Tracy Handl
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Posts posted by Tracy Handl
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What a wonderful post. May you and your bride have many more. Your heartfelt words are inspirational. Glad to know you have found another that makes you complete. True love is nothing to take lightly and you sound as if you do not. Good for you. May the honeymoon last forever!
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If the "mud" seems like red clay, an acid will do the best. Acids take up red clay the best. It has to have a surfactant with it and it won't need to be too strong. Products used for concrete cleaning that are as weak as will effectivly remove the mud, may get those are up well. Then wash with a normal wood cleaning product to even everything up if needed, neutralize, and then seal. My 2 cents. Hope it helped.
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You can get free freight on 6 pails or more, and you do get a price break at 15 pails, and at 30 pails.
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You do seem to have your facts rather correct. Let me shed a little more light for you. Muriatic acid is used in our industry for some very specific reasons. How it is used, and the frequency is the main concern. By itself, it is not the greatest cleaner. It is used to etch a surface when preping for another procces (like resurfacing or painting) mostly of concrete. When a good bond is expected, this works very well. Here in the south there is a lot of red clay. A muriatic acid wash that has a surfactant with it (soap) will lift red clay out of concrete rather well. Better than the acid alone! Also works well on rust stains. It is also use in new construction clean-up when mortar splash is being cleaned up. When uses repetedly on a concrete surface it can take it from smooth to grainy in just a few application. (and sometimes as little as once). That being said, if I had to impress, say the manager of a chain of restraunts, I may acid wash the drive through so I know I'm being aggressive in my cleaning and getting the best results so I can get more work. One time wouldn't really be a concern when jobs are on the line. Hope this helped a little. Ley me know if I could be of any other assistance.
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I'm pretty sure you're not a quiter!!!
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The solid stain may be a water based product. In that case, a sodium hydroxide based product usually won't remove that. It isn't designed for that. Shear strength may take off water based products, but that's not really what a SH based cleaner is for. Lightly sand your problem areas with 80 grit sand paper and those areas should be fine. Do that prior to sealing. If using an oil based sealer, if it's a good penetrator, you may actually be able to sand if off after sealing as the sealer will travel under the solid stain in the fibers and loosen the old sealer. I've seen this happen many times with the sealer we carry. I would not seal over those spots without doing something to eliminate them if sealing with a semi-transparent. They will stand out.
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If you really need to clean the dock and don't know what will get you in trouble, the safe bet is always water in - water out. Remember that years ago, not that many actually used soaps when cleaning. Soaps allow the user to be faster, more efficient, and helps the water do it's thing better. Cleaning can be done with just water. It just take a bit more effort to accomplish. Just a thought.
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Days like today is why they call it Hotlanta! Mid 90's here! Humid too.:island:
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From all of us at Sun Brite Supply, we hope those of you not working this weekend have a safe, and enjoyable holiday with your family and friends. For those that are working, we wish you a safe and enjoyable holiday as well, and hope you can work in that special family/friend time as well. Thanks to all of our veterans for providing, and maintianing our freedoms! May God bless you all. :USA:
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Rip-It is just about the same stength as HD-80.
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Al, that tool helps me all the time. Takes the guess work out. Get signed up soon for the roundtable as we will be capping the attendance. We sure do want to see you there. We already have a few signed up and paid. I have confirmed that a rep from the Gwinnett Dept. of Sewer and Water will be on hand with a short presentation and to answer questions. This will be the best roundtable event we've had in the area ever! And with Prime Rib, chicken, and lasagna buffet, this willl be one not to miss!!!!
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Will do.
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Keep in mind that we have the pre-mix chart under the Powerhouse section on our website. That Excell spreadsheet will tell you how to vary your mix when using other speced machines, or using your Xjet or downsteam injector. Just reminding you of that as a resource.
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As a house wash it is used about 25:1. Don't apply to painted surfaces at less than 15:1. As a brushless gutter cleaner you have to use it dirrectly from the concentrate. Add bleach if needed so that the bleach is used at about 1.5%.
Mr. Tracy Handl
Sun Brite Supply
877-578-7759
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and Happy New Year! Hope everyone has a safe, and happy holiday season!:lgwave:
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Got Business cards? Anyone gets within 3 ft of you, give them a business card. One job generated will pay for all those cards. You never now who will pass the card on to whom. At this stage advertise ALL the time. If your passionate about your business, you will be talking about it with folks in the strangest of places. Be ready with that card. A chance encounter with someone you may not think would be a prospect could lead to to very profitable work! Keep your name out there and you'll get found.
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Deck restoration can be very profitable. That was all we used to do in the past prior to what we do now and made a good living at it. National average tends to be more at $2.00 to 2.25 per sq ft. for cleaning and sealing. There are many ways to price your work and I encourage you to investigate all and pick what works best for you. Some ways contractors price are by; time and material; sq ft of everything; sq ft of floor, linear ft of rails, how many steps with, or without rails; (is there a "suck" factor? add more for certain situations); etc.... There are many places to get training. Books are available, as are classroom settings. These can be very helpful for start-up businesses. It's easy to do the work; it can be a bit more involved when running the business side. Using the materials offered can leap you ahead of your compitition by being consistante in pricing, knowing how to give specials without diminishing value, bidding, and being efficent at getting the project done, all resulting in profit! Most wood guys I know get into the biz because they like the art of what they do. Just keep in mind that if you are going to make a living at it, it does have to be run like a business. Have fun, and keep asking, your on the right track!
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True, many techniques in this industry can remain the same for many years. If it's not broke don't fix it. A line that makes sense. But as manufactures develop new products, and equipment gets new features, old methods can be made more efficent. I have personally had customers in the biz many years tell me I helped turn their business around with products or equipment I introducted to them. The "wheel" can't always be re-invented, but it can be improved upon. Utilize your dealers and manufactures to learn of these improvments, and keep an open mind. Old habits tend to be hard to break, but if a something would make you more money, wouldn't you want that?!
Beth n Rod reacted to this -
His ad states STARTING at $100. Get the idea?????????????? Some of you caught that. You really think this guy does all that for $100? DOUBT IT! This technique is used in a lot of adds.
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Then a sodium hydroxide based product should work to remove it with ease. Apply, let dwell for about 15 to 2o minutes (keep it moist), then power wash off. Should be a lot easier then any other strippers.
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Your job looks good but one picture gave a hint of pretty bad fuzzing. A rule of thumb; the longer and stronger you leave a strong cuastic cleaner on the wood, the more lignin (the natural glue in the wood holding the fibers together) is broken down creating the "fuzzies". You willl have to develop a "faith" in your brightening product (nuetralizer) as it will reverse the darkening you get when using a cuastic stripper. When using sodium hydroxide based strippers, you will know you got through the old stain when you see that chocolate-brown color in the wood. Don't strip wood trying to turn it back to that yellowish, "fresh" look. You will be over working if you try to. When your eye see's that the sealer has been pulled out of the wood, and you get that brown color IN the wood, then you have actually done what you started out to do. The britener procces will do it's thing and change that color, and lighten and brighten that wood. Sometimes pigments are left behind, and in most case will cover nicely when sealing. If too much is left in the wood more will have to be done. (sometimes a light bleaching in between stripping and britening can help) Sometimes a second strip will certianly be required. Not to worry. It can be preformed right away or even days later. Always follow up with a nuetralizer. For your first strip job, I'd say you did great!
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Usually when doing a two tone only the horizontals get the stain. Everything that can be seen from standing in the front gets "painted"white. But it always comes down to customer preference, and sometimes, just what seems to look the best. With different configureations of rails, there may be times that the set-up will dictate a particular way to do it. There is no real right, or wrong answer.
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Depending on your beliefs and business practices this can be viewed in a few ways. When we did service work, once we did a bid, if we made mistakes, we ate it. It was our fault and like stated before, the sting made us better. However, there will be times that something can't be foreseen and in the middle of a job it take a seriously bad turn. When that happens it seems best to speak with your customer and try to find a mutually acceptable resolve. Some customers are very understanding, some not. Wiegh the pros and cons of the individual situation and be creative. What may seem like the only way to do it on the serface, may lend itself to other ways that can be just as effective. Communicating with the customer is always the best way to not get burned. Just when you think they won't budge, they may surprise you.
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True you can use a large battery as long as it's 12 volt, but why would you want the extra weight? We used a large marine battery early on, and the employees used to leave the machine behind. When asked why, we were told the unit was too heavy for lifting in and out of the van each day. That's why we offer the current deep cycle-gel filled, small sized battery. It make a big difference to the operator from a weight stand point. And those batteries hold up just as long as a larger one will. Lead acid type batteries can eventually develop a "memory" with the constant discharge-recharge of the battery. I had it happen to me. Only got a 1/2 hour out of a fulled charge one. Then I went to the battery companies and learned some info that lead us to the current battery. We have had great success since. Keep in mind, a lees costly battery will work for a while, but in the long run, you do get what you pay for.
My Backyard
in The Club House
Posted · Edited by Tracy Handl
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Nice place. What do you have on that wood? It looks good.