Neil_Asheville

Dennis. Artillery fungus?

This year I've upgraded from a 5x8 open to a 7x12 enclosed. I like having the room to grow, pro look of a tandem, and getting everything under a roof. The gas mileage...lordy. In a year, though, like Philip Lance and others I'll probably post right back to this same thread saying I need more room! The toughest transition for me has been having to use the MIRRORS to back this thing! Not looking over the right shoulder to go backwards is harder than it should be. Plenty of humbled moments lately.... Pouring rain here this morning...this makes it barely tolerable to put on the office duds and hold meetings all day. Looking forward to the 'day'... Everyone have a super Friday. Cheers,

I've had instances where customers asked about deck rebuild costs vs full restore costs. I came across the following 2005 study conducted by CINTAFOR (Center for International Trade in Forest Products) so I thought I'd share it. http://www.cintrafor.org/RESEARCH_TAB/links/WP/wp98.htm Although this particular study centers around market potential for Alaskan Yellow Cedar, the Study Results section lists avg cost per sqft for AYC and PTP, # of decks built, and avg sizes for west coast vs east coast. Here's an excerpt I'm interested in..."For example, deck builders in the eastern US built more than twice as many decks per year as companies in the western US (126 decks vs. 52) although the average deck size was significantly higher in the west (530 square feet vs. 395 square feet). Despite this, the average construction cost was relatively similar between the regions ($15.04 per square foot in the west vs. $15.90)" The $15.90/sqft sounds high to me to build a PTP deck today in the Southeast? I have no clue. This average may include composites and exotics? /neil

Would someone be kind enough to tell me how to change belts on this machine? I couldn't see how to release tension. I thought maybe the hex nuts on the pump-end pulley came off and the whole pulley assembly slid off the shaft. This one's still got some hours left I just need to pick up a spare and know how 'when' it does blow. Thanks! Tarheels....:lgtear:

Adrian - Here in Asheville we have lots of live music venues, however one truly amazing venue is The Orange Peel. www.theorangepeel.net Friday night Reagan and I saw George Thorogood and The Destroyers. We've been looking forward to this show for months! He's a bad*** legend and just rocks it hard. An unbelievable show! I couldn't believe how good he is live. Hey Jeff...he's in Myrtle Beach tonight at House of Blues! cheers, /neil

I'll throw our new card into the mix. Got them back earlier this week. Too big to attach, so here's the proof URL: http://www.overnightprints.com/?A=viewFile&fileId=pg4415d948d4ac8 I used overnightprints.com for printing only. The heavy 14pt stock, UV gloss on both sides and rounded corners looks sharp. I am impressed with their business. Their thing is quick turntime. If order placed by 3p or 4p PST (can't recall) it's printed that same night and shipped the following morning. These days BZ cards are so inexpensive and easy to upload that they're worth creating for special events or for specialized services or markets. Everyone have a super week! /neil

Adrian / Shane / et al - Sirius Ch 16 The Vault is playing non-stop Gilmour and PF through March 12th. Heard some of the new album just this morning! /neil

I sure did enjoy spending some time yesterday with Jeff. It was one of those drenching rains. Today in MB was COLD...much colder and windier than yesterday. He's the real thing. We all know that, though. Need more Jeff's in this world. I'm surprised he didn't mention his barrel tile experience! cheers, /neil

Great tip, Rod. Thanks! /neil /still learning:) /

Ken. I'm not currently a BBB member, although plan on joining in 2006 for my first full-year in business. In speaking to other members in town that do service-related work, they do receive consistent leads from pre-purchasers calling the BBB or visiting their website. All things equal, I would choose to do business with BBS member, over a non-member. The ability to use the BBB seal on company material is reason enough for me. Merry Christmas to you... /neil

Congratulations Jeff! From what little we all know of you here through TGS, my bet is that you are a wonderful Dad and great partner to your wife. Good luck through the pregnancy. I look forward to meeting you soon. cheers, /neil

Good morning, Ken. I haven't shopped hosts lately. I will though put a plug in for Register.com. I've used them for both email and web for 3+years now...most consistently email. They have been reliable, competitive price, and scalable email/web options as my needs come and go. I usually have several business interests going on at any given time and they have good admin tools that allow you to monitor all your web or POP3 mail accounts or multiple domain names. I spend about $130/yr with $99 of that going towards a 10-user 100MB email package. I don't have any reason to switch to another provider. Hope this helps. /neil

http://www.coress.com

FireWater. If no payments/no interest is your only option, Northern Tool has this same option. http://www.northerntool.com/credit/ You 'do' know about Northern, don't you? I have one here local and that's both a blessing and a curse. Northern has far more machine for your money and 'almost' a one stop shop for your basics. Don't even bother with PW accessories from HD. Hoses, lances, especially GUNS, PPE, quick connects, detergent injectors (my local store carries xjet). Spend your cash on good chems from a LOCAL resource or ones on this board. /neil

DPW, sorry you missed out on your machine. From your tone, it sounds like you got eBay'd! I sure can't 'wait' until I have the extra $1,500 laying around...just doesn't happen. It gets spent real quick and not on fun stuff, either. I just got a Christmas card yesterday from my kids orthodontist. Thanks for that. Decide what you want to have (setup wise)in 3 months, put a price on it, and make it all about saving where you can to work towards this first small goal. Looking forward to seeing your progress! Cheers, /neil

Hey Beth. Our 9 year old son, me and Mrs Thinks She Wears the Pants went to see Gobblet of Fire this past Sunday. For a Harry Potter movie, I thought it was good...better than #3 for sure. Reagan and Sam loved it. The visual effects are great...one very cool scene has a nasty dragon scaling the roof of Hogwarts Castle...very cool. You won't be disappointed at all, it's 1/2hr too long, and I still think Harry is a big wuss. /neil

:lgbow: What did you use to mask the brick and rail while cutting in the edge?

Can someone recommend the appropriate high-flow tip / nozzle for applying a semi-trans oil sealer using a Solo model 430 2gal pump-up? This one was purchased at Northern. http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&productId=200306801&R=200306801 I'll be putting together a shurflo setup very soon. Thanks so much...

I'm liking the squirt bottle of mustard. Random. I now think this is the entire contents of their fridge. YEAH!

Barry - from one newbie to another, it's perfectly ok (and normal) to feel some uncertainty and nervousness when pulling up to start a job. What's more important is that you bring the 100% certainty to the PROSPECT when selling the job, your profession, company, and results. I'm not too far ahead of you, I've done maybe 50 houses total, so am reasonably comfortable with my chems and techniques. My nervousness now tends to come when I'm not satisfied with the degree of clean I get on stubborn stains or generally grimey concrete. Nervous that my client isn't going to be completely satisfied, mostly. The more I do the better I get at setting reasonable expectations upfront with the client...I let them know I do magic, not so much miracles. Concrete, though, I'm finding is a challenge to develop an assorted stock of chems, the tanks/hoses/pumps/wands to apply for most jobs, and an efficient process for pulling it all together. Just this past Sunday I had two driveway/sidewalk/carport pads across the street from one another. The first job I applied an oxalic solution to a very nasty side walkway, let dwell, then cleaned with surfacer. Looked 'ok' while still wet...vast improvement overall. On the second job, went to mix chem and realized my HD-80 was on my shelf...at home. 20 minutes later I'm back, then not thrilled with the outcome. Still shadows from the oil and trans fluid spots. Frustrated? Yes. Did I get paid? Yes. Finished up and went back to check the first job after it dried. PANIC! The side walk looked very uneven clean and chalky white with obvious surface cleaner swirls. I'm thinking "how about a sealer upsell?". Unpacked again, rewashed. What was supposed to be 1.5hrs max was now pushing 3hrs. This newbie understands your nervousness. I heard a funny statement the other day that timid salespeople have skinny kids. Sell yourself and be Bold! It's not like they're going to shoot you. Keep at it...

http://store.yahoo.com/yhst-6302467517443/clpotu.html

Well put, Ken...feel free to move to the front of the class!

My tomorrow morning housewash client owns B&B Tobacconists here in town. He's a new client...I'll see if he'll tip me in Cubans! Life is good.... That is, except for the cost of 12.5% here...just went up to $4.70/g in 6 gallon pails. Yep...that's per GALLON. Caustic has really gone up too. /neil

Teach him to pull hoses and mix chems! I do hope he's hooked by up with his owner, though.

Well shizzle my nizzle!:lgmoneyey Jim, I would have never of known. THANK YOU!...A Prosoco resource 4 miles from my office. I have a place in Seagate. We're down alot. We should fish and/or drink a few next time I'm down now that I'm indebted to you and all... /neil