Greg R

The % isn't out of line in my opinion as a sum of the invoice. Our % fluctuates a decent amount with a low of 10% to a high of 25% depending on the project. Fencing for instance generally has a lower cost per sq ft for labor yet eats up a whole lot more material than a deck. As long as your profitable on the retail end of the stain (another good reason to bid it out separately) that's all that matters. From there just make sure your making what you need to make on the labor end. We have a decent mark up on our stain products to the customer as well but I know when we use AC there's not much there to be made due to the expense.

We bid the finish as a separate line item as well for both sales tax and mark up purposes. In Indiana we have to collect sales tax on the stain only. The remainder of the labor and chems do not require us to do so. With regard to cost yes you just have to charge more especially if your ordering in small quantities. We usually bring in 240 gallons at a time to insure adequate stock and save on freight costs but we're dedicated wood so I know we'll use it quickly. I would suggest keeping your pricing the same and just adding in the stain as a separate line item. You might be surprised as too what the market will bear :)

I think Verizon is only $10 a month to add it on to our phone plans. What are you using the ipad for in the field?

Home shows are firing up (2nd show for the year is this weekend), marketing is hitting the mail boxes starting March 18th onward and maintenance quotes start going out in a couple weeks. We don't market over the winter months at all outside of the website and facebook stuff. Came into this season with a lot of work already in the schedule though. 2012 was a great year - hoping for a even better 2013 :)

:) I think I still have some Wolman F & P in the shop... probably every bit of 10 years old LOL Any takers?

Looks awesome Charlie! Getting the itch to get back at it here real soon :) T-minus 3 weeks or so and it's on

powerwash porn :) have 4 box trucks and 2 cargo's in the field.

Looking boss hoss! :greedy_dollars:

Sherwin is pushing all water base even though they have had a lot of complaints about the product durability. I've become pretty friendly with the store and reps around here and catch all of the referrals when they fail. Most within 12 months as usual. Sadly they know the issues but they still push the product heavily as you would expect. With regard to builders we do a ton of business networking with them. The tough part is getting them to actually put your name out in front of their customer. It took years for one of our builders to finally start referring us but he sent probably 80k in work my way last year. I still send mailers and make phone calls coming into Spring each year on the hopes we can pick up more each year. I just wish we had more requests for construction that we could refer back.

Yep..... what they said :)

Thanks Chris - no this was all 3M vinyl with some being printed full color and laminated. As for the other BS in here... I wish I had the free time to post BS and argue over stupid as* sh*t all day.

Certainly have to shop around. I had quotes in the $2600 to $3000 range for the same thing. The guy who does my stuff works out of his home but has all the equipment to do full color laminated graphics.

Why waste time your time... Let a vinyl guy do it quick and easy and you go out and make the bucks. Putting our 6th truck in service on Monday and my sign guy knocks them out in 24 hours full color for $900.00. It's by far the best ROI you'll probably ever have so put some thought into it. Greg

pergolas are time consuming - $700 to a $1000 average here. In a perfect world you would spray them all but that never seems to happen (wind!)

I still visit nearly every project for the bid and meet with 90% of the homeowners at the time of the bid. If it means meeting up with them at 7pm so be it... you can't get a check from an empty house! Honestly I close a ton of work for just being me if that makes any sense. We're damn good at what we do but I love meeting our customers and can really bond with most to build a level of trust, respect and honesty in a very short period of time. As far as bidding quotes are all FREE and I also bid onsite with a computer and printing of the estimate(s) within a few minutes. I still have a lot of customers double take when they see the printed quote vs a hand written one. Just another notch above the competition... Been running 10 to 15 bids a day for nearly the past month other than my week off for vacation. Things are crazy busy this year. We do charge a on consultation fee for log homes outside of our service area IF we need to visit the home. Have to be able to justify the time and fuel if the need be...

New and old lumber will never match up initially. When the times comes that the deck is due for maintenance (2-3 yrs from replacement) it will blend perfectly. One thing we DO always do is replace the wood prior to stripping the deck. That helps but it's still several shades off.

Curious why they wouldn't allow you to use bleach? It's probably the best choice of all stated above as it breaks down quick and leaves little with regard to trace.

I guess that would depend on what your selling (telling) them? If you give them expectations on annual maintenance then they should come to expect annual maintenance. If your telling them 2 or 3 years then yes your probably going to have some disgruntled customers. Its all in educating the customer Dan.

Problem is when it fails (and it will) he'll assume you did a poor job and that caused the failure. I guarantee thats what Sherwin Williams will blame it on (poor prep, underapplied, overapplied, etc...).

Get away from the decks :) SW waterborne is going to end unpleasantly. We're already seeing the stuff peel around here much like the BEHR Acrylic.

I've investigated it, applied it and watched it fail to hold color for 2 seasons in the midwest region. Not impressed at all with the product especially for the price.

We downstream strip probably 65% of the deck work we do - just not with HD-80.

The pH of a percarb solution (not pH nuetral) brings tannin to the surface therefore darkening the appearance. The acidic base brightener will supress the tannins and bring back the natural color. There's some chemistry going on there..... We have always brightened after using a percarb.

hell I just noticed the date on his listing...... Nov 15 2009

Sounds as though you may have done some serious sanding on this deck as well which won't help your cause from a longevity standpoint. Sanding closes the pores and restricts the woods ability to absorb as much finish. At times it's a necessary evil but just know going in the deck will not accept the stain as well and may require a maintenance coat sooner than it would otherwise.