Aqua Pro

Am I the only one getting off to an extremely slow start this year? Honestly the phone is barely ringing. I talked to a friend of mine in this area who owns a rather large painting company that has only done one exterior job.

Just curious what others are using to strip stains like Behr, sikkens or even latex. Being in a voc compliant state since 2009 I'm seeing more and more of these types of stains. In years gone by I've pretty much opted for a clean and coat solution because I've found the removers sub par. I've had some success with floods wood finish remover but at $32 a gallon it's hard to keep bids reasonable For oil decks I've used F-18, severe strip, remove to name a few but none of them work exceeding well on waterborne. I've also tried boosting with AD633 but don't really remember how effective it was. I need an affordable, EFFECTIVE product in my arsenal. What additives can I get my hands on to mix my own? Can you buy glycol ether? Or propylene? Please only reply with products if you have actually used them with great success. I have people tell me all the time try this or try that only to find the stain just laughs it off. Thanks!

I should mention that Henry and Linda of Sunbrite have treated me very good as well ;-)

So I've "power washed" trains and banks and barns and synthetic golf courses and graffiti and houses and and and.......but I've never bid on a rubber playground "mat" I'm looking for a little advice. Anyone already do it? What procedure did you use? What cleaning agents did you use? Pressure? Bid price? So basically I have two areas to clean. One is 960 Sqft and the other is 800 Sqft. Both are for a pre school and both substrates are basically mulched rubber that has been bound together. My working theory is that it will stand up to a surface spinner reduced to 2000 psi but I'm thinking 40 degree tips reduced to about 800psi utilizing a cleaning agent similar to a house wash. IE 1/2 gallon power house (my detergent of choice), 1 1/2 gallon Sodium Hypochlorite and three gallons water x-jetted with the black proportioner. Thoughts? PS- yes I am posting this in one or two other industry forums for maximum exposure Thanks in advance **Photos attached**

Thanks Rod!

Since being "ripped off" on that junk machine they sold me I'm no longer a fan of ES- yes I WAS a loyal cust for years as well. The power wash store in Milwaukee WI will be my new supplier (formally envirospec north run by Paul)- PS- I know my reply was/is off topic and maybe even full of a little bitterness but the way they treated me with this dreadful hunk of junk has left me a bit sour ;-/

I have been a customer of Envirospec for many years and up until recently been happy with their prices and customer service. Not long ago I purchased a power washer from them (found herehttp://www.envirospec.com/ecatalog/2015-TNT.htm ) and can honestly say that it is the single WORST investment I have made in my company since I began a decade ago. DO NOT purchase their 15 HP Lifan power washer. It is poorly designed and engineered.I have had no less than eight major breakdowns with this one machine and I've been using it less than a month. I had two more breakdowns today back to back which shut me down for almost two hours. The most disappointing aspect of this ordeal is that Envirospec has been absolutely quiet on this. I've left them voice messages and sent two emails. Not one return call or email! They claim there is a three year warranty but I can't even get them to acknowledge my complaint. After the two breakdowns today and the silence on their part I thought it was time to say something public about it. Check my history, you don't see me complaining in forums or online EVER but this whole situation has left me no choice. A simple return call or email would have been nice but the only contact I have received from them is to solicit my business for more merchandise. Once again let me say that the 15 hp lifan machine that they are selling is the worst quality piece of equipment I have ever purchased hands down. The 3.5 gal direct drive I bought from sams club when I first started ten years ago blew theirs away in terms of quality and reliability. Save your money!

GL with your machine. Mine has broken down again since I started this thread. Three of the four welds holding the heat shield to the exhaust manifold have broken. I have NO heat shield in place now and three gapping holes puffing smoke in addition to the actual exhaust port. Honestly it's almost laughable at this point. PS... STILL complete silence on the part of Envirospec. They are totally ignoring this. Three year warranty my butt... This thing has had nine or ten things break on it in just over a month and a half

Paul (power wash store) ran envirospec north....I've never had a problem with them or now as the powerwashstore. In fact I just bought a gen III roof cleaning rig from them last week. My complaint/issue is with envirospec in GA

Coupler between pump head and unloader has sheared off thee times, the exhaust manifold has vibrated completely off, the pulley rope broke on the third use, the machine is very hard to start/backfires like a Cannon, came shipped on it's side with a dented tank and broken pressure gauge (which envirospec did replace to their credit).... These are some of the major issues I've had just this month. I understand the "get what you pay for" remark and generally agree but I can honestly say that I've had way better results with my first "cheap" Sam's club machine in 5 years than I have had with this one in one month. Envirospec should be embarrassed to put their name on something this bad. They had earned my trust as a good company with fair prices and good customer service. That's gone after this experience and it's due more to the lack of concern than a poorly built machine. I've bought products from front 9, the powerwashstore, Delco, sunbrite supply, ACR products, north american pressure wash outlet and a few other online retailers and have had outstanding customer service. Envirospec also served me well until this fiasco. I had no Intention's of posting a bad review after the first incident or the second or third or fourth etc but their complete lack of concern to address my problem prompted me to take it to the "next level" Hopefully I can save someone else a few bucks by steering them clear of substandard equipment being sold by a supposedly reputable company.

Curious what folks are using these days for oil base stain application. I still have and use my Sunbrite Deckster and my ACR Products Decker (virtually the same except for battery box and powder coated frame) What's new (or old) out there that you use/like and why?

I'm using my deckster/decker for stain only as well and shurfloes for chemical. I use airless for my solid hybrid. I was wondering if their were other HVLP systems available that would atomise similar to the decker with even coverage. I've seen the Wagner type systems and wondered how well something like that would work. One immediate and obvious disadvantage that I seen is capacity. Looks like most of those have half gallon reservoirs. I was hoping someone knew of a better mousetrap. :)

Sodium hypoclorite is a biocide that will kill mildew, bacteria and disinfect. It won't break down spiderwebs. Neither will the butyl or NaOH in the powerhouse. The enzymes in the spider poop or the breakdown of their prey can sometimes be lightened with acid based cleaners but they do require scrubbing. If you are trying to remove straight webs and/or nests/cocoons your best bet is to flush them out with copious amounts of water and moderate pressure. By moderate I mean 1000-1200 PSI but never on EIFS and with caution on vinyl. Wash with the direction of the overlaps. I'm on a cell phone and it's difficult to tell what your substrate is. If it is stucco or an EIFS system like dryvitt your going to find out those webs are going to stick really really well. When reachable I would start in one corner and "sweep" them to the opposite corner with water and then work your way down the wall. It does require some patience but with time you can get most of them off, unless they have degraded and stained into the substrate. I understand your main issue is the height. Do you have a telescoping wand? You may be able to put an x-jet on the end and close it about 2/3 of the way so it's not quite a straight stream and flush a lot of it out with the wand fully extended. A lift is going to incur a sizeable expense. I'm 6'5' and have a 24' extension wand. With that, 4gpm, a 40tip @750Psi and my arms above my Head, I could most likely clean that to an acceptable level. You may have to get creative to boost your height. Maybe figure out a way to elevate a 2x12 or plywood a foot or two but only do so with extreme caution and safety protocol in place. That extra foot or two might give you that boost you need to reach with your extension wand saving the customer hundreds of dollars for a lift. Another option might be to get an extension pole and wrap a wad of duct tape backwards (sticky side out) and collect the webs or a block brush on the end of the same pole and broom them. GL -Tom

I could really use some help getting my business Page on the radar with some likes :-D Thanks if you can help! https://m.facebook.com/aquaprocs?ref=bookmark I'd be happy to do the same! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ryan. so sorry...just NOW seen your reply.....your page has been liked! (not sure if you did on mine or not but I hit yours anyway)

Ok, don't shoot me for asking this question but I HAVE TOO! Every year something new comes along that claims to be the next best thing but my personal experience with products from Menards and/or home depot have not been good. I hate Behr. I remember when I got into it with one of their lab rats over the problems with silicone being added to their stains a few years back. I wasn't using Behr- I was basically yelling at them for putting out such crap. I also remember when Restora came out and how it was supposed to be the greatest thing since the toaster oven...yeah ask Tom over at ACR what he thinks of Restora! Anyway, I have been asked once or twice on these new coatings coming out that are basically being touted as liquid armor. My first thoughts once I hear they are from the box stores is RUN! but every product is worth at least investigating. Having said that, I have no first hand experience on either Rock Solid or Restore but they are here and DIY'ers will be using them so I need to get as much info as I can about them. Has anyone used them? Has anyone had to clean a deck with them already applied? Does anyone know how the longevity is with them on different woods? What application could you see these being good for? Basically I want to be able to educate my customers as to why they are GREAT or to why they should be shunned like a Pitbull at a cat parade. Trex was AWESOME when it first hit the shelves....until folks seen the inherent mold issues and how much it sagged, how hot they got etc etc. My educated guess is going to be "JUNK"- stay away. I can see MVT issues with the Restore product- much like the old non breathable latex stains had with bubbling and peeling through humidity trying to escape. Or problems with wood expanding/contracting. I can also see a nightmare trying to refinish these decks down the road. that's just my "haven't used them yet- enlighten me" take on it though

Update. .. I ordered a gallon of AD633 from Tom V of ACR products and also picked up a qrt of strip ease from menards. The strip ease comes with a little spray bottle. I took two lbs of raw soda beads and filled the spray bottle that came with strip ease with that product. I filled the same bottle half way up with the AD633. The strip ease didn't mix all that great with the water but overall it worked. They have a few different versions at menards, one of which is more "watery". I have stripped two acrylic decks with this concoction so far with pretty good results. The first deck was a behr stain and I would estimate about 90% came off. The second deck was an Olympic hybrid and the results were about the same. Caution to anyone wanting to mirror this mix. You MUST add the chemicals to the water. Do NOT put these chems in a bucket and then add water. You will get an instant boil. Also, extra care must be taken in handling and applying. Wear a respirator, proper chemical gloves, dont apply in the wind and be extra diligent in protecting vegetation. Mix and use at your own risk. I would not use this mix on a oil based deck. Always do a test spot in an inconspicuous area. Watch your dwell time carefully. Remarkably I didn't have much in the way of fuzzies but then again I was stripping stain that was relatively in tact. Very little bare wood was sprayed. As a side note, one of my work vans had a couple years worth of stained hand prints all over the doors. I sprayed, wiped and rinsed. The stains literally just wiped off like fog on a mirror lol.

Just my 2 cents... but why bother stripping it if your just going to add another solid to it? Do you strip the paint off your kitchen wall before repainting it? I don't. I clean it and recoat.i generally will clean a solid deck to remove as much failed stain as possible, sand out high spots (feather the edges where remaining product meets bare wood and recoat. I suppose an argument can be made that there are portions of the deck that aren't compromised today that may fail down the road so it would ultimately be better to have a fresh canvas but I have "restored" many solid decks by cleaning and re coating with very little if any issues. Either way good luck!

I need some advice. Why ask here? Because Proverbs says " Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety." Here is the low down.....A local homeowner is restoring an old house top to bottom. The house has a cistern in it that he wants drained, Power washed and sealed. It's basically poured concrete with some sort of damp proofing on at least part of the walls. Some of it is exposed aggregate. It's approximately 12' in (from entrance to back wall), 15' wide and 8-10' deep. The opening is a small 2 foot wide hole. My three questions are how the heck do I get a ladder in there B] What in the world should I charge for something like this and What could I "seal" the walls with? I'm thinking some sort of epoxy, like they use when on pools when they don't want to re pour concrete. Getting the ladder in there is an issue because a short ladder will clear the opening and "fall" before hitting the interior brick wall but not be long enough to hit the bottom and still provide a way out. A long ladder would reach from top to bottom but the brick wall inside and low ceiling prevents me from dropping it in. I have a few ideas but as my opening scripture states in sop many words, "two (or three or four or....) heads are better than one!

I've never used hd-80 but keep seeing that name pop up. Time to place an order and give Tom a call for some more 633 as well. :)

I had a very similar job a few years ago. Old farm Barn was bought by a church and they wanted everything clean because they were converting it into a youth center with the rustic look. It had loads of pigeon poop and dirt/webs and bird nests. We factored a scissor lift into our bid and x-jetted power house from sun bright cut with bleach and a red proportioner. There was no need to brighten it once washed and because we used a mild alkaline wash the rince was easy. The hardest part of the job was the logistics of it. Getting in and around and above some of the beams. That and keeping our wash strokes even and feathering out areas that we couldn't run the length of the board or beam to prevent stop marks.

I have one. .. the vulcan ladder... that's what you see in the p8c. It doesn't work. I am going to have to make something. I almost need a rope ladder or something similar. I really need to figure out the sealing aspect too

Ps...I should have also mentioned that traditional latex stains were very prone to peeling. It was due to a couple primary reasons. 1) they didnt expand and contract with the wood as well and 2) they were not as permeable and humidity trapped under a deck could literally push the stain off. In the "days" a solid oil may have been a better option than a solid latex. The new hybrids like the flood product I mentioned doesnt behave that way. In my experience, it is very durable and holds up well to foot traffic, patio furniture, weather etc. It doesn't come off in strips like old school latex. It more less will scuff over time, very much like some of those oul based prodicts that have a less penetrating topical membrane. If you have a virgin deck, a deck with an oil or even some acrylics. .. stick with oil and sell the customer on it's benefits such as protection from within, ease of maintenance, fade vs scuff, enhancement of woods natural beauty and grain etc. On those tough to strip decks or ones that have a solid on them already you may want to consider water based as an alternative, one with an oil self priming polymer. GL!

Personally I feel that a good penetrating oil based stain is best for exterior wood such as decks. Without getting into the chemistry and different types of oils let me just say even some of the oil based stains on the market still have film forming properties. In my state for instance (illinois) the EPA has forced the manufacturers into reformulated products that fail to penetrate as well as their "ancestors" one did. Obviously there are some very good products on the market that Are VOC compliant even in the so called "green states" that DO penetrate adequately. As fas as acrylics and latex ( waterborne) stains are concerned, there is a time and a place for them. Where oils are great for virgin. Wood or wood that has an oil on it that can be stripped. Water based products come into play for a lot of structures that have already been coated with such. Some may disagree with me but my personal opinion (there are exceptions) is match the chemistry. I've come to the point where a deck that has bern previously coated with a latex will get re coated with a latex. The strippers designed to remove said coatings are often times more dangerous to the ozone, vegetation and YOU than those "bad" oil based stains the epa want to get rid of. Not only that but often times stripping a deck coated with a latex stain can be time consuming and expensive and it's likely you will never remove it all. When I do use latex (usually solid) I use one with a good emulsifier in it or what is referred to as a "self priming stain". The deck gets power washed to remove any surface contamination, dirt, mold. Etc and as much failed stain as possible. I do not usually neutralize a deck like this. Number One, I'm using a milder alkaline to clean this deck, not a heavy duty caustic stripper. Secondly oil based stains prefer acidic surfaces whereas waterborne adheres better if the wood is left slightly alkaline Once the deck dries to an appro moisture level I scrap and sand to smooth out the edges and remove some of the chips/flakes that the power washer did not remove. I hesitate to mention particular brand names but will do so anyway. I use flood swf solid. It has their trademarked emulsibond (spellcheck) in it and I have had great success with that product. I live in area that sees blazing summer sun and artic winters and in three years time I've only had one deck fail and it was clearly an issue with the deck. Anyway hope that helps. :-)

First off, hello Grime scene..Been a while since I've posted anything. I need a mentor- someone willing to train in exchange for some free labor....let me explain. When I started my wood restoration company in 2005 I decided that before I even tried to offer services in my area I wanted to learn as much as I could. I was fortunate in that the people I talked to first were folks like Everett Abrams, Tony Szabo, Pete Marantey, Henry Bockman, Tom Vogal, Jay Tarintino (V-seal), Jack Kramer and of course Rod/Beth and this community. Everett, Tony, Pete, Henry and Tom were on my speed dial as I was learning and they helped me tremendously in those early days. Well, every year I go through this ritual where I start thinking of all the services I could be offering but don't for whatever reason or another. I'm there again. I have wanted to add epoxy floors to my list. I really need to be honest here. I have let my company slack. I have not grown in the last 7 years. I'm really quite embarrassed at my lack of growth. It really mostly boils down to discipline. I just haven't put the energy and effort into taking it to the next level. It's time to quit talking about growing and GROW. I'm really looking for someone outside my geographical area (so we are not direct competitors) that would be willing to "show me the ropes." Watching You tube videos is great but I really want/need hands on. I would be willing to travel to any location (preferably warm), check into a hotel and give you a couple/few days labor in exchange for some knowledge. I need training. I need to work on SEO and get involved with social media, I need to catch up on my trade organization affiliation, I need to catch up on what's hot and what's not product/chemical wise, and I need to get my head back into the game. My trucks are dirty, my equipment is run down, and my phone book ads have expired. I have become pretty much a lazy, uninvolved, wait for the phone to ring contractor. That's not to say that I don't take pride in my work when I do work. I love what I do and I think it's obvious that I don't want to do shoddy work; otherwise I wouldn't invest in the time to write this letter. I've got roughly two months before spring and I need to get into gear. Is there anyone following this forum that would be willing to give me the knowledge and skills needed to comfortably and professionally start providing this service in my area? I may not just stop at epoxy flooring. I'm investigating concrete coatings and sealers in general. Possibly colored concrete stains etc. I do currently clean concrete drives and seal them. I have been using products from V-seal. I met jay and Jeanine in Memphis and we have stayed in contact ever since (I know they no longer run V-seal but I still use the product). I also restore (clean, resand and seal) pavers but I feel epoxy floors would be a great addition. This post is a first step approach and jump starting this endeavor. The last seminar I attended was the PWNA convention back in 2007. I'm looking forward to getting a few offers. I KNOW the Grime Scene caters to some of the best power washers/restoration companies in the country and that's why I'm here. I trust this community and really hope someone can help me out. This endeavor isn't just about me learning a new skill/product knowledge. It's also a way for me to get inspired. Getting around like minded folks goes a long way at blowing the dust off! Thanks to any and all in advance for any help or advice you offer. -Tom Aqua Pro Cleaning Solutions (630) 723-9296 www.aquaprocs.com