Greg R

So the key to being wealthy is making 10% off a $100 gallon of stain rather than a $40 gallon of stain? :) Is that why you want stain at $100 a gallon? Markup on materials should be a given. If your not doing it already your losing a decent addition to your gross sales. We've been breaking down the stain as a seperate line item for probably 1o years now and we sell it for a profit just as the labor is. In fact in Indiana if you DONT break it apart from the invoice you have to charge 7% sales tax on the whole invoice rather than just the stain so for the customers sake we have to as well. In a big business environment yes a 10% markup can yield a significant addition to gross sales. With a small business with the volume we do it might add a profit of $12 to 15k to the bottom line. Is it worth it? Absolutely... but it's still not the bread and butter of the business.

Okay I admit I'm tired but...... How does this relate to wanting $100 a gallon stain? And who in the pressure washing / wood restoration business on this scale has an 85% labor cost??? I feel like we're missing some important points to this conversation Dan had :)

So help me if he says "so the hacks can't afford to buy it....." :lolsign:

We'll lets not hold onto the secret now.... please justify your statement. Where theres a positive there's usually a or many more negatives :)

ummmmmm...... your nuts Dan. Anyone ever tell you that :)

Getting the plows and salters ready as we speak :) 70" last year....... hoping for a real doosy of a year this year. Bring on 100"+

+10 :) floor only measurements dont work

Crews and crew size change with the job honestly. Sometimes a job takes one guy while another may take three to get it done in a reasonable time frame. We run 4 crews and have 7 guys on payroll right now and we shift them around as the job requires it. We run all box trucks and cargo vans... no trailers. We have extra equipment for emergency but rarely have we had problems with our washers and such.

Shoot me an email Bryan - timberseal@comcast.net I'm not all that far away from it. :( I was supposed to be heading out fishing for Coho this morning but lake michigan decided to throw out some 3 to 6' waves early this morning. Figured I'm up.... I'll check in on the boards Thanks Greg

Ok.... Hi my name is Greg and I'm a motorcyle addict . I've had several street bikes in years past but have been without for about 8 years or more. Raced motocross for years and that satisified my need to be on two wheels... until.... Well the itch was getting bad and I hadn't rode even my RMZ450 for a year and a half so I went to HD to look around a bit Needless to say it turned into some expensive window shopping. I was stuck between the Fat Bob, Street Glide and the Heritage Softail. In looks the softail really had it all but with regard to ride (and a radio/cd player that rocks!) the Street Glide won me over in the end. What an awesome ride is all I can say. It's like riding a cadillac with a built motor made to rumble. Plus it was more comfortable for the wife Picked it up Thursday morning and already put 200 miles on it

I'm thinking a trailer Tony :) The saddlebags can act as float tanks to a 8gpm skidster on a trailer. 53mpg highway says it can work!

Just a thought but did you try and put down another coat maybe? Not sure if that would bring the other boards into that deeper color range or not but it's something to try. I agree in that it seems there's something in the wood there that 1) is keeping all the finish from absorbing or 2) is shifting the pH and color of the wood to take the finish darker.

Looks awesome!

We've cleaned and sealed a few sealmaxx decks just as though we would any other deck with a clear finish on it. As far as I can tell the only difference may be in how much finish it absorbs but in looking at the decks a year later (after sealmaxx) you couldn't tell it was ever done. It did take the sealer fine though. The homeowner paid something like $7grand for them to do it too! :(

Thats called a square buff sander and they will work okay for a relatively flat floor but they are slow. We use the Makita 9227C's with the 8" arbor pad and 60/80 grit hook and loop. It's a hands and knees thing is the bad thing but you can move pretty fast and roll with the contour of the boards.

+1 .... make no promises that the weather can break for ya

Yes I do :D Got your message Rick - I'll give ya a call this week sometime buddy.

I thought they already killed the product last I heard. You using temp service help Ken? I checked into that and they told me I couldn't have the guys up on ladders but.... we do alot of ladder work so that didn't happen :) .

The OMax around here is still an oil base - The blue can is a penetrating oil finish (usually clear) with the green can being the semi transparant oils. OMax in my experience has been an easy strip though with even a percarb taking it off. That deck almost looks as if it had another product on it even before the homeowner applied the OMax. The picture of the rail has that varnished look to it like they may have used Sikkens or spar varnish on it - possibly an acrylic but the shine leads me to believe something more in line with the first two choices.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYmQhEATIGE]YouTube - Indiana Deck Cleaning & Sealing Contractor - Log Home Cedar Siding Fencing Valparaiso TimberSeal[/ame] Shameless self promoting ;)

Thanks Rick - thanks Beth! We're seeing more and more work come from the net now-a-days so you might as well take advantage of it. The price is certainly right :)

I agree..... getting a white or light colored solid out of all the nail/screw holes and checks is nearly impossible. You might look at Cabot Decking Stain - it's about 80% opaque and holds up pretty well on the floors. Be carefull how tight you sand the floor out though as the stain won't penetrate well.

I'm curious as well as Walgreens is on my hitlist.

Looking back at this topic and seeing the results you can only assume there are alot of part timers in the votes. To have 69 votes in the $1K to $5K a month range is financial suicide. You would be better off with a 9 to 5 job with benefits. Onaverage as a full time business our trucks need to be billing a $1000 a day in work when they are out. As a single operator with a helper even $15K a month should be pretty easy if your bidding the jobs right.

Just pick up a case of RV antifreeze as its cheaper (usually $2 to $3 a gallon) and use it straight. 5 Gallons will usually flush the machine and 200' of hose no problem and allow your machine to dump some antifreeze into your tank (assuming it bypassed). Make sure you trigger your gun as well. Empty tank of course :)