plainpainter

I wonder if you had blueboard and veneer plaster instead of sheetrock and mud - if the bees would have gotten through? Heck - in the early 50's 2-coat plastering systems over blueboard was still popular and that had a real good thickness!

I would think not many people actually check the pressure at the gun - there are pressure losses you know. The only place that makes sense is to check the pressure after the pump. Why don't you try a larger ID hose? That will reduce the pressure losses.

Thank god I didn't take advantage of those free shipping deals!

Hey I love the whole chassis where the hose reels sit on, can you give a link to where I can get a setup like that! How big is that water tank?

So I finally am getting a bunch of calls for house washing and deck restoration. I have done a few decks in my career, but never day in and day like you professionals are doing - so I want automate my deck pricing and get more professional wages. So I am searching through the archives revisiting discussions about pricing. One thread on another site, Ken Fenner explained and broke down his new pricing for deck work and gave an example. Well I took the raw sq. foootage of just the decking part and backwards computed a multiplication factor to come up with the final square footage of all the surfaces. Then I remembered on another thread Russell Cissell using his wacky method for computing total sq. footage. Then I took my measurements from a potential customers deck - using Russell's method I got 840 sq. feet - using Ken's method I got 842.5 sq. ft!!!!!!!!! I basically took it as a message from God. It just really woke me up as to how much I am underestimating deck surfaces. So with these new surfaces, just my basic deck cleanings with just a single application of TSP/Bleach/Surfactant and a heavy rinse is really just $0.35/sq. ft.

Has anyone tried experimenting with the other end of the ph range for work like this? I have experimented with sulfuric acid/Surfactant with good results on latex/acrylic coatings on little jobs.

Well I got my eyes on one for $175 for a 275 gallon unit, and Rod's comment sold me on the idea.

Let's see some pics! Why can't you just get a tall ladder and then a ladder with a ladder hook to manuever around on the roof with?

upsell, upsell, upsell

Now that's a real test!

#3 is a surfactant/detergent - the main ingredient in many liquid house washes and store bought strippers and degreasers.

Butyl CAS# is : 111-76-2 Ethylene Glycol antifreeze is typically, CAS# 107-21-1 The substance Rod cited is something similar to butyl - or it's new nickname phenyl: here is a link:Safety (MSDS) data for 2-phenoxyethanol

It doesn't matter what method you use on flooring, if you step back and take a look at the whole picture, all the methods are quite fast. I stained all the flat parts of a deck and the skirts plus a few horizontal boards across the lower parts of the balustrades and faced off a few of the 4x4' where noticeable as a 'maintenance' coat. The deck was 500 sq. feet plus two stairways. And I was there for 3 hours, and made better than $100/hr.

I always seem to fall back on a roller - don't know if it's the best, I do know that if boards are cupped and otherwise not perfectly flat - using those flat applicator pads may be a problem, especially the ones 3 boards wide. What about a big staining brush on a pole - for high quality brushed in work? Don't do enough decks to really be efficient at them. And I always end up hand brushing spindles.

Hey Rick - just jumping the gun a little bit - but any feedback yet?

Hey - I started taking care of this pressure treated deck in the summer of '04. At that point is was approx. 4-5 yrs. old never treated light greyed out appearance. I cleaned it with Bleach diluted. Then put on a coat of stain - well it drank the stain. And put on a second coat several days later, of the curing type kind. It had some sap on the floors. Then I did the deck again in May of '06 - had some peeling on the decks - faded everywhere else. So I pressure washed it again, this time with bleach at the same diluted concentration - approx 1.25% with TSP and surfactant this time. Sanded down the boards that were peeling and put on two solid wet coats. Now I am on the deck again this year for a maintenance clean and another coat on the horizontals. The deck is fine - no peeling, but I have been steadily noticing how hot this deck is. And this time there is sap bleed all over the place - and the deck is real crickity - like it is majorly dried out - you can hear the squeaks of dry wood rubbing against nails. The question - what tact would you take for a customer like this? Not that I am going to suggest stripping now or anything. But I would like to write them a note after the job is done explaining what could be a different tact for the future. Would it make sense for the future to propose stripping and then soaking wood with a parafinic oil stain like Ready Seal or Timber oil and then applying a regular stain over it? I am a curing stain kind of guy - but I just hate how this wood has become like dried out bones. Would it make more sense to go with IPE with such a hot deck? Or would that suffer the same fate? You can see how sap is boiling out of the wood all over the place - and it's heat that is doing it.

I use a film forming stain with tung oils - I use the same stain on my own deck. Perhaps it's bad lumber - and I have not seen another deck behave like this either. It's tone is real similar to WTW - I wonder if WTW would retain the heat as well. And if I switched over to a parafinnic oil type stain - would it constantly boil out of the wood and then people would track it in onto their carpets? I guess I will just keep recoating this deck, until it all boils out - and then sell them on a total restrip and parafinnic + WTW type job.

Rick - yes the deck is high off the ground. As to pine sap leaching - the first year I did this deck - just one board was leaching. Last year more boards were leaching. Now this year it seems the whole deck has leaching problems. It seems to me the leaching of the sap is more indicative of extreme heat than anything else. And first and foremost - the deck is real crickety. I think the retractable awning idea sounds best. As I think due to extreme conditions of this deck - any boards layed down will eventually the same fate of drying out and having the innards boiled out it.

Thanks for the opinions - by reskinned, you mean new floor boards? Now the deck is like 8 yrs. old. Seems like a short life to be replacing floor boards. My Deck is 20 yrs. old and other than replacing a bunch of nails last year with decking screws - the boards are fine and full of life and juices and no crickety sounds. IF this was my home I wouldn't know what to do - it's by far the hottest deck I have ever been on - you'd cook your feet if you walked on it barefoot. If you put new boards down and topped with WTW - I believe the new boards would heat up as well and all the resins would boil out as well through the finish. Are some people just screwed sometimes? Would resins boil out of IPE as well under tremendously hot conditions?

Rent a sander and and edger - 50 grit is common to clean a floor up with - no reason to get real fine - the wood needs some tooth to absorb the poly. Then apply 2-3 coats of the high gloss poly, my favorite is Varmor from P&L - use the scotchbrite machine to buff between coats - its that big round device. And then the last coat use the finish you want, either dull, satin, semi - or high gloss. Use a lambs wool applicator. Oh yes - after you have finished sanding down to bare wood - perhaps 100 grit is fine before poly'ing - vaccum entire surface, tack cloth it, and rub it clean with new rags and mineral spirits. After each sequential coat - wipe down dust after buffing with Denatured alcohol - repeat until final coat is layed down.

So waste water run-off isn't a concern with a gig like this, is this typical that you would wash fleets with sanitary drains? Sorry if I am asking since you stated this is new to you as well. But I take it the normal 5.5gpm units are fine enough to do the task - not much different than house washing? Isn't there more brusing involved? And does hot water come into play anywhere? perhaps steam cleaning the engine bay? A well poplulated trailer of equipment could basically take on this work? Sorry if this sounds like 20 questions - just thinking of the future.

Dangling the carrot - huh Ken. LOL! What's involved in fleet cleaning anyways - what kind of machinery is needed? How fast does a bus typically get washed in?

I went driving in surrounding towns - and I don't see any activity anywhere in terms of painting. And I thought I was lacking work the last two seasons due to monsoons. It's got me nervous - hopefully my classified listing will bring some pressure cleaning jobs and soon!

Yikes - I just put my last $300 in my bank account towards advertizing for the next 21 days in the classified sections. I hope I will get some washing work - now I am worried.

Ok - I am ending this discussion with exactly what that is. And the reason I know because it is all over the deck boards on my new utility trailer. Those are little specks of iron from when someone did some metal grinding next to the wood. Even though it looks darkish - that's just the reaction with the rust and the chemicals in the pressure treated. If they scratch some of those spots - they will notice there is nodule or speck of something in the middle of each stain. And if they are lucky to scratch a big enough one - they will reveal the more pronounced reddish color that we all associate with rust. Tell 'em to use oxalic acid and it will clean it right up - mixed with a surfactant to emulsify it somewhat. Ok don't all run up at once with praises of genius.