plainpainter

I've been losing estimates left and right using that very same pricing. I won't be lowering my price - I can't say I will be raising them either. In the whole grand scheme of things - America still has a great economy - we don't suffer from 20%+ unemployment and other problems that plague many countries around the world. Yet when the price of gas goes - folks go all banannas. It's still not as expensive as paying a monthly car payment on a lexus, or other luxuries people have been indulging themselves these last few years. Quitting your membership to an all exclusive tennis/racquetball club will more than make up for the price of gas, imo.

I personally believe if folks didn't price shop as much and searched out for known contractors with great history in an area - that people wouldn't run into this nightmare. I believe the pain is self-inflicted.

I think this is my biggest deck resto to date. I love the look of happiness on a customers face when they see the transformation. Here are some before pics.

Thanks for all the compliments. 3 years ago before I knew about the grimescene - my approach to decks was really outdated and I really didn't know much about the substrate I was working with. I think part of being a professional is really having a grasp on product knowledge and actually knowing what is going on when treating a deck - as opposed to being an 'applicator' where you crank open a can and lay the product on. These deck jobs have been a gold mine for me - and as well I have come to the realization that the lowballers and hacks will just never be the competition with the quality of work - And perhaps in house painting, they can pull the infamous rug over the eyes of customers - in deck work, the differences in quality are immensely and readily apparent. If people don't want to pay my price, I just walk away knowing they will truly get what they pay for. Deckwork, guys, it's something to think about. Sure it ain't as easy and straightforward as house washing. But after losing 10 housewashes in a row - it's nice to be able to pull up to a job where the customer loves you, you work for a few days, making 15-20 times the money as the lowballer housewash - without the 15-20 jobsite commutes - it allows you to cherry pick your other jobs

It's actually just pressure treated - and what you see for masking is what you get. I turn down the pressure on my airless as far as it goes. I've sprayed a ton of homes with solid stain and paint for years and have been pretty lucky. I think the horror stories you here are when guys are doing totally stupid things - like using full pressure on a windy day with black paint with a jaguar in the driveway. Woodtux could be mistaken for early spring sap - I've seen speckles of sappy substance on my cars for years this time of year.

It was a failing behr stain- saw the cans behind the shed. You can't actually see the stain in the before pics - because there is a layer of filth on top of it that almost makes it look like there is no stain. But after I washed the home with simple cherry - the first few boards adjacent to the house showed the stain. And of course I can't downstream efc-38 strong enough to do the job.

Amazing isn't it, Beth, that people that price shop always get what they deserve?

Final product of Woodtux Warm Honey Gold shot from airless and backbrushed into wood. Product was purchased and shipped from Scott.....

All railings, posts, stringers and flooboards sanded.....

Here are some pics of the deck stripped with my brew of HD-80 Downstreamed, and Citralic downstreamed....

Ron, what are you worrying about - those chicks only take their tops off in arizona, we're not talking the full 'monty' here. I believe morals, Ron, start with choices that go much higher to the top. For instance, you may not agree with the 'club' industry - but are they harming anyone? Aren't those girls free to do that line of work or not? And if you come up with the arguement, that those girls don't have much else going for them other than to exploit their own bodies to make a buck - then I would argue with you that perhaps the leadership in this country is not doing their job in securing a healthy vibrant economy for all of our citizens - at which point most those girls would have the freedom to pursue other careers if they so choose. You could at least think of it this way -you're doing your part to at least make these establishments not 'seedy' and thus attracting the lower dregs of society. So to sum it up: given a choice would these girls choose a different career if they had options? And if so, going to these establishments or not going has no impact on whether women turn to this industry or not - it' really just a net for women that have no real options for making money. In which case perhaps you should evaluate how your elected officials are doing their job to combat a lackluster economy.

Al, your $150 minimum is way too low. That's the kind of price you give to a guy with a 850 sq.ft. ranch that's next door to a job you are already doing - and you do it right then and there. You can't run a professional pressure washing outfit with all the costs for only $150. Think of all the trips you make to give estimates that yielded no work - all that time and gas has to be averaged into your jobs - what about advertizing and insurance? If I didn't take on larger work, like decks, not that they are that profitable from an hourly point of view - but if I didn't take them - I am sure $150 would easily be the break even costs per customer. All my overhead and costs of running a business - each customer would be paying $150 before I even begin to see a dime. That $250 is more on the money - at least he made a $100 after expenses.

I gave you a remedy in the last post, as to why this happened. You used Russell's wtw product which is compatible with a 'wet' deck. I think - and this happened to me in limited circumstances - that there were some really nasty water soluable extractives in that wood, and by applying the woodtux to it - if the wood was not perfectly dry - forced the moisture with these extractives to the surface. Perhaps a copper like substance like copper sulfate reacted with the HD-80, and the citralic sequestered the resultant away - leaving a nicely cleaned deck. But if you applied the stain while still moist - some of this remnant that was deeper below the surface could get pushed back up by the application of the stain.

My AR direct drive pump has worked wonders for me, will be repacking it this week for the first time. It sucks right out of tank no problem, even though it's direct drive!

OMG - that looks utterly awful! Get some butyl and mix a pint of it with a gallon of HD-80 mix at Full throttle strength - and add some NP-9 surfactant - and bomb the freak out of that deck! Then lay some serious bleach on it mixed with TSP, to counteract the 'whitening' of bleach, and some NP-9 - rinse rinse rinse - then throw on oxalic, then post some pics of it dry before staining. I've had crap come up before after laying down some stain - happened to be where their grill was dropping grease onto the wood all the time, but that was just one spot. You could alternatively mix oxalic super strong like 9 ozs./gallon and throw it on the bleach application without rinsing the bleach - kind of like reverse 2-stepping, and after a thorough dwell - with all wood brightened - rinse rinse rinse - and follow up with a much more dilute oxalic/citralic just to be safe. Post some pics before staining.

I have one deck that is so unusually hot from all the sunshine hitting it - that sap is leaking all over the place from at least 70% of the boards. I think perhaps the only way to stop it, is once 'stripped' - soak all the wood with Scott's cretowood - and then stain.

I think the goal of doing it the way I said, was to give the customer instant gratification, by not letting it silver. And after 3 or so years the wood will accept a curing type stain - and the whole time not look bad.

From a painters perspective - pressure wash off the loose stuff, scrape it, sand it, pressure clean, then prime the bare wood, re-stain entire home. And cross your fingers if it holds on long enough for the check to clear.

As they say, Vinyl is Final!

Nice knowing you can do outstanding wood work with Bob's products.

Hey, that came out really nice, how about some more info - chems, process?

I've seen that product before - it's a film forming acrylic of some sort. HD-80 with added surfactant and glycol will rip it right off - perhaps you will need 2 applications - the only downside is the amount of furring the wood you will have to contend with when it's all done.

Well from looking at Ricks results - I think perhaps the waiting a year probably seems like the thing to do. Russell gave me some advice, instead of waiting - hit an entire deck with timberoil - so as to protect it from water and UV - and from turning grey. And then wash it a year later, another coat of timberoil. And finally when you think the deck has 'aged' sufficiently - wash it again and then use woodtux in the same color.

So, Rick, you're convinced had that deck aged that the 'after' picture would have looked much better? That's RS, right? Looks like in perfect condition for a recoat with minimal prep.

Human Soup!