Jarrod

The awning was LOADED with bird crap. The birds hung out on a ledge just above the awning. The ledge was 60 ft. long and 2 ft. wide and covered in 3 inches of solid bird crap. The sidewalk pic just doesn't do the situation justice. Now, that's a lot of bird crap!!!

Sub it out to a pro.

Water based stain is all crap. You should have used an oil base. The stain is acting normal - crappy.

I'm not surprised at all that you had that experience with the "pros" that showed up. The problem with this industry is that there are so many who buy a squirt gun at Home Depot and print 25 flyers and they are a "pro." Good job on weeding out the hacks. Call Scott @ the Sealer Store, he will steer you in the right direction.

Hire a pro.

Thanx for the review Charlie. Nice job.

Scott, aren't you the one who invented the PW'er drinkin' game - "stain a spindle, take a swig?" Oh yeah, that was Randy.

LOL. Pw'ing in MI has been reduced to low margin work done by drunken lowlifes. Guys here actually think that $1 per sq ft is really good money for decks. 9 out of 10 guys charge this.

It seems that all of the contractors here in MI trust those prices and try to beat them.

I'll sum it up with this, It's easier to strip the deck than to convince the customer to pay the price. That's why I won't even bother. I would rather spend my time getting realistic jobs than wasting my time trying to sell a painted deck strip. I'll make a prediction - you either won't get the job, or if you do get the job, you'll wish you hadn't. I'm not trying to be negetive, but, my experience (8 years) in this line of work tells me this. Good luck.

We are business owners, not super heros. Spiderman, Batman, Superman & Iron man all had day jobs. Why, because being a super hero doesn't pay.

9 out of 10 times on these decks, the customer does not want to pay for the cost of restoring it. Besides, what a nightmare! I would rather spend my time bidding decks that are on the more realistic side of things. Sorry Rick, I know that I'm not as great as you are and I just want the easy jobs. Funny though, I strip behr, flood and many other PITA decks. None of those are "easy." Maybe until I bid 100 painted decks and get only one of them and spend countless hours on the job and get stressed out, I'm not really into wood. Gosh, all this time I thought I was a good contractor and did a great job saving many decks from these horrible stains by restoring them. Thanx for setting me straight Rick, I mean it. Thanx.

Pre-wet, dont cover

Like I said, Run!

It wont happen. There's too many scumbag liberals that will stop it. I think we should castrate them too. After all, sticking up for scumbag's "rights" makes you one too doesnt it?

You guessed it.

Run!!

Call Scott @ The Sealer Store. He will explain these things. I'm not a dealer. I will say this though - I use both a High Draw & a Super Suds Sucker for DS'ers. I DS 90% of my decks b/c they are stained with oil based stains. On the rare occasion, like today, I will apply HD80 with a Delevan. I charge double for this. In 8 years, I have never killed a plant. DS'ing is for everyone, beginner or expert.

Yes. Call Scott @ The Sealer Store. His banner is at the top of the page.

How about a Lazy Boy recliner?

OMG!!! I cant believe that people are still using these arcaic pump ups, backpack or otherwise. DOWNSTREAM YOUR CHEMS FOR THE 10000000000000000000000000TH TIME PEOPLE. You will save a ton of time, wages & money by doing this. I have been downstreaming deck chems for 5 years now and will never revert back to anything else. This method will kill a deckster easily. Someone please hand me a folding chair so that I can bludgeon myself with it. (Disclaimer - I have a very sarcastic way of making my point, so please dont be offended)

Great work Charlie.

Trust me, Scott's recipie works better and is faster.

I have searched the forums for a clear choice for a fabric awning cleaner & I can't seem to find one. The awnings I'm doing are very dirty, & loaded with bird poop. They are made out of canvas or some kind of fabric. What is the best cleaner for this job? Thank you in advance.

I hear ya Terry, BUT, 15 years of stupid just can't be fixed.