Jason Reider

That looks fantastic!

Those are terrific pictures as documentation to the bs claims that the box store stain make. Can't wait to see how it turns out Shane.

Pics of my daughter Keira and son Blake.

Good quote. Hits home with the job I did today. The job took longer than I thought, and I left thinking that job stank. But, thinking back, I should have factored in a few possible problems areas I knew could happen and they did happen. If I were 15-20% higher, I wouldn't have thought the job stank. Live and learn.

I'm not to far from you Jim. Give me a call if you ever need anything.

1. How many stain colors do you offer your customers to choose from? As I am planning to focus on wood next season, I am wondering if it would be best to offer on a few colors or to offer the full line of colors for a particular brand. I can see positives for both. By offering a full line of colors, the customer may have a better chance of finding the color that matches their style/likes. By offering only a few colors, I would be able to stock up on those particular colors allowing me to save money and not have any interruptions because of possible shipping delays. 2. What rough percentage of your wood customers are repeat customers? What is the average time between them calling again, 2, 3 or more years?

Glad to see you here Jon.

Yes, I kind of came to that conclusion about maintenance plans. I attempted offering and selling maintenance plans to my wood customers last year, but no one really was interested. I will be sending out reminders in the future and check in with customers to see how everything is holding up. Thanks Rod.

Thanks Keith, John and Steven. I am going to keep the choices limited.

I've been thinking about buying a Deckster to use this year, but am looking at other less expensive alternatives. Will the pump in this link work just as well? Hand Carry Chemical Applicator #5500 It's just hard for me to pay the price tag for the Deckster if I can find something similar for 1/3 of the cost. What would you experienced wood professionals suggest? Maybe a "pump in a bucket" would work just as good.

Thank you all for your suggestions and advice.

What size tip/nozzle do you use on that Shane, and is that a 5ft lance?

Thanks Scott. I just sent you an email. My email is jason@waterdogrestoration.com if anyone else has any suggestions they don't want to make public.

You can convert you business to a LLC on legalzoom.com for around $400-$600. Insurance varies. Being a solo operation, you may be able to get insurance in the $800-$1200 range for the year, but I'm not positive on that.

Thanks Jim and Shane. I posted this from another board for those here that may have some insight: I really want to focus on the high end clientele demographic. My average ticket for decks last year was only $680. I want to get that average up. I have 1 deck scheduled for the spring that is 3x my average. Most of my work last year was from Craigslist. My new websites didn't start ranking well until September. Now it ranks #1 for a lot of keywords for my immediate service area. I will be sitting down with my local website guy soon to rework my website's layout/design. The website he designed for me now is very simple and a beginning point. It needs to convert the traffic I get into better leads. It needs to have a designated wood page and other areas for residential and commercial. I am working on quality photos of wood work. Any suggestions or criticism is appreciated. Thanks again!

Thanks Shane. Do you, Beth n Rod, or anyone else attempt to sell maintenance plans after restoring/staining decks, or do you rely on your great work to prompt the customer to call you back? Or possibly do you send out reminders to your customers or check in with them when their deck/fence is due for another service?

Can a surfactant like Roof Snot be added to a stripper to help it stick to the verticals allowing it more time to work?

Thanks Charlie!

Thanks Rick. I'll check out the Tergitol NP-9 you mentioned.

Sounds good. Thanks Jim!

Jim - Can you send me some pics of this trailer unit if it is still for sale? Looks like a great deal. jason@waterdogrestoration.com Thanks!

Great David! Now go make some money.

This is a great thread with valid points. Charlie, your thoughts really hit home with me. For those that don't know me, while building my business to a full-time career, I am also a full-time teacher. I see exactly what you are talking about with the students I had over the years. Most of their minds are engrained with instant gratification and to be successful, you have to go to college. This message is sent to kids 24/7 at home, school, on TV, etc. It's nice for me to see a clean home, building or warehouse after washing, but it doesn't compare to the pride I get when finishing a deck. But, I'll admit, the ease and less stress of washing instead of restoring also enters my thoughts at times. You veteran wood professionals and your work truly impress me!

I'm here daily also. The reason I don't post much is because I feel I don't have the experience necessary to chime in on a lot of threads. That will change as I gain more experience and in turn build more confidence. For now, I read and take notes.

This is an area I am seriously thinking about focusing more on in 2013, but I need to educate myself more. There is a great need in my area for a professional wood restoration service. My market is polluted with the handymen, painters, etc. that Jim referred to. A personal friend of mine is one of them that charges less than $1 sf (measuring just the floor) to clean and seal a deck. He also does a lot wrong when doing his work. I have only landed 10% of the wood bids I did in 2012 because I was "too expensive." My sales presentation didn't help, but it will be improved next year. Like I stated earlier, there is a need for a "professional" wood service here and a good bit of money to be made. I just want to be fully educated before I focus on this and and deem myself a wood guy. That is what I will be doing this winter (and all of next year); studying this skill/art so I can be the authority in my area. I am open to any advice/suggestions for education resources. Also, I appreciate and thankful for all of the knowledge you gentlemen have freely given on this and any other bbs.