Mountain View

Have any of you hooked up with Real Estate Agents to wash houses before they go on the market? Has it been a worthwhile venture? What pitfalls should I be looking out? How do you bill them? Any other experience or opinions on this subject would be appreciated.

What is everyone's pressure washer pump of choice?

After doing wood restoration for several years I had to put my precious Elite Powerwash into hibernation due to work schedule changes in my 'real job'. Wife and I have decided enough is enough when it comes to 'working for the man'. This time next year we should be moved to the Durango, Colorado area where we will build our own house (cabin) and start the business back up as a full time venture. There are the normal painter/landscapers there like anywhere; I dealt with the competition here in Texas and will deal with them in Colorado to. I always marketed to the high end customers and gave a firm price, no haggling. If you want to haggle then go to the flea market. I have always treated wood restoration as a craft and will continue to do so. Knowledge and straight talk to my customers seemed to work for me. Monogramed shirts, clean vehicle and equipment, professional attitude, quality work. As far as I am concerned my name is on every job. There will always be a place for the quality craftsman at a fair price. Let the low-ballers provide a low level of service and quality, I will be there to pick up the pieces and have a satisfied customer. It takes time but it works. Everyone on TGS has been a great help to me over the years!

This is the best advertising for getting a REAL professional to do the work. At least 3000psi? OMG!!!!

A couple of questions for you folks. 1) Do you strip and clean Ipe any different than soft woods? 2) Your prefered product and application techniques for Ipe. Has anyone used Bakers Gray Away or Ready seal on Ipe?

What is the best way to remove relatively fresh stain (less than a week old) from concrete? I've tried stripper at about 4-5 oz/gal, nothing. Xylene, Acetone, nothing. Ran out of Mineral spirits but the little I had seemed to do so-so.

I'm going to look at a Redwood deck tomorrow. Don't have many in Texas so a little help would be appreciated. Questions: Do you use stripper and ox in the same manner you would with other wood (pine, cedar, etc.)? I know it requires special formulation stain; I am a Ready Seal user and I believe RS has a Redwood special stain. Any experience from anyone using RS for Redwood? Any other tips or tricks? Any funky results I should be ready for? I have plenty of experience with pine, cedar, ipe. Thanks for any help.

I would clean and acid rinse the fence. I agree with others when they talk about surface contamination from milling and sitting outside in a yard somewhere before it's installed. For a home owner in this case, a store bought cleaner and brightener will work. If they don't have a pressure washer then a good quality hose nozzle with a fan pattern will do. LOW PRESSURE if they are using a pressure washing. You are only doing it to remove surface dirt.

Any pictures of completed Redwood decks would be much appreciated.

I have seen a similar result with Ipe. A light 'ragging' with mineral spirits worked for me. The wood grain may be so tight and the pre-existing finish may not allow the new stain to go deeper than a millimeter or so (if that much). I am a little curious what caused you worry about stripping the entire deck? By enclosed do you mean a totally enclosed room?

Busy here too. It's started early as well. Fingers crossed. I'm starting my fifth year; it seems like other 'contractors' have fallen by the wayside. I guess they figured there was easier ways to make their beer money.

I use R202 from DCS (Formerly Delco). Mix the powder in a bucket, downstream, let sit, then powerwash off. Great results. Haven't harmed any plants or grass. #R202– Heavy Duty Concrete and White Wall Tire Cleaner Orange to Green 5 lbs.trial –$10.00, 50 lbs. –$85.00, 100 lbs. – $160.00, 500 lbs. – $750.00 This sudsing alkaline powdered detergent is designed to clean heavy grease, soil, oil, and scuff marks from unpainted concrete. Also is an excellent booster for your regular detergent when you need extra cleaning power. USDA Acceptable.*

I will be going out to look at a Redwood deck in a couple of days. Any special issues with Redwood I should be aware of?

All the previous answers are correct. With the right chems and knowledge, your PW will be the tool you use to apply, strip, and rinse. Sit down, get comfortable, and read read read.

I've been using my 5x8 open trailer for 4 years. I have a 4.5 gal 4000 psi Vanguard 16hp key start belt drive with a 30 gal buffer tank. I have a 4gpm 3700psi pull start for a back up or for a helper to use on larger jobs. 200 ft h.p. hose on a reel with another 100ft in the truck if I need it, 100 ft garden hose on another reel. Wands, chems, storage boxes all on the trailer. Nice and compact. Have room to add a hot box if I take out one of the storage boxes but I do wood and residential and haven't yet found a job that I NEED hot water for. If I were to branch into commercial work then that's another story. Trailer is real easy to work with. Back it into my driveway, disconnect from the truck, lift up the trailer tongue and push it back into my garage. Hook up to drive off and back in to in the garage; 5 minutes each.

I've been waiting for a relatively new (a few months old) cedar fence to dry out. I washed it almost two weeks ago and it's still hanging around 16-17 % moisture content. We've had morning dew but no other precipitation. Am I being too stringent about wanting a cedar fence to get to 12% before I stain it? Can this number be a bit higher on a fence and still get good results? The customer is okay with the wait but I'm getting a bit frustrated with checking the thing every couple of days and it's not going below the 16-17% moisture level. P.S. Come to think of it, no other fence I've done has been this new, maybe that's why I haven't run into this slow drying process before.

I think you did a great job! I'm dealing with a Behr stained fence right now. This stuff is awful! How can something that looks so bad and is flaking off still hold on to the wood like it's riveted on there!?! Two hot strips so far and still a few cling-ons. Most definitely like stripping paint. I've laughed with the customer that they are now the proud owners of the "hardest fence to strip" award. Going back in a few days to stain it and try to match with new fence.

Can anyone give me pointers on good thickening agents to add to Sodium Hypochlorite? I have an application idea where I want the NaOCl to adhere to horizontal and vertical surfaces to give it dwell time. Also, would adding thickening agents reduce the effectiveness of the NaOCl? Thanks.

Thanks Ken, I figured you'd be one of the responders to this. I've got an idea and, if it works, I think I can lock up a substantial amount of business.

Can you give us an idea of the square footage of the house (sq. meters even)? I generally charge based on that, usally 12cents per sq. foot of floor space unless there is an excess of obsticals around the house. It's just not practical to measure the outside structure. The verandas and other horizontal surfaces 8-10 cents per sq foot. The gutters would be additional to that. I don't do many gutters so I can't give you a much advise on that but they look like a challenge and I would price accordingly. I have a brother in law who lives on the Gold Coast. Pelican Waters, Caloundra I think. Ex-pat English guy emigrated there about 5 years ago.

Rick, Lots of fences to be sure. It's a shame most people let them go grey, almost black, then replace them but don't stain them. *Sigh*

On the last couple of jobs, when I've been solo, I've used the 9x12 canvas tarps. I drape it over the fence then lift it up and spray under it, move it down the fence and do the same thing. Kind of like spraying under a tent if you will. Makes a HUGE difference to over spray, especially when I'm close to another structure. The tarp is soaked by the end of the job. Each one cost about 11 bucks, just figure it into the cost of the job. I dispose of them at the local Haz Mat depot.

The next afternoon the fence was down to 9%, customer is happy with the results.

Yeah, that Cajun Cowboy still has my logo software!!! Good to hear you're still hanging around Ken!

Adrian.......fingers crossed. I've been doing this for almost four years and this is the first "moisture holding" fence I've had. Ya never stop learning I guess.:)