plainpainter

My feet with shoes on, are exactly a foot long - so you can imagine what my method is - lol. Homes usually come in stock sizes - so the side of the home will be either 24 feet 26 or 28 - and by using my feet, I will know which one - and usually can tell beforehand just by looking. On the gable ends - where you don't have a 'full' floor at the top I will add either 0.25$ to $0.50 per linear foot - depending on roof pitch. This colonial I will clean tomorrow, has a base price of $400 to clean - vinyl siding. Ken I charge under $200 for basic washes for these real easy 1 floor ranches - one house had a 210 linear feet. So I charged them $200 for the basic wash before add-ons.

As long as you leave some forums open - I don't why it would cut down on search engine traffic - you are just keeping what the professionals say private - or semi-private. I like that.

oxi-clean,TSP,nonylphenol - cold water rinse.

It was no where near that hot - Shane - and I looked more closely, it looked like it was starting to lift the green paint as well. I though the whole point of stripping latex - that it was darn near impossible to strip without expensive paint strippers and overnight dwells - and that's been my experience.

I dont get this - if it's tandem axle, then you need a title, if you need a title - how will the next 'buyer' ever get it insured to go on the road????

It hasn't dwelled on the green paint yet - to be honest, I think the Blue paint is a latex paint that has been formulated to be strippable - I have worked with this paint before, I think it is very different from most latex emulsions. But I will keep you posted if it works on the green paint as well.

not as caustic as sodium hydroxide, and not a solvent like denatured alcohol either.

the alcohols perhaps? I take off old latex paint with denatured alcohol - I am sure it has the same effect on glue.

Two things - first I think Russell should adopt the name 'classic' - like classic coco-cola. And offer it - and then experiment and offer advancements with another line, say woodtux-wet-advanced. Basically the wtw-advanced would be the test bed to try different resins, different alcohol contents, anticipating future reduction VOC changes. And then leave the WTW-Classic alone, for the majority of the rest of us. #2 - Rick, how did you decide to neutralize that deck, is that the regular 6ozs. of citric/no-rinse? I have found that the degree of brightening seems to be only a function of how much acid concentration you have and not so much dwell. Like 4ozs. oxalic dwelling for 10 minutes will not be as severe as 8ozs. dwelling for 5 minutes. That being said - I seem to like 4 ozs. of oxalic per gallon on pressure treated - unless the customer wants a really light finish.

Russell I have since used the product exactly as you described - that was my first job - my products were much more liquidy, and you needed to constantly reapply to have something stay on the surface - they were too thin - that was what I was use to up to '06. I am just posting this - as I want people to know that an overapplication type job - still looks like the day I left it. It's not quite thick like Sikkens DEK - but it is shiny on the summer grain, and still intact. I did another deck exactly as you described - totally matte and absorbed into the wood - real curious how it will hold out in comparison.

Reminds me of the time when my girlfriend gave me a yeast infection.

no clue, everything was hand brushed and actual decking was real small - like 3x6 feet with railings and 3 steps - and then some steps and railings on another deck that had porch and floor paint. Just real small time. Too little to tell anything. It was the Anti-Russel approach to applying woodtux, nice and shiny - LOL. It looks like, if you have ever done any varnish furniture refinishing - like the first coat of Marine/Spar varnish on some teak - that's how thick I put it on. But as thick as it was - it had absolutely no trouble drying. I just remembered this - this product was put on real thick - totally out of spec with ESI - and I remember checking this deck out like 3 days after it was done - and it was perfectly dry and cured and not tacky.

bleaching followed by oxalic - can you say 'white' wood?

Ok - I will give you guys a call tomorrow - actually Beth left a message on my machine a month ago - and only got back to leave a message and never followed up. But I just wanted to say - that for the most part, that the grimescene for me represented a platform for using woodtux products for the very best in woodcare. Not that I haven't read your posts about using other products in the past - such as sikkens or cabots - but that woodtux and esi chems was a way to turn your business from being a casual handyman taking orders from customers. To taking over and providing a vertically integrated business approach to having customers surrendering over total deck care and providing a totally professional deck maintenance program. I like that business model. I just feel that evaporating, especially on this forum.

Beth and Rod - Just curious - since I sat and awed at your work for the last couple of years and finally decided to use Woodtux for myself. At what point, were you not happy with the product? And if it wasn't this most recent formulation change, then when? And why did you wait so long about your disgruntled disposition on woodtux. And if the product goes back to the '06 formula - is that a good incarnation of woodtux, or was it already not the same animal that you use to like? I bought a pail in september of '06 - and it seemed fine to me - perhaps you have data of longevity testing? So what now? Are you saying the product is no better than say a gallon of Sikkens or Aussie oil?

Beth, why the witch-hunt on ESI as of late? Wasn't Woodtux and HD-80 your darling products that you continually espoused every chance you got? It seems you have been poo-pooing both products as of late. And what is the big deal about carrying an MSDS? As a painting contractor - whether I bought deck stain, paint, primer, pre-packaged stripper, paint strippers - not once did I ever get an MSDS sheet from my paint store. And to my knowledge nobody ever requires painters to carry them - is this some kind of joke? Carrying deck stain to a job shouldn't require one to be DOT certified or something - I think you are taking yourself a wee bit too seriously lately. No offense to the other companies you have been trying to push lately - but seriously any problems you have been receiving with Woodtux products whether shipping - or formula change - I don't see how that would affect the performance of HD-80, and I have heard not one complaint from anyone here about shipping on that product either. Not that I use anybodys stripper myself - just don't understand the about face change in recent weeks.

I know more and more as I get into deck restoration - I am getting into stripping, cleaning, neutralizing - defurring. But I run into customers that just want to get their decks 'pressure-washed'. You know the kind of customers, they have a failing stain, and will reapply the stain themselves - they just want a good cleaning - knowing that it isn't the best route for deck maintenance. So I was going on the Delco board - and they say for just a deck washing only - charge $0.85/sq.ft. - this is floorboard square footage, not total of all handrails, stringers, skirts, etc. Well I gave an estimate for a deck that was 6 feet off the ground, 12'x40', with a small landing where the two stairways met - the total 'floor' sqaure footage - area of landing and steps. Was 570 sq. feet. So I gave an estimate of $485 to apply an application of TSP/Bleach/surfactant, possibly scrub, and rinse. Your standard pressure washing job - no thrills. Yes this deck has railings and balustrades - the whole works. Is that too much money to ask for?

I should be at that job for one 1 hour, Ken. I wish there was someone like you informing all the painting contractors in my area - if you think that money is bad that I just quoted. I can get undercut - even if I bill out customers at $25/hr for house painting- basically not getting much better than a $12 salary, in true terms! And perhaps an extra couple of bucks profit on a fellow worker making $12/hr. And I can get undercut at those wages! And that's getting up on 40 foot ladders, scraping grinding - climbing around dormers on high roofs! Anyways - I agree with Ken about upselling. I would actually call it educating the customer as well. You know those roof oil runs on gutters that we need caustics to clean? Well this customer thought it was mildew! Can you imagine if you did what the customer 'wanted' and just gave them a house wash - and after the job is done, with all dirt and mildew gone - that the 'runs' are still there but now more apparent? What then do you think the customer will think? Educate, Educate, Upsell!

Ken is actually right on target about it costing $100/customer. I didn't think of that. But I am getting maybe 3 new customerss per $300 of advertizing. My last customer - I sold them on a $200 house wash and $75 gutter clean. So really I am only making $175 - but it is a one level ranch.

Oh yes Ken, I added an option to strip just flooring and steps properly - the total bill would have come to $710. Leaving the railings alone with just a basic pressure cleaning. Glad to hear I am not being outrageous with my price.

Again Fenner comes through with his point of view, and it is true that I have to figure what I want to be. I just figured if some people want a pressure wash - why not give it to them. And I have to find more ways to weed out certain customers. This customer probably thinks I am already way too high -I just wanted a reality check. Oh well, move onto the next customer.....

I was staying in Alexandria in mid-april when I went to see D.C. And across the street from my motel was this pressure washer's lettered enclosed trailer. I wish I remember the name now.

I was just talking about washing - TSP/Bleach/surfactant - it would be a mild strip - as some material always comes off with my brew - but not like a full strip. BTW David - when you figure in square feet, are you including the skirt boards and exposed 4x4's underneath the deck, or is that included in the $3/linear feet of railings?

Just curious - how much sanding do you guys do in general - and is it part of a standard estimate or is it an upsell?

Kevin, I don't quite understand your 3rd sentence. Could you please re-edit it?