jhutch

I too seal lots of driveways, and the pressure washing is really only to prep for the sealer. It certainly depends on the part of the country you live in. Concrete Sealing is very important to homeowners that want to preserve their concrete in freeze-thaw climates. We use SealRx (www.sealrx.com) and it's not tricky to apply at all, once you get the training.

Right on Beth. Price isn't important in my business. Customers that want a don't want to spend the money get referred to other companies. We're up-front that we're not cheap. I had a customer a few weeks ago tell me that he knew he could get it done for less, but he didn't think he could get it done better. He learned his lesson in 3 times he had his house painted. He told me this over the phone, and we never even met. Company name and reputation mean a lot to good customers these days. As I was driving away from his home, I noticed that he had siding on his home now. Those 3 paint jobs on the house must have really did a number on him.

Wow, how cold did it get? I'd call Ready Seal, they have great customer service! Better safe than sorry.

Getting ready for 2010 myself. 2009 was a challenging year, but we did more in sales than I budgeted for, and spent less in advertising. Pay close attention to your expenses and bottom lines. Don't work for free! Cut expenses where you can, and really "manage" I've had some success with teaming with other businesses, and networking groups. These things don't happen overnight, but give them some time, they will pay off. One part of my business will grow 5-fold this year, because of one such relationship. 2010 should be better economically, leave DC out of the picture, most of it won't change til Next year after the elections. Dems seem hell-bent on eliminating themselves from the picture in the next election. The people will vote (unless Dems cancel the elections), and they won't be a factor in 2011. Americans are waking up, and the future will be brighter! Businesses are failing, because they were weak and didn't have the insight, those that survive, will thrive. They probably shouldn't have been in business anyway. This is part of the natural effect of the free market. Keep you head up, be flexible to your customers needs, watch expenses, and 2010 will be just fine.

I love Behr! Makes it easy to sell our services. If homeowners try it themselves, they quickly find out what they're up against. We likely do 50 Behr decks a year in KC area-It's everywhere. I even got paid a consulting fee for a customer that was trying to get money back from Behr. I worked with 2 or 3 this year that were having success in going back on Behr for their failed warranties.

Clarke-American OBS-18's are what we use.

Scott-I love the quote!!!! As you can see this is nothing new to business, this was spoken over 100 years ago, and it applies today.

There are "hacks" in just about every field out there. We all run into them periodically. All we can do is explain how we're different/better. We won't get them all, but the key is asking questions to know what your customer really wants. I find occassionally that they really don't want to "spend" that much money right now. Sometimes you can get the job later, when they really know they want it done right, instead of slapping another coat of stain on the deck.

Perhaps I shouldn't have specified paraffin only oil stains. I was mainly trying to see what professionals would use on their own deck. I wondered if any professional would use anything acrylic. Thanks for the input and comments. I'm running the poll a few more weeks. Thank you!

I'd like to know if you only had 2 types of stain to choose from what would you apply to your own deck? 1. Modified Acrylic-Alkyd Hybrid formula 2. Paraffin oil formula Comments are welcomed. I plan to use results to show customers what professionals would choose to use on their decks.

Wow!!!! Thanks for the help! I didn't really phrase the question properly, but I did get the input that I was hoping for. Looks like it was topic worthy of such a fine board. I've been a long time listner, but 1st time caller Thanks for all the input. It was good to get all you professional opinions

I apologize if this has been discussed previously, but I searched the forum at length over the weekend and didn't find an answer. What brushes seem to work the best for applying oil-based stains on 2x2 rails? My crews are complaining, since we're unable to get our old brushes at a wholesale price. I'd like to be able to have them shipped in cases, if possible, or if you've found some hardware chain with good results that may work to. Any other suggestions or "tricks of the trade" would be welcomed also.

When were you in the KC area?