steven

maybe you and your team should hire an estimator. I mean if you cant figure out how to make money in something that you specialize in then maybe a pro is in order. at least until they teach you how to.

Hence the " way more work than I anticipated " clause. lol I have no idea what I was thinking when I bid that job. I have been doing decks for three years and keep my time frame in place 99 percent of the time. Square foot or hourly it all comes down to how long it takes to do something. I am sure you have your system down pat and rarely go over your estimated price.

But what happens when you go over the time frame allowed for your square foot price?

I need to put in some kind of " way more work than i anticipated " clause. I finished the deck but was waaaay over the time frame. 22 hours over to be exact. That really bit into my profit margine.

Here we go. Just finished the deck. Live and learn. I was on this deck for a while. came out nice though.

wheres the before pics? I am assuming that this is the finished product.

I look into it

http://m.dumondchemicals.com/videos.html. take a look at the video tell me what you think.

searching hi and low for oxalic because my regular supplier is out and couldn't find it at the right price. I ended up paying $130 delivered for 50 pounds waaay to much for me.. then I found this place. forgive my ignorance but this is just as good as oxalic? http://www.bulkapothecary.com/raw-ingredients/other-ingredients-and-chemicals/citric-acid/

Soap goods is where I usually get it. Benn buying there for years. But they are out of stock.

The peel away product is good for the vertical. It is a paste form and after you apply it you put some paper over it And let it sit for 24 to 36 hours. I watched a video of them using it on a wall and if it works as good as the video then yahoo.

I was peed off today, i had to buy 7 - 12 ounce jars today. $6.50 PER

20 bucks shipping, I think i am going to buy a bag now.

Yes I am going to strip the TOP rails, I ordered five gallons of peel away 1 and hope that will work, I should. I did a test spot on the floor with some boosted s hydroxide and it came of ok. so my plan is, strip the top hand rails with the peel away 1, strip the deck boards with the boosted hydroxide. Oil both hand rails and deck boards with a darker color Paint everything else white to match the trim. forgive my editing skills but I am aiming for something like the picture.

Hello everyone tis the season and here we go starting off with a good one. Please take a look at the pictures and give me some suggestions. No idea what brand of product is on there. just know that its not oil. I was going to pass on this but then I thought why? If I am to expand my horizons and try and really restore decks, there are plenty like this. And by doing these Oil can not be my only option my thoughts where to sand the floor as best I can with my machine and then add another product.. thinking latex is out. not interested in the restore products, so that leaves acrylic. anyone got any ideas?

So my wife likes the county/repurposed look. I have noticed it in dozens of magazines and decided to give it a shot. here are a couple of very simple to make tables that I did. the wide wood is 150 y/ from a blacksmith shop and the thin green wood is cedar from a larger farmhouse deck.

the pictures do not do the tables justice. I have given the tops a couple more coats of poly so they look better than the pics.

you are doing just fine, look one job and you already know 25% what you need to fix to do another one, LOL A dedicated 12 volt pump will help with the application of all mixes. you can build your own or buy a ready built one from any distributor

Just a couple of pics of a project I am working on, this was some really old shakes that needed two fat coats of amber. you can see on the front where i left off on the second coat.

Thanks guys, Of all the picture I took I didn't take one of the view. here is the best shot I got you might be able to see some of it,The view is phenomenal,. Mount Washington is dead ahead. so of course the deck had to be spot on.

I swung over to the house today to get some after pictures and here is the end result

A person can drive themselves crazy worrying if they got a good deal. Some will say it is a good deal and some will say it is a bad deal, All that matters is that you are happy with it. And if that's the case then it doesn't matter what anyone says.

Take some LA awesome and add some blue food coloring and you have a new gutter cleaning product. Only 1.25 a gallon

Rick, That tree was huge. To bad it wasn't hardwood they are getting $300 a cord. I have been in this area for about twelve years. Population 3500. My market up here is a tough one. I have to travel 20 to 40 miles for about 50% of my work. I love it though, I probably do 1/8th of what most southern power washers do yearly ( mostly cuz I want it that way and I charge way to much) and I am happy. That farm with the beef cattle is owned by my wife's uncle. She, the misses, grew up there. milking cows when she was young. Talk about working your property. Uncle David is out there every day doing something with his property. it is a true never ending chore. We have just under two acres here but they have 375 acres across the street.

Rick, I agree it is worth the trade off of the big city. here are my neighbors, the best thing about them is that they keep their lawn moooed. HAHAHAHAHAHAH