste

Awww heck, wait til one of the Texas guys puts up a bug - you know how everything is bigger there :) Celeste

Other than making positive strides and bettering this industry as a whole - I want to applaud the commitment that Beth & Rod have made to their colleagues in this industry by providing this space (and at no charge to us mind you). It is an unbelievably generous and unselfish giving of time and knowledge that they do every day that this irreplaceable site is available. You will always have our support, gratitude and friendship. Thanks guys - I don't think any of us say this enough to you :) Celeste

This buggy was on another bbs - given that a brick plus mortar is over 3" and this guy is nearly the size of 2......

We got banana spiders in Okinawa that were 6-10 inches long - You'd never believe that 10 Marines could exit a van in less than 2 seconds flat when a pretty big one crawled across the ceiling as we were loading up for a dive day :) Funniest thing I had seen in decades! Celeste

I am really looking forward to seeing this stuff in action :) It truly gives the wood a rich look that I love :) Nice jobs again as usual guys ! Celeste

Nice job guys - color is questionable but your application looks great ;) Our experience with the Cabot's solid was that it is worse than paint to apply, sticky, yes - we definitely add in a PITA factor when having to put it down. Celeste

I would think that it would depend on the type of sealant and its age/condition. Some of the penetrating oil stains would make a good base for paint in a sense one would think. Why would you be applying paint - why not a solid stain if they don't want to see wood grain? Celeste

On the other hand, don't you think that now that all of these people have lost EVERYTHING that they have, maybe they'll have a new respect for their homes and families? It's sure make me look at my corner of the world in a different light - you cherish and enjoy every minute all that you have - with one wave, it can all be gone. Celeste

Alright, now remember, opinions are like bellybuttons but here's our input. We have a 30" Steel Eagle, 3 bar system with adjustable deck - love that one but is a b*tch to get up and out of the bed of the truck when it rides there! It has casters so when moving from point A to point B makes it easier. Haven't really had any bent are problems. We also have one of the floaty kind - much easier to move around because of weight however, if it's not running, you have to carry it from point A to point B - not fun if you're going across grass cause they're kinda gangly to carry. And finally, we have a large yellow castered one - can't remember the brand. Much lighter weight and easy to move around - but it's broken!!!! Don't know if it just wore out (bought it used) or if it was just a lower grade. Obviously, the wider the deck, the larger the cleaning area in one pass - great for driveways, not always as good for sidewalks because you can overlap yourself too much and get stripes. Just my .02 Celeste

Technically, there is a difference between a modular home and a trailer. Trailers literally have axles and wheels and are pulled in by semi. The marriage wall is only 3 " thick. Modular homes are constructed inside in controlled environments then put together on a foundation on site. The marriage wall is thicker since they use actual 2x4's for framing. There is no DMV title for a modular home, rather you will see a Certified Modular Home sticker somewhere inside the house. Pricing is vastly different and as an ex-frustrated mortgage broker, lenders view these type structures differently - period. Trailer - axle, Modular - foundation. The most pathetic thing of all though is that we are currently washing for a rather large builder and I've seen how their houses go up. If we get a hurricane through here, the development is going to look like a trailer park without the axles...and these are $350K - $500K homes. Celeste