kevinw

Daniel, We found out that there is more to it than we thought when we started. Getting the right system is the key, and the good systems ain't cheap...unfortunately. We've had pretty good luck with it...the bottom line is to use no more pressure than is absolutely necessary to get the old coating off, use the right media. Dryers in the line take care of the moisture problem, but you usually have to make sure you have 2 - 3 dryers and a condenser to dry the media. It's a dirty job, but it pays pretty well and the customers are happy. Kevin

I don't know about the system this guy is using, from the distance he's staying off of the wood it looks like he's running way too much pressure and probably damaging the wood...as Ken says. However, we use media blasting quite a bit on painted decks. Does a great job and the customers seem to love it. Getting the right system and using the right media makes a big difference. Kevin

Ken, Sorry to hear about it, and welcome to the club. I've had 2 out of 4 trucks hit in the last 2 weeks...not injuries though! Take care of the head and the ribs...the ribs are gonna hurt for a while...but only when you laugh, or breathe, or move, or stand up, or sit down, or lay down, or cough, or sneeze, or pass wind. Other than that, you'll hardly notice it. Take care of yourself!

Jeff, Actually, I believe that may have been the longest post you've written! LOL You know, there really isn't anything new there, though. Pretty much the same arguments you've made before. I guess I'm to the point of saying when do we move on? When do we quit re-hashing the motive for the war, whether Rumsfeld should have been fired earlier? If you want to be right, and it will allow us to move forward...be right! Let's move on! Do you believe that it makes any difference? As I stated earlier, we are where we are. Now Congress has presented a bill for military funding that is loaded with pork...loaded! They knew it would be vetoed when they sent it to the Whitehouse...but they wasted time and money to do it anyway. I don't care if they Dems or Reps...that is ludicrous. Can you imagine the response from the military? How would you feel to find out that Congress is playing games while you're watching your funding run out? They spent weeks trying to pass a bill that was nothing more than a commentary on the war...it meant nothing! But they spent millions of our tax dollars on it anyway. Instead of getting busy and taking decisive action, they're jacking around with politics. I don't care what pary they're in, or what color they are...they need to quit playing games and take care of business. If you're a historian, then you are seeing history repeat itself...this is exactly the way Congress played out Viet Nam! When we needed them to step up, they started playing politics. If you can't tell, I'm very tired of the politics. I read Nancy Pelosi's comments about the stock market and the economy yesterday, and couldn't beleve what I was reading. If her comments reflect her understanding of the economy, we're in big trouble. Rod, Not trying to pick a fight, but I take exception to your characterization of the military as mindless robots that are programmed to obey order and think in the box. I can only assume that you don't know many folks in the military. Let me give you an example. My son was on an FTX recently, his platoon went through the scheduled excercise and aced it...they were the only platoon that suppressed the hostiles without taking casualties. As a result, he had an opportunity to discuss their operating orders in Iraq with the sr. officers and advised that he felt those orders would get men killed. They asked him to re-write the orders. Another example, a platoon that was going through JRTC was put in a no-win situation to assess how they would respond. If you're not familiar with JRTC, you don't win their...JRTC is organized to show you how bad it can be in Iraq. This platoon, led by a Corporal, thought "outside the box", took action and was recognized for creative thinking. I doubt that I will persuade you, but I recommend you take a look into some of the reports from Iraq that detail day to day activites. These guys are "out of the box" everyday, and it's working. Don't listen to media, get on some of the blogs and check it out. You might be surprised at what you find. Kevin

I appreciate your opinion, Rod. I guess I don't see it in those terms. I'm not trying to tell anyone how to interpret the information, but I thought he gave a pretty impartial assessment. Interestingly, he's not a politician...from what I know of him, he's a pure soldier with no axe to grind. I thought he provided a good assessment of the current situation and what must happen for this to have a decent chance of success. I haven't seen that kind of objectivity anywhere else. I don't agree that war is about money, but I understand your opinion. However, I also understand that there is an economic impact to war and there are those who profit from war. I'm not sure that I can come to the conclusion that makes them bad or good anymore than I can conclude that about myself. I make my living off of people who need maintenance for deck...does that make me an opportunist? I do get a little sideways when I see some of the postings that keep going back to the same old pre-election rhetoric, regardless of contextual accuracy or any other form of accuracy. There have been a lot of postings on this thread that just keep dredging up the same old generalities, even if they're inaccurate. Wars aren't simple, and it's deceptive to make simple conclusions about them. For example...should we have taken Bin Laden in Afghanistan? Yes. Should Clinton have taken him out when he was offered multiple opportunities? Yes. Who is more wrong...Bush or Clinton? Do we blame Clinton for what happened or Bush? Should Bush have fired Rumsfeld earlier? Yes. But if Clinton had taken Bin Laden out, we wouldn't need to ask that question...so who's fault is it...Clinton or Bush? I'm not trying to start another debate, my point is that it's not always a straight line or a simple conclusion. We are where we are. We can keep pointing fingers and second guessing, or we can plan the best course forward and get on with it. As the parent of a soldier, I am glad to see that the plan is showing measurable signs of improvement. That means my son will be at less risk in Iraq. Due to my beliefs and convictions, I don't believe we can simply walk away and leave those people to their own devices knowing full well that it will result in the deaths of thousands more. There was an interesting note in Gen. McCaffery's report, re-enlistment rates are at an all time high. What that tells me is that our soldiers believe in what they are doing. I know a lot of these guys that are re-enlisting. I find it interesting that they believe in what they are doing...even in the face of the debates that rage on here.

I thought some of you might find this interesting. There is obviously a lot of strong emotion on this on both sides. The attachment is an after action assessment from Gen. Barry McCaffery (Ret.). If you remember the first Gulf War, you probably remember him...he was all over the briefings. Whether you like him, or don't, he's a straight up guy that tells it like it is. He doesn't sugar coat the present situation, he gives an accurate description of our current political environment, and he describes a hopeful solution in Iraq. Read it all the way through, very interesting. AARMcCaffreyIraq032607.pdf

We provide media blasting services in the Atlanta area. I saw your post and thought I'd give you some hints. Depending on the condition of your car, soda blasting may go a little slow and you could wind up using more soda that you had planned on. Look into a media called Super K, it's slightly more abrasive than soda but won't scratch the metal. It's all we use on auto restoration. You can rent pots that will get the job done, but make sure you get one with pressure and media controls. Makes an incredible difference in how quickly the job goes and the amount of media required. Be sure to use a unit with a cooler and at least two condensers, otherwise you'll be fighting with the system to get the job done. Good luck!

I've got a lot of experience with it. It is permanent, but knocking it down and rebuilding isn't necessary. Clean the deck the way you normally would...I recommend HD 80 from Russell. SealMaxx is IN the wood, not on it. You can't get it out of the wood, but the surface is still workable. Clean it and neutralize it. Then apply a stain that doesn't penetrate very deeply, you will probably have to go with a water based stain. If you try to use an oil based stain, it will try to penetrate deeper than SealMaxx will let it penetrate, which will result in pooling of the stain and lots of work to make it look even. You'll have better luck with a water-based stain, apply lighter coats and let it dry between coats. Should work fine.

I use a lead with a helper. Lead is responsible for getting there, setting up, getting the job done, taking care of the customer, etc. Helper sets up, fills the tank, covers shrubs, handling overspray, etc. We run 2 gun rigs, the helper is on a gun too. I'd rather run the company, handle the problems, deal with advertising...etc. That way I can grow the company while the crew is responsible to "git 'er done". Works well for me.

A little advice...if you take this work, make sure you disclaim any damage period. You're working on irreplaceable stones, and anything that damages them will come back on you. Be careful using Eco's products...they turn some surfaces darker. Lastly, do not touch anything that is marble...soft stone that will damage easily. Many of the older stones where you'll notice the engraving is gone is marble...any pressure will only make it worse. Take a long look at the liability on this one before you dive in. kevinw

My favorite deposits are the ones that go in my bank account!

"There are no promises, agreements nor understandings not expressed in this proposal, and this writing constitutes the entire agreement. All agreements are contingent upon strikes, accidents, or other causes beyond our control, and are subject to approval and acceptance by the company. If this is a credit transaction, credit documents will contain information as to scheduled payments and interest rates in case of legal action. Owner agrees to pay all attorneys fees and and cost of collection. This message applies to door to door sales only. You, the purchaser, may cancel this agreement any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of this transaction. Purchaser understands that if this agreement is canceled after the rescission period, that the purchaser is liable for twenty five percent (25%) of the total sales price as damages to the Contractor. This is not an "Estimate", this is a legal binding contract.

This is a great thread...it's great to see how different folks fun their biz, and why. Just a quick example...recently had granite counter tops installed in my home and the terms were cash up front. Their logic was that the granite was cut to fit and couldn't be used anywhere else...cash up front. I didn't like it, but if I wanted the counter tops that's the way it was going to be. We always get a deposit...always. I have a 30 day back log right now, and we're focused on schedules. Before we took deposits we had a couple of customers that waited until we pulled up in front of their house to let us know they'd changed their mind...or this wasn't going to be a good day...or whatever. We lost a day of production. Couldn't go to another job because they weren't ready for us. I have run into instances where the customer wasn't happy with the job, and never intended to be happy, so he didn't want to pay. Kinda like taking your shirt back to the store...but you have to have a reason or you don't get a refund. Perfect reason...it's the wrong color. We went back to Mr. "Not Satisfied"'s deck 5 times...he pulled the wrong color...we showed him that it was the color he chose and signed off on...but we re-stained anyway...this board doesn't look right...replaced it...too many knotholes (they were already there!)...replaced it. Bottom line, we had to take him to court to get paid. Now we take deposits. When the customer wants to know why, we tell them the deposit gets them a spot on the calendar. No deposit, no spot. If they cancel, the penalty is 25% of the contract price. We haven't had a problem with it. If they want to know why...it's company policy to deal with cancellations. If they say, "we won't cancel"...we say "that's what the other guy said too." It works.

Scary timing on this thread! I just signed up last night. My BS account runs around $350/mo, Vonage is $50? I checked them out with several friends and they love it. I'll give it a try. Kevin Whitley Advanced DuraLast 770-888-7927

The war is taking too long. The price is higher than U.S. citizens were led to believe. Too many U.S. soldiers are dying. Congress is divided over the war. Democrats are using the the war to campaign. The nation was led to believe the war would be over in a few months...now it's years. The "Plan" that would win the war did not work. The U.S. is tired of the war, the cost is too high. The U.S. wants it to be over, wants our soldiers out. Congress threatens to pull funding to the troops. The nation and Congress want an exit strategy. Sound like the Iraq war? It's not! That describes the sentiment of the U.S. about 200 years ago during the Civil War. If the president (Lincoln) had listened to the "popular sentiment" at that time, if the Democrats had persuaded him to take their suggestion...the U.S. would have made peace with the Confederacy and the issue of slavery would have been set aside for another day. Thankfully we have leaders with the strength of their convictions. Freedom, suffrage...and every other right we have in this country came at a great price. Why would we expect it to come at a lower price or be more convenient anywhere else? Is it our problem? No...it's our responsibility. As for our new Congress...last week a "peace demonstration" was held on the steps of the U.S. Capital. The new Speaker of the House order Capital Security to stand aside and make no arrests as these demonstrators defaced the capital by spray painting the steps. Defacing public property is a crime. If I went to the Capital and voiced my right of free speech and decided to do a little painting for the right of the unborn child, or prayer in school, or the right to say the pledge of allegiance, or against burning the flag by illegal immigrants, or posting the 10 commandments in the courthouse....do you believe Nancy P. would tell the police to stand aside?