Neil_Asheville

Ken : pig Neil : nextinline :)

Hannah rocks!

Great work, Paul! That cypress finished real nice. That's alot of dudes with brushes in hand ;) /neil

Good morning, Gang! Reagan and I are selling our home and moving to a better layout for our two home-based biz's. We’d like to be through the buying, selling, and moving by end of May. Big party at the Spencer’s new dig planned soon after, so come on up! J Yesterday I had a customer tell me about a flat-fee discount realty company he had just used to sell his home. Carolina Discount Realty, http://www.carolinadiscountrealty.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=35 This $495 flat fee MLS listing concept makes sense to me. What makes more sense is saving the listing agent's 3% on what’s typically an internet home search by the buyer and/or active work on the buyer’s agent side. The fee includes a comp market analysis, 12 pictures, writeup of the property and the MLS listing. Any thoughts on this type of service? My main concern would be keeping the deal together on the contract end. I've bought/sold two homes now and this is the value the listing agent brings. However, $10G+ in savings is my incentive. Thanks! /neil

Obviously:stupid: on the real estate end. We make quick decisions on things we're good at, but tend to want as much feedback as possible on issues of which we're clueless! BBS's are a powerful collective. Good luck, Jason, on selling your place. No doubt you will have that sweet log pad soon. Let me know when you're ready to finish it and I'll gladly come lend a hand. Sounds like a sweet one for the portfolio! Log homes need a lot of love (ahemm...high maintenance) but you know that going in. We downsized in a big way 2yrs ago. Built a way too big custom home in 2001 that extended me a bit much. Made great money on it in 2004 and chose a much smaller spec vinyl neighborhood gig, mainly for our 10year old. I'm confident we can net 100K in the upcoming sale of this one. Not bad for 2yrs in today's market. I need to refi anyway out of the 7-year ARM I'm currently in. My ideal home is one level under 3,000sf, 3 seperate 'master suites', flat lot about 15 acres, mixed rock and hardiboard siding/foundation, vinyl soffits / facia, ipe deck. No staining for me at HOME! Let that ipe deck patina, I say. Low to no maintenance is where I'm at now. As long as we're dreaming here, I want a 2,000sf detached heated shop for the stuff. In the corner of the shop I'll have the 'lounge' with some old couches, beer fridge, fly-tying bench, and the pot belly wood stove. No intercom to the house, either;) Then there's the seperate refurbished barn that's been converted into our dance hall and party room. See a theme here!?! I should get started on the invitations, huh. Gotta run... / neil

Good stuff, Barry. And thanks to Mrs.M. I certainly don't have the time. That should answer all my questions, right there. What I need to do is contact some previous clients that have used this type of service and get their feedback. I know nothing about realtors and the work they do. I'm sure your wife earns hers. Thanks again, Barry. /neil

Would anyone know approx total water used for an average 2,500sf vinyl housewash? No flatwork. I have a 5.5gpm machine if that gives you something to compare to your findings. thanks, /neil

You guys are alright! Thanks.

Well, I haven't come over to the Club House in a bit, so I thought I'd share a couple of my more interesting happenings from '06. I hope that only by sharing these that anyone new or old in this business realizes just how close we can be to losing our livelihoods. My main fulltime right-hand man had a ladder slip out from under him on 12/21. He was 10' up on an extension ladder masking a second story window in prep for staining. The ladder feet shifted in mulch, hit a wet stamped concrete walkway and down he came. I was around the other side of the house at the time. He completely destroyed his lower tib/fib and ankle. An ambulance ride, six days in the hospital, 2 surgeries, plates, screws, an external fixation device, and $42,000 in medical bills later...he 'might' be able to return to work in May. My work comp picked up from dollar one and has helped me through my first W/C incident. If you don't have it, understand what liability you are taking upon yourself. I'd be out of business without it, period. My insurance agent shared with me her recollection of that day in her office me *****ing up and down about the premiums. That premium looks pretty cheap to me today. To add to that, as the ladder was coming down the wall it came across the kitchen sink window (that the homeowner was stading at!) and could have easily busted through, thankfully it didn't. There were ladder boot scuffs down the height of the entire window. Had there not been boots on the ends, bigger mess. Window replacement ain't cheap. I could have had a G/L disaster on top of the W/C mess. Let your mind think now for second on how quickly things can go bad real quick like. No fault on this next one except MINE! My enclosed trailer was parked overnight in my driveway. Air temps down to 25 or so that night, so I plugged in the ceramic heater set at 35degrees. Next morning I come out the front door of the house and smell something burning. Think nothing much of it. Opening my side door on the trailer and I literally almost threw up. The smell of burnt plastic and rancid smoke and a black greasy film coated EVERYTHING inside. I had a 6gal pail filled 1/3 with diluted degreaser for stain and spirit soiled rags, but bucket was nearly full with rags. Never imagined a spontaneous combustion in an enclosed trailer on a cold night. The 6'er was sitting on top of my parts caddy box thing and on my water tank, thank God. Check out the nasty picture attached! Luckily, the water in the bottom of the bucket prevented it from completely igniting. Water tank now has a permanent reminder melted into the top to watch what the hell we're doing when tired and ready to head to the house. I only lost the bucket and about $6 in pvc fittings. So, friends, don't let an employees mistake cost you your entire business OR be a dumbass like me and almost burn down your rig! Other than that...'06 was a KILLER year! cheers, /neil

Hey John. Can you explain what result you are after when xjetting stripper 30ft on a cedar house? I'm assuming this is your diluted apply and rinse off cleaner for your maintenance washes. Thanks! /neil

Can anyone offer up personal experience on cost per use, powder versus liquid ease, and cleaning comparisons of both chems? M5'd last year so you know what that entails with mixing buckets from concentrate prior to each job. I'm thinking about adding a 20gal soap tank, 20 gal SH tank, along with current supply tank for DS'ing. Last year I xjetted M5 all my houses using Citracleen purchased in 55gal drum kits. This year, new 5.5gpm machine and downstreaming...i'll give DS'ing a shot...I have a feeling I'll be putting the M5 on the shelf. Citracleen is a fantastic product, and may stick with it. This year, though, will be all about cost containment of chemicals and disposables. thanks in advance... /neil

Hey Mike. I've got some simple cherry ordered, just curious. Hell, I might even fill a Citracleen 5'er with some Apple Blossom Special :) That ain't urnges in that thar pail...dems apples! /neil

Wesley. 11a to 5p these days. It sure ain't optimal, but I'm 'eating when it's served' as they say. The windchill is the kicker up here. I'm always on Weather Channel's hourly weather graph that shows windchill and hourly temps for the following days. I'll plan on opening up the trailer about half hour prior to 40 degrees. If I was housewashing I'd bone up and get it done at 35, not 40. I washed a house last week at 40 air temp with 15 degree wind chill...waaaaay too cold. I was essentially making artificial snow! Start times remain the same. 6:30a coffee in the office...never a shortage of office time, regardless of temps. Hope all's well in GA, Wesley. cheers, /neil

Right on, Bill. Haven't seen it but my 11 year old says it's better than Mission Impossible 3. MI-3 was killer! /neil

I didn't realize I got the house reflection in the 'after' one until uploaded from camera. Maybe this will be the 'money shot' as Fife says:) /neil

I now have a few after stain shots in this sequence. I'm biased, but I think it turned out pretty cool. Had a huge setback last week when my awesome fulltimer had a ladder slip out from under him and he completely destroyed his tib/fib and ankle. 2 surgeries and 6 days in the hospital now I'm not thinking workcomp rates are so expensive. He'll begin to walk under weight again in 3 months. That sucks big. Having a very tough time finding Alaskan white cedar for rail cap replacement so the deck rails and balcony rails/caps aren't yet completed. Decided with client that all caps will now come up and be replaced with WRC. Bustin' the power tools out in January....love it. What I love more than anything right now is I'm leaving 8am for a bowhunt, fish, eat, drink, nothing to resemble work trip to Creighton Island, GA for a WEEK! Here's to last post (or two) in 2006. Thank you all! cheers, /neil

Good morning. I'm curious if anyone has one of these cold portable machines from Bob: http://www.pressuretek.com/bedr55gpm35p.html Gotta do something here within the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to having 5.5gpm+. In my experience, 8gpm would run me into supply issues far too often. Any feedback from personal use or opinions welcomed! cheers, /neil

Maybe NADRA will endorse Black and Decker next.

This side by side came out cool looking across the lake (no fish). Alright...that's all I got. /neil

There were a few tough moves, but nothing the 40'er can't handle. /neil

Here are a few of the other side. Actually, the first shot you'll see the hot HD80 working it's magic on the right side of the house. Black is gooood. We like Black. /neil

Happy holidays everyone! Man, have we been blessed with warmer than usual temps this December. Thank God with this project near completion. Had a report card meeting today with the homeowners and they are over ecstatic with the results so far, with our thoroughness in attending to all the details involved in a project this size, and now see firsthand the craft we all call wood restoration. The referral to the homeowners came from The Perfecto Trifecta...the architect, the builder, and the interior painter all pointing at me. I'm doing something right here. History on the house: Timberpeg all cedar board and batten, 6 years old, Sikkens applied when built. Story goes down hill from here….enter painter. 2 years ago painter applied SW 100% acrylic Woodscapes over failing Sikkens with heavy mildew. Result after two years was multi colored, splotchy, and again heavily mildewed. Not only did this painter fail on the process and product choice for the siding, he applied a marine spar varnish to the gorgeous Douglas Fir exterior beams for which these Timberpeg homes are coveted. Cracked and peeled after one year. It gets worse…the painter convinced the homeowners to put a SOLID ACRYLIC on the deck and rail caps. Scope of work included complete strip of all exterior wood, caulk/seal leaks, repair trim and carpenter bee holes, rot replacement as necessary, and stain. Rail caps were stripped, sanded and now looking just killer ready for stain. Options for the deck flooring will be addressed in the spring. We’ve used 20# of HD80, 1 gal of HangTime, and 20# of Citralic at a total cost per square foot of around 5.5 cents….thank you ESI. We had 3 entrance doors to replace 1x4 cedar trim and ~70ft of Alaskan white cedar 2x6 railcap rot replacement. One more day of masking and we’ll begin staining Friday. Maybe I can get a waiver from Russell and slide a few completed shots in next week. We’ll be applying a 50/50 blend of WoodTux and WoodRich. No surprises so far, job was bid correctly, and should prove to be a pivotal project for My Curb Appeal, Inc. Sorry I don't have any stained shots yet. These photos are either before work was starterd or now stripped and dry...no in process shots. I do love this business. /neil ps...hey Jarrod, we'd be at the bank already if I had that 8gpm, right!

Bob's support isn't at all in question. It's the 5.5 vs the 8. Jarrod practically jumped through the phone tonight and headlocked me with those big pipes of his to get the 8. He mentioned if supply was an issue with the 8 I could simply put in a smaller orifice tip (say 4.5) for a few minutes while supply catches up. I've always understood that a pump will supply it's gpm regardless of orifice? Jarrod, you're propably right. If supply isn't keeping up, putting in a 4.5 or whatever tip sounds like an easy solution on the jobs with supply issues. Wouldn't a 4.5 tip then result in a psi way to high for wood? I run a 50g float tank, enclosed trailer with one cold portable machine that stays on the rig 99% of the time. I'm considering the 5.5 also so I can add second set of reels, run my current 2400/4 as a second machine when needed. Now I'm back at the supply issue again with a combined 9gpm. Manueverability and weight are important when we're up on a ladder stripping a cedar house. One arming soffits is tough enough now at the end of the day....8gpms i imagine would be considerably harder, albeit faster. Still have a few days before I need to 'pull tha triggah'... /neil

JeffL and JeffR....hey to BOTH of you! JeffL, let's talk next week. I'll be calling you. Here's a peek at the current project. I'm very satisfied how this one's cleaning up. I'll try to get more up early in the week. Heading out of town for family stuff today. cheers, /neil

Sup, Jeff! Sorry I missed you on your trip up here. Was looking forward to it. I'm TRYING like hell to make my January a NO WORK month! I mainly target larger multi-day projects, so hourlies are me+one FT employee. What I like about these larger wood projects is that I can park the trailer on site and stay put for a week+ with consistent billable hours. Current project we're 110 man hrs into what will end up being a 250 man hour project. This week we were 9-6 everyday, so 90 man hours. The weather up here this week is just nuts...65 and calm. 9am it's atleast 38 and by 6 we're packing up in the dark. I don't really take breaks (other than on the phone) but my employee takes a few smokes and shoves a quick sandwich down at lunch. I calculate and project the per hour targets going into my projects, so I know the thresholds and work like hell to finish under them. I can't imagine doing 2-3 decks a day (one crew) like some of the other outfits on here do. I just don't see how it's done given my known production rates. I prefer to bid high, work at a comfortable pace and miss nothing. My customers tell me I don't miss anything. I love this business.... /neil