Jump to content

Celeste

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    3,762

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    3

Posts posted by Celeste

  2. Posted · Report reply

    I'd really like to stay away from muriatic if at all possible and am trying to find an alternative. What do you think of this?

    When cleaning concrete...yes the idea is to clean and not etch, thus the avoidance of muriatic. Muriatic is supposed to etch concrete which is what you're trying to accomplish, right?

    Oxalic is not going to etch concrete without applying it at a horrific strength and that's going to cost you plenty. Using a certain degree tip to etch the concrete...I'm thinking that if you're asking what to use chemically, eyeballing the surface to see how much of the top coat you're taking off with a nozzle is not going to be your best method. Prepping concrete using the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid - not saying that you personally are stupid by any means) system is the most efficient and cost effective way to do it.

    Roger doesn't like to use muriatic acid either, but for purposely etching concrete .....it's the way we do it.

    Celeste

  3. Posted · Report reply

    What kind of painting are you doing? When we applied the acrylic stain to the driveway we did (which rolled on like paint) we etched with muriatic (4:1) : water - Rinse well - let dry completely then rolled on the product. We have pics of the driveway if you want to see - give us a call :) Application method was rolling, however, you can pick up a cheapo Wagner sprayer (build the $70ish into your bid) use it once and ditch it. Spraying will give you a more even application but if you must roll - get an 18" roller....it goes much faster.

    Celeste

  5. Posted · Report reply

    I'm betting that the type of wood would have some bearing on the market as well. Over here in the east, and heading south I believe we all mostly live in PT land. Discount builder suppliers around here sell brand new deck kits for less than the $$ quoted above - people don't want to pay extraordinary prices to have their stuff maintained when they can get new for the same price. We just go with the flow and until this freezing dang weather, we were flowing just fine.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    We really feel blessed to have made friends such as Scott, Angela, Beth, Rod, Pam & Cujo....If business ever goes south for us, we will have made friends for life anyway. We thoroughly enjoyed the time we have spent with all of you guys.

    Celeste

  15. Posted · Report reply

    The thing that has us most concerned at this point is that they have been ripping these boards off the side of the house, CUTTING them and then reattaching in other places on the structure. Odds are, if we were to drive by during work hours, there would not be a soul in any type of protective clothing.....I'm seeing an OSHA, EPA, HUD, and any other alphabet soup type organization levying fines up the wazoo - or worse yet, a child in the neighborhood getting lead poisoning. It is extremely obvious that there have been no statutory precautions taken on this job site. Scary stuff.

    Celeste

    P.S. I have learned a stupid amount about lead abatement over the past two days...in the event anyone is interested, I could start a thread about some of the federal requirements. Most states simply adapt their statutes accordingly.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Our "starting" is doing (1) having the abatement conversation with the supers - if they are turning a blind eye, we'll likely pass on the job - not worth the risk, no matter how much money (2) doing test spots on the various areas to be stripped with different chemicals to determine the PITA factor and (3) giving them the price - which will be non-negotiable.

    We have no qualms about doing the work - yes, understand that it's going to be a bear but we will be WELL compensated or bye-bye. The foreman asked if Roger could do it - he said yes and the foreman said "You're hired". The dollars may change their mind - or not. We'll see tomorrow :)

  19. Posted · Report reply

    We get to get up close and personal with it.....all of the old paint must come off of the siding boards and window casings. The decorative trim doesn't have to go back to bare wood (thankfully, because as old as this place is, the paint is probably holding some of the wood together) but it must be smooth so that the repainting looks good. We are coming in after the first pressure washer blasted some of the wood so badly that they might have to be replaced altogether.

    This one is going to be labor intensive with a pretty high PITA factor, but it's going to be one awesome addition to our portfolio :) The contractor is also restoring several others on the same block......could be a very profitable job!

×