Celeste

We paid for our doors, rear window & tailgate to be logo'd & worded - less than $200. Within 10 minutes, we booked two housewashes at the gas station. I'd say ours paid for itself. We've had people follow us down the road dialing at the same time. Even had the phone ring during one of our late late night Waffle House runs because someone saw it sitting there. Celeste PS - you can see our door signage in our avatar :) The back window of the truck has the large Carolina ProWash logo as do both large side windows on the Suburban :)

Oh yep - we've used sodium hydroxide to clear clogs before :) Celeste

Did you mean sodium hypochlorite instead of sodium hydroxide?????? EEEK! Celeste

Which WT did you use for your maintenance coat? Celeste

Well while we've got the silent admiration committee going, I'm going to throw Scott & Angela Karvonen in the mix. Scott & Angela, while dealing with family tragedies on what seemed to be a monthly basis and raising about a half a dozen kids, routinely clean for their community and church members in need. Roofs, houses, yards, whatever the family needs, Scott & Angela are there with their time, equipment and unselfish love in their hearts. Kudos to Karvonen Pro Clean :) Celeste

OOPs, didn't mean to repeat....got a reply started and got sidetracked :) Celeste

Hey Chuck, Is this write up about the campaign as a whole or focusing on the Cooperstown project. Lots of other members participated in the CAA as well as the Cooperstown group :) Celeste

"rumpy"? Was that one of your typing errors or have you put on some weight there Matthew? LOL :) Lighten up guys......all bbs get bugs in the panels from time to time. And it's not like the anyone's slow season right now :) so give Beth a chance to address your issues before you crucify her before she even gets her coffee. Celeste

Jon!!!!!! We've got two boxers as well......big ole babies they are :) Since the Weimie got put up,we must show off the boxer babies as well ! Jake is the larger 115 lb male, Jersey, 9mo old female. Celeste

Wannabees - They wannabee a company but don't have the equipment, overhead, required sense to be in business therefore only fly by the seat of their pants, devaluing the industry as a whole in their wake.

Seems that Mr. Homeowner put TWO GALLONS OF ATO on a 14 X 16 FT SECTION OF DECK. The unstained side is gorgeous after a good cleaning. The stained side is going to take another stripping - will be doing this afternoon if it doesn't pour down rain again. Had some very strange things happen during the brightening - some of the boards turned colors but then went back to normal. Very strange. Celeste

There was a thread somewhere that said that brightening was a "side effect" of neutralizing but a very smart chemist once told me that neutralization was the side effect of the brightening process. He said that in order for the stain to perform EVENLY, the wood should be brightened. (Keep in mind we were speaking of the step after a percarb cleaning - there is no option after a strip :)) Celeste

On the list :) Celeste

There is not enough silicone in the WoodDefender to cause these problems. The silicone put in WD is an additive to aid in the flow and penetration. It acts more as a wetting agent. We have reapplied more stain two days after the initial application with no issue. Celeste

It happened a week or so ago....sad, huh? Celeste

Oh according to the homeowner, he just put it in a pump up and sprayed away. Poor guy, all he wanted was a deck that looked like the ones he's seen in pictures. Funny, but I don't ever remember any ads that said "So easy to do, look at Harry Homeowner's work" :) We'll be giving the F-18 Max a shot on this one. Celeste

A percarbonate cleaner is not as alkaline as a stripper. When you say stripper, most would assume you are referring to a sodium hydroxide product. Some percarbonate cleaners are more neutral than others which, if mixed with an oxalic would make the product being applied on the acidic side. What product are you referring to specifically if you don't mind saying so? Celeste

Unless you have very good self discipline with money management, it doesn't matter if you make $3K a month or $3K a week....it's all going to go away until the next check. For whatever reason, even though we've made more the last six months than we did for the 18 months prior - we're still broke :) The more you make, the more you have to spend in order to make it. The workload increases and you're faced with paying someone to help you or turn it down. Chem costs & gas increases cut into the bottom line. Equipment maintenance becomes paramount because downtime is lost money. I think the lack of benefits (insurance, disability, etc..) is the scariest thing though. Youngest fell off the monkey bars at school in May and broke his arm. Talk about an unexpected expense! (Now if we could all find a way to make money posting on bbs, we'd all be rich!) Celeste

Since everyone is thinking out loud here.......There is only so much space for something to absorb something else, thinking of a sponge, when it's full, even if more water is going in, the same amount is leaving simultaneously. If you're trying to put something, a chemical, into a piece of wood, it stands to reason that if there is no extra space in there, something's gotta move out. Can it be a chemical in the stain that the wood prefers over the tannin, therefore some species will force tannins out in order to hold the stain? This seems far to simple to be correct, but again, the question remains. Celeste

We finally picked up one of the books from the library Friday - my daughter did, however, Roger has had his nose in it since he found it. They really must be awesome reading!

Sounds like if he planned, he'd explode! Great story - very inspirational :) Celeste

Have no idea what to suggest for using the Redwood only product, however, in another thread, several folks suggested laying a tarp over the deck prior to staining in order to cool the surface temp down. We are starting to consider "tenting" some of the decks we're doing (clip a king size white sheet to the roof edge or gutter and the other side to the hand rails. Our deck surfaces are hellish hot down here so I feel your flashing pain! I'd call Pierce Fitchett on the application issues if no one on the board voices advise :) Celeste

We are.....love it since the Company stuff is separate from us personally until tax time :) We get the loss on our taxes (or the income if we want) I did our paperwork, filing was only $125 for NC. Annual report fee is $200. Celeste

Got a call on the Nextel this afternoon......guy wanted to know how much we would charge to fill up his kiddie pool :) 1000 gallons of water - they have a well and couldn't do it :) LOL Celeste

That one must've been one heck of a party :) Celeste