Aplus

I've been meaning to pick up a new ACQ treated board at Lowes to do some testing with. I haven't come across any in the field yet. Good points silent Rod!

I've been a little concerned that the gold colors won't hold up well in locations with moderate to extreme sun exposure. Is that the case with warm honey gold?

So then, it is ok to mix sodium percarbonate with bleach? I was under the impression to not do that.

Actually the photo Reeds' thinking of was done in TWP Dark Oak, which really is a dark brown. I've got 10 gallons of RS medium brown in the garage from a job that fell thru (long story) a couple years back. Ironically, I just ordered more RS medium brown from Pierce today, for an upcoming deck that will be stained with it. I do not get many requests for stains that dark, and have never used RS dark brown either. What I was offering was to brush out some samples on a piece of wood for you Paul, but it sounds like you already have something similar. I'm big on using visuals in my presentations too, and I like having wood samples on hand. I've given up on trying to get accurate representations to print out correctly, and the brochures from RS are not very good either. Do you have any of the tri-fold color brochures from RS?

Nicely done!

I was thinking that since it came with a 1/4" hose, it's a small homeowner grade power washer. If so, the axial pump on it will probably fail before the hose does. Don't throw good dollars at bad. Save your money and buy a nice pro style power washer that will already come with the 3/8" hose. Then you'll see the benefits.

Regarding the windows......Ask the customer when his window washer is coming out, and do the awnings the day before. Then leave the window cleaning to him.

If you care at all about getting the customer back as a repeat, don't use Flood. You are supposed to be the professional. As such, you need to educate your customers of the differences between pro grade quality, and consumer grade quality. Tell them you will work with them to get the color they want, but you will choose the product that gets applied. Tell them you want to be their regular "deck guy", whom they will call and refer. Let them know an inferior product will not hold up, and you don't want the blame for that. Steer them into a product that is best suited for the job. It's easy to do when you are prepared on how to respond to all their thoughts and concerns. The bottom line is educating a customer about what they will exactly be getting, including a high level description of the steps you will follow on their job. Paint them a mental picture of how nice their deck will look when you are finished. I like plenty of hands-on sales aids. Pieces of sample boards with your stains on them, for one, and a portfolio of pictures from previous jobs. Brochures are nice, and so is proof of your insurance. They will know you are a prepared, knowledgable salesman, and be more inclined to sign the dotted line.

Lots of black algae/mold growing here.....

Sure, you could use a surface cleaner, but I think if there is thick moss between the joints it's just as well to use a wand with a 25 or 40 degree tip. There will be a lot of debris flying during the wash. I've found that many paver brick areas are shaped so as not to be conveniant with my 30" surface cleaner. Maybe a smaller surface cleaner would work better. Here's a couple pix.

Paul B. I've got a sample board that has all the RS colors on it, just ask for one, hopefully they can still provide one for you. If not, I've got most of the RS colors in stock, and I could easily make something up for you.

Condo complexes are notoriously tight fisted with $$$. I would be very surprised if you get the job at the prices you listed, although they seem to be fair prices. One angle to take is to see if they will let you do one deck, to demonstrate the quality of work you do, then maybe they will see that a little more money is worth it. Last year I bid on 18 decks at a condo complex. The decks had multiple coats of Penofin cedar, and were very dark and looked like crap. I bid $220 per deck to strip and finish with RS, for the purpose of easy future maintenance. I tried to explain how the maintenance requirements of different finishes vary, and I wanted to switch them over for that purpose. I might as well have talked to a wall. Some fool bid $90 per deck and was awarded the job. I can't see how any money could be made even with just a wash and another coat of Penofin applied. Don't be too disappointed if you don't get the job.

Pauls right about having to wait for the bricks to dry out before installing sand. If you have to add sand, make sure it is jointing sand, not play sand. Pour it out, and spread around with a stiff bristled shop broom. It is impossible to pressure wash pavers without blowing out the sand, regardless of the pressure you use. Make sure to inform the customer, and then offer your service for installing the replacement sand. A 50# bag is about $3. What you charge to install it, is up to you.

Looks like you're a little late to mail order one and expect to get it before this weekend. Of course you could pay for faster delivery, but it would cost as much as buying one locally. It may be in your best interest to buy one from a local supplier, and pay the price for the last minute planning. Then you could order spares to have on hand.

Wash the cars yourself, and get a can of paste wax, and wax the cars yourself. You will find that the overspray will come right off with a little elbow grease. In the worst cast, before waxing you may have to apply a mild cleaning compound, one that is designed for clear coat finishes. Either way, it's a heck of a lot better than paying $370 to someone for nothing. Good Luck

Good tip. Thanks!

Unless the boards are screwed in, it's usually too much work to try and get a board off without damaging it. Flipping boards is not something I even entertain to do. It's a novel idea, but not realistic.

The packings on the pump head provide the water seal. No need for a gasket between the pump body and head. Anti-seize compound on the threads never hurts.

Bryan, Yes, the stain can somewhat wrap-around when spraying a shadow box. So the question is, who's fence is it? If the person hiring you, is the person who paid for the fence, theoretically they have no obligation to the neighbor on the other side. I've had it go both ways, some customers want both sides done, and others will only pay for the side they see, to heck with the other side, the people over there can pay for it if they want it to look nice. In either case, I go over to that neighbors house, and let them know I will be refinishing the fence, because naturally some water is going to come thru. At that point they could decide if they want to spring for the cost of having their side of the fence done at the same time. Being a shadow box style, it's prudent to explain your concerns if the customer is intent to only pay to have one side done, although it may not do any good.

Rob, I fully understand what you're saying about flow vs. psi. I too use only about 750psi, using either a 2509 or 4009 nozzle to reduce to pressure. What I'm saying is a two man crew with 4gpm machines can wash a deck faster than one man with an 8gpm machine. Part of the reason is the fatigue factor. After a certain point working by yourself, especially with an 8gpm cannon, you naturally start to slow down. And 8gpm coming out in one place makes a heck of a lot of water on the ground. When we do decks, we split up, working opposite each other, so as not to drench each other, and rapidly move around till the deck is done. Because each man only has half the deck to wash, he fatigues less, and moves faster. And many times, we have to connect up to different water spigots on the house, because one can't supply 8gpm. I've used my 5+ gpm trailer mounted rig on decks, and found it to not be as conveniant as the roll around units. Of course I've only washed about 1000 decks, so my experience lacks a little.....:) I'd absolutely love to have an 8gpm rig like you have, for washing concrete, and houses, but I'm just not convinced that I'd want that much flow coming out of one lance for doing decks. Now like Henry said, two guns running off it, that would be ok, but then I'd still have to run off my tank because of water supply issues. I talk to Pierce about every 3-4 weeks, so I will see if he has an opinion on two 4gpm vs. one 8gpm. I guess in addition to everyone having an opinion, there are uses for various kinds of equipment, and whatever a person is comfortable with is what they should stick with.

I don't quote hourly, but if you think of it this way...... I can probably change 3 typical 10 foot boards in an hour. It just depends how the old ones are fastened. A 10 foot cedar 2x6 here is about $15 each, so three will cost me $45, and I will charge $150 for the service, so I'm about in line with the Reedster afterall.

However, Three gallons is nothing in the grand scheme of things. 80x80 is HUGE! Good grief, what would someone need a 6400 s/f deck for? You gotta get some pix of that behemoth!

The homeowner does not necessarily have to have both sides stained. They may not care what the other side looks like. Of course, it's best to explain that the most important purpose of staining a fence is to increase it's longevity, and if one side isn't done, then what's the good? Let me tell you this....a typical 6x8 fence panel is 48 s/f, and being a rough sawn wood, you can expect a coverage rate of 100-125 s/f at the max. So you'll get about 2.5 panels, one side, per gallon of stain. You will also use proportionate amounts of cleaner and brightener. Fences are relatively fast and easy to stain, a pump cart works exceptionally well. An airless can sometimes make too much overspray from too much atomizing. Armed with that info, you need to figure out what you need to charge to make a proper profit. I've heard others mention $5-6 per foot per side, but realistically, the homeowner could almost have a new fence installed for that much money. Seriously, the real labor in fence installation is digging the post holes and cementing the posts in. Hanging the panels is a piece of cake. I have not found one homeowner willing to pay that much to stain a fence. My bottom line is I can't get the rate I'm used to, but I will take them on when asked, because I get a lot of exposure, and usually net other jobs in addition to the fence job.

Dave, Actually, I think the reason there was so many droppings is because of the overhead metal frame structure that supports an awning which covers the deck. Here in Michigan, this style awning is usually removed in the fall, and reinstalled in the spring, and since the frame skeleton was visable with the awning off, well it made conveniant spots for the birds to stop and read the newspaper. I appreciate all the tips, and I'm glad we were able to have a little fun with this.....:)

My deck cleaning rigs are each equipped with two 4gpm portable cold water machines. I find this far more efficient than other ways. There are often times that we can barely draw 8gpm. You will need to tote water if you think you plan on having more rigs. Of course the water doesn't last long at 5+ gpm. Personally, and I base this from experience, I see no need to use 8gpm for one rig to wash a deck. It just creates too much water, and makes the area a swamp. Higher gpm may be good for house washes and concrete cleaning, but not so good for deck washing, especially the railing.