plainpainter

thanks - btw, that mahogany drank the woodtux. It felt like a penetrating stain more than anything. I used 4 and half gallons of stain. I drenched the boards with a 4" china bristle staining mop - then after ten minutes dragged a lambswool applicator over the wood to 'even' up the stain. I had to hand brush all the railings and posts - had to cut round all those metal spindles. Took forever.

I totally spaced on that?!? I think perhaps they weren't sealed before? Should I call them up and tell them I was reviewing some photos - and noticed I hadn't done them?

And the outcome....

Here are the pics of the deck stripped, brightened, and then sanded.

I consultation fees are great, what is the best way to approach a customer on this? Give them a quote for deck resto - but then remind them you aren't responsible if they didn't pay for a test spot?

The think I see about going 'green' is that decisions one makes that at first glance seem to be better for the environment - may have the total opposite effect. For instance, using a lower VOC product, may force you to stain twice as often as the more 'pollutant' product. But what was really gained?

Another think I hate about deck resto - oily fingers. No matter how much you protect yourself with gloves, your hands always get oil on them. But deck resto pays the bills - can't give it up.

how strong did you mix the F-18?

IF it's a 13 hp honda, then that's a decent machine. Funny - most consider that to be bare bones minimum to do professional washing. How are you getting along with such a tiny machine? I did maybe 4 jobs with a machine your size before I upgraded - it's just too much hard work.

You know what - I've decided not to get angry this year. I am going to let Scott Paul be the 'buffer' cache and leave it to his responsibility to always be stocked and let him deal with issues. His price is fair and shipping is expedient. I am sure the 'unknown' person would appreciate selling to Scott in bulk and let him deal with issues of warehousing and shipping and fielding customer complaints.

To come to this 'unkown' person's defense - I got the same full mailbox message. But he did call me back an hour later and left a message on my machine - and I called back and he picked up.

Does anyone know what is the absolute max amount of Hd-80 that can be dissolved into water? I have some being delivered today, and I want to downstream it - and just trying to figure out if I will need it along with glycol - depending on the max amount that will dissolve per gallon. Thanks!

He did a lousy prep job, and the finish is oxidized - looking at it will break it down, let alone bleach with simple cherry.

Two step the F'er. Lay on a few coats of sulfuric acid with lots of surfactant - soak it in real good - like you are soaking wallpaper with diff. When the wood can't possibly accept anymore sulfuric acid - hopefully it's dwelled for a solid 2 hours. Then start spraying on HD-80 at full strength. But make sure you personal protection gear is something like an astronaught suit - with plenty of respirators!

Kevin that 8 oz/gallon rate was then diluted by my 7:1 downstreamer. So actual surfaces only saw a 1oz/gallon of HD-80 concentration, along with an ounce of surfactant, along with 8ozs of propylene glycol. That downstreamed solution stripped this deck.

I think what I get from all this - is that big tanks are for guys that do lots of 'flat' work - or perhaps fleets as well. I just bought a 35 gallon tank, that will be my buffer. I expect it to help even on those house washes with anemic water supply issues, i.e. 2-3gpms. I mean with a 5.5gpm machine you can go full bore for 6.4 minutes, and with say 2.5gpms from the sill **** - you'd still have another 15 gallons - or another 3 minutes. How many housewashes require 10 minutes of constant full bore rinsing? You often spray for a couple - move around to another area, spray again for a couple.

I just stripped a deck today with 5.5 gpm machine - and I have to say, my wrists, especially on the top of my hands area is sore like hell. And my arms in general. That guy Jarrod doing decks with an 8gpm machine is one crazy lunatic in my opinion - he must enjoy the pain!

What's the point of having a 300 gallon tank, if you are only keeping 50 gallons in it? It's just a glorified buffer tank that is taking up excessive space on your trailer at that point.

I did 8 oz/gallon - in my 5'er was 2 gallons of propylene glycol antifreeze and another 2 gallons of water. My downstreamer is 7:1 - so one gallon of 'solution' becomes 8 gallons of downstreamed chemical. So I added 32 fluid ozs. of nonylphenol surfactant to this 4 gallon mix - and it stripped every bit as well as my other batch of efc-38 @ 8 ozs/gallon applied by pump up. But with the convenience of downstreaming. Only used like 2 gallons of solution for this whole deck. I think the butyl would work much better.

Russell said the max you can mix is 8oz/gallon. I tried mixing more and I think he is right. I did however come up with a downstreaming recipe for HD-80 today that worked in removing failing aussie oil on a mahogany deck.

OF course you will never look back - that 500 gallon water tank is in the way!

I can't say for sure - but I think F-13 mixed a cup per 5'er has 'amped' my house mixes. Give it a try.

Kevin - I believe that is the most straightforward writing that I have ever read {tried to read} from you. What gives?

Add some nonylphenol and butyl to HD-80, and there is no solid stain that will withstand the pain!

Just stained a deck today - other than always underestimating time - I'd say the sun-tan lotion stinging my eyes as I start sweating is the absolute worst.