NAPWO

What wood was it? Cedar perhaps? If so Cedar can present some particular challenges.

Sodium Hydroxide based strippers are used to remove oil-based finishes. If you use Bleach (sodium hypochlorite), being that it is a caustic, it too will pull out oil-based sealers, though not as effectively as Sodium Hydroxide. When removing water-based finishes, acylics, or other finishes, sodium hydroxide-based cleaners are not effective. There are many different strippers available and there is most deffinetly products available to remove any finish. For the non-oil-based finishes, these strippers can get more costly, hazardous, and time consuming. Yet they do work and will make the removal easier than not using them. Your supplier should be able to give you choices for the specific job you are doing. They should also be able to help you understand exactly how to use them for best result. If you need any help in this area please feel free to contact us.

I would not expect Gutter Zap to stain concrete unless it was painted or stainedand it was spilled on it being really strong. Or it cleaned it, but if you care to contact me and give me more details, I would be happy to help you more. I can be reached at the below listed contact info.

There is a hose called Insta Grip made by Goodyear. It is made as a bypass hose designed to be used with push-on fittings ( they have bigger ribs to grab the hose better than a regular hose barb). Should run about $3 bucks a foot from most suppiers.

Ready Seal has a high solids count

John, I have had the pleasure of watching you grow your business over the years and meeting you in person several times. Always enjoyed your enthusaism and gusto you have had for this industry. I am thankful for all YOU have done and applaude your desire to do as you see right. You never struck me as one to be harmful; only eager to be part of something you seemed to love. While you have often been in the middle of much debate, I truely believe your intentions have always been honorable. I know you and your beautiful wife deserve some quality time together, so getting off these boards should allow that. I know you won't be completely gone because this stuff is in your blood. Thank you for All of your efforts over the years. I am sure it wll be hard to replace your dedication that is needed to moderate these boards!

The WW Classic is rated from 4 to 10 GPM so it will work well for you. Like stated, it is light, only 20 lbs, so the flow may lend to a bit more lift...You will normally run the WW with 4.5 nozzles when running 8 GPM @ 3000 PSI, so you may find larger nozzle sizes really helpful. With all the flow, you shouldn't need so much pressure if you get the chems working correctly.

I heard this rumor recently. Do not know if it is true or not.

I don't remember just when I signed in but I know I have been here from the start.

often deck board are cut with older blades at the mill which can result in what is know as "mill glaze". This closes the pores of the wood and provides a barrier against proper penatration of the stain. Simplest answer to your customer is, we clean and seal using best techniques for best results!

The wood care side of this biz does take a special breed. It takes time to complete; there is much to know to be good; delays can delay payments; etc... This is a specialized job (if great results are desired!). Let's also not forget IT IS WORK. With all the technology out there it's no wonder the true craftsman is fading away. Younger folks seem to have better skills with thier thumbs than they do with a craft. Who wouldn't rather sit in an air-conditioned office typing all day, then sweating on a hot deck getting oily?! I think I am in a unique position as I got started in wood-care when it was in it's infancy and have gone from contractor to distributor. I have seen many folks come and go for all kinds of reasons. I do not see the contractors who plan and buy as they did years ago. I think the economy has had a part in that. It used to be a contractor order a pallet of sealer so he got the best price. Now its only as much as he needs for the current job. It's understandable. He has money to lay out that may not be available now. He has to be more diversified in the services he offers so he can keep jobs coming in. Makes it harder to get help being "experts" as they don't do just "one thing" getting really good at it. But there are those that find their niche and specialize at it. Some of the greatest are above. I have met many of them over the years and am proud to know them. I am also meeting the new guys and the structure of their business's seems to me as one of the biggest reasons they don't become strickly "wood guys". I had wood classes since 7th grade. Wood in many ways became part of my life over the years. Not all follow that same path. The great ones seem to have an enormous passion for the craft. Those that treat it like a "job" seem to loose interest as it is an industry with it's share of potential troubles. Wood care certainly is a profitable business. It can be easy, and it can be tough. Use the pro's available if your just getting into it. Practice and learn form your mistakes, and you can get great pleasure in the results you create for your customer.

At my former employer I wrote a lot of "leases" though they were really "lease-to-own" financings. A true "lease" is usually where you pay for equipment and use it but it goes back to the leaser when the time commitment is up. When you lease-to-own, you have a way at the end of the lease to have that equipment be yours. Most folks took that route. The advantages to a "lease-to-own" are; if you are just starting out, you can get a peice of equipment you need without having to spend you current capital to get it. Keeping your cash on hand and getting the equipment working to make it's own payment can be HUGE when first getting started. Keep in mind, any financing from any source will cost but if this allows you to have new equipment and grow, then it very well may be benificial to you. Paying outright is always least costly. Then a bank loan seems best next. The leases-to-own route is a bit more expensive, but for many, is the only way to get financed to grow. I have had many people very happy with "leasing-to-own" their equipment. If you have the need, and want equipment, but also want to keep your working capital, try a lease and get the equipment paying for itself. It really can make you money in the long run.....

As a Mosmatic dealer I can tell you that Guy is correct. Mosmatic surface cleaners use the fluid as lubrication in the swivel. A small amount of liquid coming from the weep hole is normal. A steady stream means time to get a re-build kit. Other surface cleaner manufacturers do not use the fluid for lubrication and when any fluid is coming from their weep holes, then yes, there is a problem. But Mosmatic is deffenitly different in that regard. Let me know how else I could help you with this.

Steven, usually not. Sodium Hyporchlorite is an action chem and without the surfactant, there is nothing to help the water work better.

According to the nozzle chart here: http://www.pressurewashoutlet.com/files/NozzleChart.pdf 1800 psi @ 2.5 GPM requires a size 4.

John you have always been a class act with the thought of others in mind. I applaude your efforts and commend your action. I personally appreciate your additions to this industry!

Yes you can put it down so long as the wood is dry. as Charlie mentioned. Most other stains I would not want to try to put down under those temps. You may have to increase the time for it to soak in as the cold can make the pores of the wood a litle tighter, but I have peronally applied RS in those kind of cool temps with excellent results.

Roof-to-Decks uses Ready Seal wood preservative and since it is not temp regulated, they should still be able to seal your deck this fall using it. It will have to be dry, but temps won't effect the application! Your in great hands with that company!

While I agree this is a very incorrect way to do wood care, I'd like to say that before the use of chems. this was the way most did it. Water only and pressure...Seems he missed all the good info available over the last 20 years....This should serve as a good reminder why products from your distributors help make your jobs easier with higher quality results.

John, I used to think the same thing, but when I asked the manufacturer I was told it does not. Let's keep in mind folks that the word wax, has some conotations that may not be exact for our purposes. The 'wax" is not truely a wax in the traditonal sense like when you wax your car (by hand). These wax's that are being added to your solutuions are usually what is considered a "cheater wax" and do not contain silicone or wax. It has beading action agents, and is a drying aid that gets rid of water quick, and leaves a wax-like shine to the surface. Think of it more like an oil than a wax. It shouldn't build-up on the surface and you should expect it to wear from the surface over time. Just like when you run your car throught the car-wash you do not expect the wax you add to last anywhere like when you wax your car by hand. That's because they are not the same type wax being applied. The "wax" being added to your cleaning solutions can be applied in the wash, or in the rinse. That is up to you. Most contractors I have seen use it in the wash because it works - and it speeds up the time on the job. You give your customer additional shine to their home, but you will want to do it again when it gets dirty and they call you back to clean again....

Hey Beth and Rod! Just saying "HI". Hope you are having a terrific day. Sometimes I just get too busy to say HI and thought I would once. Hope I brought a smile!

Ready Seals new color chart....Click on it it should get bigger so you can read the names better.

Just one note about the cost of training....$700 to get specific training is cheap. If you were to go to school for any other profession you would spend many, many , thousands to get a quality education. You would also get only what you put into it to learn how to do that proffesion. These offered training sessions more-or-less hand feed you the info pertinant to your area of work and then after testing you, certify that you understand the material and should be able to go home with the knoweledge able to help take your business further. Hands-on training can also be great, but the training offered by the organizations are usually a compilation from many in the industry designed to short-cut you past the problem areas (they already made the mistakes) and give you the proper techniques to get you successful right away. Certainly get the training YOU feel is correct for you, but don't discount the programs already in place. They are provided to help with your success, and should allow you to learn for a whole lot less $$ than most other industry trainings....

Precarbs are GREAT for when you want a gentle clean. When you want to maintenance a deck sealed with an oil-based sealer and not pull out sealer, or when cleaning the dirt fromconstruction pre-carbs do really well. Since they are a mostly nuetraul PH cleaner, then they do not do much for the "growth" that may need to be cleaned. That's when a bleach/soap solution will work better. Products are available that are pre-carbs that have a little caustic in to help with the cleaning when some "growth" is present or you still want gentle but maybe want to lightly strip. I used pre-carbs mostly for doing the maintenance jobs or newly built jobs. For the rest I used the "powered-up" cleaners like diluted stripper or bleach/soap solutions.....Also pre-carbs make working around plants safer....

Thanks. Just courious. Looks good.