Aplus

James, I was actually just ribbing ya a little. I knew you wern't talking about an Ipe fence. When you did the new cedar fences, did you wash them first? I always do, to remove any mill glaze. Funny thing is, there is a local fence builder here that offers a staining of the wood before the fence is assembled. He uses TWP, and sprays all the components before assembly. They look really nice done this way, but they don't seems to hold up as well, because the stain really can't penetrate the way it would if the mill glaze was removed. In all my years in this biz, I've only done one redwood deck, and no other fancy wood species. White cedar and pressure treated pine dominate in this part of the country. I have never seen any other wood species in any of the lumber mills or chains, at any price. My observation is that the very high end homes around here don't even bother with wood decks. They go with stamped concrete, and such.

Fortunately, high end woods are usually not found on fences, which is what your question was about. That means you can spray it, or apply with roller and pads. Often you need to employ all the methods mentioned to get a job done. The objective being to get adequate stain on the fence, and none on the house and surroundings.

Going down to Fort Lauderdale first 2-3 weeks of February. In the area of A-1-A & Oakland. Anyone down that way?

There are two ways to lower pressure. The first is to use a dual lance wand. The second is to change nozzles. I use a #9 25 degree nozzle for deck cleaning. It provides about 4 gpm at about 750psi. Here is a nozzle chart. Study it carefully and you will figure out how to use it.

Reed, Why feel guilty? You work your butt off and deserve it! At least that's a good way to convince yourself to spend the money.....;)

I too use a pump up for spraying oil based stains on a fence. I've sprayed a few fences with solid latex, and for those you have to use an airless, the stain is too thick for a pump up. Regarding the Rolls Royce.....The paint is laquer and is sprayed in a dust free room and baked on. Not even the slightest comparision to wood. Regarding the brand of stain to use, it depends a lot on the color you desire. There are only a few brands I use, and the selection is based on the color that I want.

Johnathon, Two stepping can be very dangerous. Hydroflouric acid (HF) which is contained in many products, can be deadly. It is imperitive that you work with a very reputable company when purchasing two step chems. You'll want to get MSDS sheets and understand them. I don not think Extreme's offer to hook you up with a backyard chemist is a wise idea for you at this time. Check with companies like: Delco, Etowah Chemical, Margin Distributors, or maybe even Envirospec. You can search and find their numbers on your own.

The hardest part of making a repair on a hot water rig is determining what is wrong. Unless you have a mechanically inclined mind, it is not necessarily intuitive to figure out what part isn't working. Also, depending on how your rig is setup, it might not be easy to get at everything from the position it is in. I keep all the parts Ron mentioned in each of my trailers. Also, like Rob mentioned, I keep a couple backup cold water machines. I've been thinking about keeping a spare pump on hand. Then, a few bolts and such and you're on your way. You can then rebuild the bad pump at your leisure. I like Cat pumps, but they cost too much to rebuild. Currently I've got General and AR pumps with nothing bad to report.

Now with Windows XP I'm getting 3,106 kbps. Quite an improvement.

I was hoping somebody out here was in that vicinity, who might want to have a cold one!

You need to consider the service issue. If you can handle any/all diagnostics and repairs that may be required, then you can buy from whoever provides the best prices. Don't forget that shipping costs can run 200-400 bucks. When you buy locally, it includes the full service that goes along with the higher price tag. If you can't handle the repairs, then you definitely want to buy a local machine, such as a Landa.

I thought it was Weird Al Yankovic.

Reed, I'm keeping all my hardware, it's still good stuff, although only a 866mhz P3. I build all my own systems, got three on the network in my house. New OS and applications. Oh and I ran the speed test from the site you posted and got 1,437 Kbps. I think that is pretty fast.

I don't make resolutions, per se. At the beginning of every year, I do set personal and business goals that I'd like to accomplish during the upcoming year. Some of them are reached, and some are not, for various reasons. For example, this year I decided to revamp all my computer software, and move into the 21st century. Good bye Windows 98 and Office 97! Even though my current system and software have been rock solid, I knew upgrade time was overdue. It's funny. I spent over 17 years with a large computer info company, supporting a large automaker. Stability was more important than staying current. When you have a network of 300 users running smooth, you don't want to rock the boat. Upgrading anything was a major event. It took weeks to plan and implement any changes. Politics. When I left in April 2002, they were still running Windows 95 & NT4. I loved the computer biz......stayed on top of technology personally as much as I could. I got bored with working on such old technology. The money pool shrank, spending was cut. I decided to leave that industry and pursue power washing. I must have been nuts! So why am I saying all this? The one trait that still sticks with me today is the need for a stabile system, above all. It may as well be a New Years resolution. It's as painful to me as anything to format my hard drives and load all new software to do the exact same tasks as I was doing before. Sure the faster, better. stronger concept sounds promising. Plus, how else am I going to stay current if I don't just DO IT. Being on the business side now, I better understand the importance of not interrupting production. No blips on the radar. Of couse the need for developing and implementing processes of old bubbled up. I temporarily loaded the new software on another machine to verify everything would peacefully co-exist. It did. I have all my data and stuff backed up on CD's. Now I have to live up to my resolution from 2002! Geronimo........................

Oh, and I almost forgot.......the heat from the burner in operation is so intense that I expect the inside of your van will get super hot. Won't be fun to drive home after running your burner for a couple hours....:arg:

Rob, Remember to intake the fresh air from down low, and rid the exhaust high. There are trailer vent kits that employ two kinds of vents. There is a crank out flap style that mounts down low, in a side wall. When the vehicle is moving, the flap is outside which scoops air inwards. A couple crank up, rv style roof vents will keep the air moving nicely. This way, when you're cruising, fresh air will be circulating. I think you're going to find out how bad the fumes and odors are real quickly, especially once it gets really hot out. A buddy of mine is a plumber, and he told me that he got rid of his van for a pickup with a cap because of odors and the noise his supplies made in the back of the van. He's always got lots of pipes and plenty of adhesives, solvents, flux, and all kinds of stuff that smell onboard. The fumes get really strong in my trailers when they're closed up, no matter how neat I am with storage and handling of chems. Engines and fuel systems are vented, and allow fumes to escape when the engines are shut off. When I open my doors after being closed overnight, it smells like a refinery inside. You may need to install a metal partition wall between the cab and rear area and provide active ventilation.

Scott was right. Write down the cards the first time, then look closely at the cards afterwards. All the cards are slightly different. That is a very old trick.

Can you post a picture of the name plates?

BE, Yes I have thought about it. I was thinking something about the size of a business card would be just about right. However, I haven't come across anything that strikes me as being right. Brass would tarnish, I thought briefly about something like the material used for making name plates in offices, but that might look cheesy. Does anyone have any ideas about the materials etc.. for making advertising nameplates for a deck?

Let me share a little secret about Shurflo pumps.....Buy it from Northern tool, and for an extra $7 they will give you a full two year warranty! Not bad eh? Actually, the only problem I've ever had is the pressure switch failing. You can temporarily bypass the pressure switch to finish up the job, but be careful because the pump will keep pumping and could blow the hose or the fittings loose, and spray the chems all over, at a fairly high pressure. I keep a whole spare pump in each trailer, because it is easier/faster to change a pump than it is to change the pressure switch, at least when you're on the jobsite. The problem is that replacement pressure switches cost over half as much as a complete brand new pump. BE, I've though about adding a hose reel, but I think it might just add more weight than it's worth. Notice how I just wrap the hose around the cart. It's fast, easy, and doesn't add any weight. Thanks for the compliments on the decks. Actually, decks are my specialty, and I take great pride in doing each and every one as best as it can be done. I have personally restored more than 600 decks over the years, and have never given less than my all on each and every one.

Michael, Best wishes for your future endeavors, and a hearty thank you for all the info you have shared. If you get the chance, drop back by and let us know how things are going. Cheers....................

What I have done in the past is to remove a critical fuse. There is often an access panel near the door hinge area, or below the steering column. Just pop out a fuse for the fuel pump, or starter, or whatever you see that will prevent the truck from running, and put the fuse in your pocket. Of course, most don't expect their truck to be stolen right out of their driveway, but that's often the most likely place for it to happen! Thieves suck!

BE, The hose you see in my pic is Good Year air hose. I bought it from a Harbour Freight store, and it was a higher priced hose. It has held up very well, and rolls up fine in moderately cold weather. I've never used it during weather below, maybe 40 degrees, so I can't say how it would behave then. I use red or orange hose for my chem line so I can readily distinguish it from high pressure hose, since both are 3/8". When too many hoses are on the ground they can tangle up like a pile of wet snakes. You can see an extra pump mounting plate I have prepared on it to accept a second pump, so two of us can spray at the same time. That comes in handy on big decks, or on super hot days when the chems evaporate and dry so quickly. I used a large deep cycle battery for that reason, so I have plenty of capacity. A potential of four hoses on the ground means I need to know at a glance which is which. I looked over at HD and Lowes to check out their 3/8 hose offerings, and the air hose just seemed to fit the bill. I mainly spray HD-80 and citric acid through it, and there is not any apparent damage after two very busy seasons. Hope this helps.

For deck work, I prefer my portable sureflow setup. The reasons are simple.....I can adjust my chems exactly how I need them for each deck. There is a six gallon pail attached in the photo. Many times I have to mix up more than one pail. I use portable cold water units for decks, and it's not big deal for me to move my cart assembly. I would however, like a permanent mounted setup in my trailer with the hot water skid. Since everything else is on reels, it would be conveniant to have chemical application that way also. I would still mix my chems as needed for each job because I feel it's safer to transport around granuals and powders in separate sealed containers, rather than liquids than are more prone to spills and gaseous fume issues.

Welcome aboard Aaron! One thing you will notice about this board is a sincere effort to be kind and patient with everybody. We'll do our best to help.