Mountain View

I have customer that I have done some patio cleaning for who has asked for a quote to clean rain gutters and install leaf guards on said gutters. I'm wondering what labor charge any of you would qoute. The house is approx 3k sq. ft., half two story, half single story. I will charge cost for the leaf guards and have a ground man with me for the job. Any help appreciated. Gracias..... P.S. Patio before and after included. Note to self....buy squegee to get rid of persistant puddle on porch! I'm sure all of you eagle eyes can spot it.

Every election since I was 18, except when was living overseas (non-military), just didn't now the issues well enough to make an informed decision. Never registered with a party and never a party line voter (unless it just happend to work out that way).

Eternally hopeful for my beloved Chargers.

I guess you overlooked the part where I said the Dems were no better.

I believe I read a post on here some time back about being trained by Trex and/or other composite deck manufacturers on how to maintain their products for customers. I've searched but can't find the link(s). Anyone else out there certified by composite manufacturers? How the business?

I like the concept. I don't mean to sound stupid but, is that supposed to be a wave crashing? If it is, maybe make it more rounded at the top and enclose more of the text withing the curl. If it's not a wave, I'll just go back to my corner. Looks really good though.

I'm no fan of Al Gore, but this kind of talk accomplishes nothing. Al Gore never said he invented the internet, he said he was partly responsible for bringing the internet into the public domain(along with other members of Congress). He is not the "father" of global warming; an advocate for that point of view but hardly the father. Calling Hilary "Hiltery" and Obama "Osama" doesn't say much for that side of the politcal spectrum either. The Dems are no better wailing on about Bush's intelligence and conservative talk radio. The biggest thing all of us can do is to educate ourselves and vote in the primaries. It seems only the ideological partisans vote in the primaries and we are left with the lesser of two evils in the general election. We get the government we deserve.

Pictures would help but what you have in mind sounds okay.

I've never heard of it. Anything that claims to last for the life of the deck would raise serious alarm bells with me. Edit: I just read the web site. Wouldn't touch the stuff myself.

Strike while the exchange rate is in your favor. If nothing else, you'll get a lot of comments on the setup over there.

Roger, I lived in England for 10 years. My first thought would be the size of the unit. It's a nice setup, but I would be a little concerned about maneuvering it around some of the roads as well as the weight. Does Karcher not have a unit that would meet your needs? Things like coils and other ancillary parts may be an issue too. Just some thoughts.

When ever I've done "paint prep" work on a brick building I use a combination of TSP (three or four cups in a fiver), bleach (gallon in the fiver) and laundry soap or Simple Cherry then down stream it. I've found that the TSP both helps the soap clean and roughs up the surface a little so the new paint sticks better. I'll use the pressure to blow off the flaky paint but the rest of the paint that sticks, I leave it. Good results so far.

I found that out too. I scoop out all I can with a trowel and bucket then low pressure water flush.

This was done with cold water. I used the orange concrete cleaner from Delco. Mixed in a fiver; 3 cups of cleaner powder, 1 gal bleach, the rest water and downstreamed the mixture. Part of the problem with this was a previous contractor stained the pergola over the porch and dripped stain on the floor so I pretreated the stain drips with some stipper solution. The other contractor was not returning the customer's calls to fix the problem. Customer saw signs on my truck and called me. Why oh why do my pictures never come out looking as good as the finished job does??? I have a 7.1mp Cannon Power Shot. I guess photogaphy isn't my forte.

It sounds to me that you handled it just right. I would have done just the same. Doing that bit extra to land a contract is okay, bending over is not. If you allow that attitude to establish itself with them, then you're in for trouble. Unfortunately it will happen. If you set the relationship of "I will do good work but you (they) need to be realistic and I am not your servant and will not (literally) clean up for the fact that YOU have not implemented a proper maintenance plan for YOUR stores" then the boundaries will be set where they should be. Don't EVER fall for the future business ploy! If you show that you are a dependable and quality service provider, then you will be fine. It's way to easy to get caught in a trap. "If you don't respect yourself, don't expect anyone else too"

What are you looking to get for the trailer unit?

That is sad. I wonder how many fly-by-nighters have done work like this all over the country and ended up giving the credible craftsmen a bad name. When you make this right, it may end up being one of the best sales tools you could ever hope for. Get er done ! Edit: Any chance of using those as a "what not to do"? I would, of course, give credit for the pictures being yours.

I think it looks good. One problem I had when I first started was knowing what was old pigment that was left behind and what color in the wood was a result of the caustic stripper. Experience will teach you how to tell the difference. If there is still a trace of pigment in some cracks or crevices of the wood I would say that's ok, it will not show when you put the new sealer on. I'm very shy about over stripping myself. I think most of us on here have had to spot sand on a lot of deck work. For what it's worth, the darker patches look like they're a result of the caustic stripper that neutralizer will take care of.

I have a 20" General Pump floater for a flat surface cleaner. It looks just like a Wisper Wash but grey (private label maybe?). Anyway, during my last job (3800 sq. ft. aggregate driveway) it think a couple of stones got picked up under the cleaner and may have bent one of the arms just enough to cause an annoying vibration. I've turned it upside down and spun it around but can't see where the imbalance is. Is there a techinique to figuring out where the problem is? If I run the cleaner without moving it kinda rocks side to side a little (when I'm moving too). Gracias.

That's a great qoute. My personal favorite is IF by Rudyard Kipling. My wife and daughters had a nice handwritten copy of this put into a frame and gave it to me for a birthday present a couple of years ago. If If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on"; If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

How many of you, even though the customer is happy with your work, drive away from a completed job thinking to yourself, "I could have done (this or that) better"?

For those of you who take credit cards, have you found that the ability to accept this form of payment actually brought you more business? I had a merchant bank call me yesterday (an employee of the bank got one of my post card mailers) and was emphatic that being able to accept credit/debit cards as payment would "drive" business my way. I understand that he is a salesman and is expected to say that, but have any of you found this to be true? I haven't had any customers mention this at all (I take cash or checks). Does having the credit card logos on business forms and advertisements make people any more likely call you?

Outstanding advise everyone. If I do anything, it will be paypal/pc me thinks.

I don't have any major objections against Hillary (no major pros for her either) but I just hate the idea of the Bush and Clinton families having a dynasty in the White House. I'll give anyone 10-1 odds that Jeb will throw his hat in the ring in 2012. My kingdom for a decent candidate!! I'm tired of voting for the lesser evil!!!

He told me over the phone that it is $30/month for sevice and equipment and 15 cent per transaction. He was a little pushy for my taste. Ken makes the point of legitimacy that I was thinking about myself.