Celeste

I told Roger that I wanted to replace a raggedy section of our privacy fencing this year. It was a section next to our house that had been damaged by a fallen tree several years back. Behind the fence was a log pile (remnants of that same tree) We were putting it off until we got some other things taken care of first. Guess what's getting replaced very very soon!

Not only hanging a fence, but (1) cleaning up ashes (2) digging post holes (3) setting posts (4) doing those stringer things and the multitude of other little steps AND turning loose of her hard-earned pt job money to pay for it. I might even make her chain smoke the entire time she's putting it up. She's never gonna want another one. Ugh - I'm getting mad again! @@#^%(#@#*^$#

Lawrence - If you can afford to do it, tell her to poof, be gone. You have no idea what Mr." $99 housewash clean the deck for free" did to her wood. If she won't go for your method and pay for it, leave it. It would be better to not take the job because you can hardly guarantee ANYTHING coming behind someone else and if you do and your finish fails, guess who did the crappy work - YOU, not the guy that "prepped" it. Bad work comments travel faster than the speed of light. Celeste

Unfortunately, it was not me smoking - I have a sneaky teenager, need I say more? (Still alive for the moment) We are very thankful that we have observant neighbors and that we were able to get it put out before any further damage was done. The only casualty was the fence, thank Heaven. It was a very sobering morning, that's for certain. Celeste

No, we didn't use the pressure washer - it lives on the other side of the house. We did however, finish off our fire extinguishers that we carry in the truck and on trailer.

From a standpoint of one who works in the real estate/financing biz and use home inspectors often, I know we have to be careful of conflicts. It might be perceived that if you, as the home inspector, may find a need for pressure washing to say, get the mildew off of a roof or siding and HEY, I just happen to be able to take care of that for you are "cornering your market" unfairly. Or worse, may look like you are "finding" reasons for your company to come wash something. If we, as brokers, have a business relationship with one particular person, we actually have to have the customers sign ackowledging that we have an affiliation agreement. I would leave them separate - you can certainly offer the services of your other company, but rolled into one - it's not the direction I would take. The other thing I'm considering a factor is that at some point, we'd all like to think that people see pressure washing for more than a sideline (which painters have done to us for years). But remember, opinions are like bellybuttons - everyone's got one :)

Here's one that's not been asked...... Everyone is interested in these products that can be applied the same day as washing. Less trips to the property, less gas money, more profit. Good goal.... BUT - how to defur the wet wood if this problem arises? If one must wait until the wood is "dry" to defelt, then the wet application is not going to decrease anything but weather delays, right? Celeste

I have read throughout posts about "levels" of service that some of you guys offer. For those of you that do this, do you use a contract and within that contract do you have a "Scope of Work" that will be completed? Our general contract has what we'll be doing pretty loosely worded, ie, remove former finish, prep wood for application of finish, application of finish - really basic. We have a customer that wants to know EVERYTHING, even down to when we poot I think. Does someone have a detailed list of steps that you take in wood care that they would not mind sharing? Thanks in advance! carolinaprowash@triad.rr.com Celeste

Tony, Do you think that those first 3-4 years of doing everything, learning from your mistakes, etc... is what has enabled you to be able to provide the good advice that we read from you and allowed you to be selective in your work because of the quality? Celeste

On a full sun deck I would think you're probably right - which would be nice - get lunch in there somewhere :) But then again, it's not always best to stain in full sun either is it?

Jon, Where are you getting the BioWash products now? I think SunBrite is discontinuiing it in their store. We have looked hard at that before for a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE painted with we never found out what deck. I like that their products are so enviromentally friendly. Celeste

Thanks Brian!

He can after he offers them body parts..LOL....insurance is quite a bit higher when you have less than 2 years experience (at least it is in NC)!

You might want to tell your friend that having insurance might be the first step, but without any practical experience, having to USE that insurance early on might put him out of business faster than he got into it. Hands on, labor for learning, get an agreement and become partners, anything other than just jumping in blind is a plus. Celeste

LOL nothing - it doesn't work. We've even used acid products with no luck. Celeste

Phillip, Have you tried using QuickBooks Pro for all of your businesses? It's really user friendly, all of your banking is interactive in the program and they have additional services. I noticed that you have handwritten estimates, but you could enter them very quickly, convert them to invoices upon completion, enter the payment and boom - this customer has their own register. It's really neat - not terribly expensive and it does 1099's too :) Celeste

We're an LLC :)

We have a party deck to strip this weekend - 20 x 96 is the floor space by itself so we have a substantial amount of wood. Here's my question - if we were to use this enormous span to do "testing" on, this should be a pretty equal place to do it, right? All of the wood is the same age, same exposure, same sealant, etc... so if we mix each stripper by it's normal recommended measurement, we should be able to determine if we have better luck with one over another? If you had this opportunity, would you do it? Celeste

I'm waiting on EVERYTHING! My stuff will be here early next week but so will the rain probably by then :( Celeste Richard, does that mean you're not coming to play with the monster party deck tomorrow????????

Hey, anybody seen my SUNGLASSES??? My 80% chance of thunderstorms HA! It's raining sunbeams! Know what our issue is? WE'VE GOT DECKS TO SEAL AND NO DAMN STAIN! I need a hot tub. Celeste

Check with your local fire department and see what they do with their worn hoses... those could be filled and ends clamped to form temporary water dams......of course, how would you explain draining them back out? Hmmmmm....guess you could suck the water back out...or drain in a grassy area if one was close enough. Anyway...it's a thought. Celeste

That's the plan......now if the rain keeps holding off :)

Here's a section of fencing we did as a demo today....stripped we don't know what with F-18 then neutralized with F-8. This is Pressure Tek's stripper & brightener. I'm pretty sure that they'll let us do the rest :) Celeste

You might need to adjust your speed :) If you move too quickly, you will leave streaks. Celeste

Splendid work guys! Celeste