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Greg R

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Posts posted by Greg R

  2. Posted · Report reply

    I can't speak for every finish but I know oxalic left on a protected surface (as in no rain to rinse it off) can haze a film based finish. I've seen it happen. Penetrating oils will for the most part allow the "salts" to rinse off in time whereas the filmers hold them under the finish potentially causing some unsightly issues.

    I'm confused about the "soaps" myself. When I think of soaps it leads me to assume where talking about an alkaline base of some sort which I would expect to neutralize off the acidic nature of the acid. A blend of acids I can understand... just not the need for a surfactant in general.

  3. Posted · Report reply

    Early one morning I was pumping shc into empty(so i thought) 5gal buckets. About 3 seconds into the second bucket I heard air being forced from the top of the bucket followed by a stream of foam spuing everywhere, ceiling, my arms and face.

    This was cause by dried oxilic in the bottom of the bucket being rehydrated with shc, not a good combo.

    Thats bad news there.... it creates chlorine gas which when mixed with H20 creates muriatic acid. This stuff can kill ya dead if you inhale too much so be carefull out there. The chlorine gas when inhaled mixes with H20 in your body. One of my guys did that same thing in our shop and just a few minutes we had to evacuate the shop for about 45 minutes. You couldn't stand to even walk in there!

  5. Posted · Report reply

    We'll weve used the AC on about a dozen and a half jobs so far and I have to say I'm loving the stain and so are the customers. The semi transparants are the way to go IMO... we tried the toners this week and while they look good I think the semi trans with the additional pigment is far more versatile and consistant. Rustic Brown is an awesome color on newer decks ... a little dark for the 30 year old projects though. Cedar Semi seems to be the most popular however.

    I was a little concerned over the cost but the coverage seems to average the cost out to be in line with the other products on the market.

    We're finishing up decks and a fence at a beach house on Lake Michigan currently. We're using the Natural Toner on some Palupe decking they have down and they wanted it put on their pressure treated fence and decking as well. I'll try and post pics when its done....

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Finished out two decks with the cedar semi transparant today. One a two tone with white rails (painted solid brown before floor and all....) and one a Pressure Treated deck that we stripped.

    Pros: Overall application is pretty easy. The stain goes down well and leaves alot of color at the surface. One thing I loved about it was how much pigment was actually in it. It allowed the grain to show through nicely but still had enough color to provide a consistant look and hide any blemishes (such as in the two tones often...). Coverage was really very good. We used about a gallon and a half on the elevated deck 3/4 of a gallon on the two tone maybe. Average is around 150 to 200 sq ft to the gallon I would say.

    Cons: Not much really.... Cant stand the metal pails and I would say the pour spout is pretty much useless if you truly have to mix it as directed. The metal pails in general never seem to seal back up very well. If you could simply shake it (haven't tried) the pour spout may be the way to go. Application is easy but you have to be conscious of drips and cut in areas a bit and feather out any spills.

    Overall I would say it's a great product to be honest. No real complaints and although I would like to see a better pail it's not something I would want to pay additional for :) Both customers loved the color and the finished product when we were complete so it gets good marks in my book.

    Our pictures are not the best but you get the idea

  17. Posted · Report reply

    We're on about our 12th solid job this year already... and my guys truly hate them :)

    Bid em' high and let em fly ya know.

    Rick - are you getting the grain clean enough to actually use Ready Seal on them? Majority of our painted decks have so much gunk in the grain Ready Seal would pretty much highlight any imperfections. We typically use TimberStain UV Semi Trans on those for the added pigment.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    As they say... opinions are like .. well.... anyway everyone has one :). For me personally I've never rebuilt our Rapid Reel Swivels from day one as they've never leaked and some are 4 years old. I've rebuilt my 1 year Cox reels (2 of three) twice now since last fall. They were spec'd for well beyond what we use them for.

    Appearantly I just got the sh*tty reels :)

  20. Posted · Edited by Greg R · Report reply

    Rapid Reels have long been my favorite. I used to buy the trees to stack them but they discontinued them. Now we weld up our own :)

    Cox reels are probably the worst that we've encountered. We're constantly replacing the seals and they get bent up easily. I have a Titan stainless but I would sooner buy a Rapid Reel 4000 series. Just My 2 Cents

    We've been running the same chem reel (a RR 4000 series) for 4 years with stripper and brighter running through it numerous times DAILY and it's still cranking out the work. They are just awesome IMO.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    20% down SCHEDULING DEPOSIT on all work under $5000. Over $5000 we do a 30/30/40 split. 30 down at signing - 30 due prior to staining and the 40 balance due upon completion. I always try to get a credit card for the initial deposit as a backup payment source.

    To me it's important to get the customer off the "street" sort-a-speak and the deposit does just that. It doesn't hurt to have some extra cash flow either when the weather throws rain at you for 2 weeks straight.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    Practice masking and it doesn't take long to run tape and mask. 5 minutes and I can usually have the back masked. I run a continuous 2" strip along the base of the house while rolling back the top edge. Then using painters plastic (400' rolls - 9' high) you stick the leading edge. When it's all stuck then you upright it into the place and secure. Then when your done it all pulls down in one continous pull.

    Never tried the easy mask..... interesting about the static cling though. the thin plastic .5 mil works the best as the tape sticks to it real well and it clings to the house good. 400' rolls are about $17 retail but we get them for 12 bucks at Menards or MAB and you can do quite a bit of work off $20 in tape and plastic.

  25. Posted · Report reply

    I just closed a large barn style home with decks similar to that but it only had one level of deck. For a wash and recoat and the house (semi-solid oil) plus a 1200 sq ft elevated (10') deck that wraps half of the home we came in at just under $12K. Keep in mind this is a housewash mix on the home and a percarb and brighten on the deck..... no strip work. I would venture to say on the one in the picture you provided I would price it in the low $20's to strip and brighten. Best thing to do for reassuring bids is to guestimate your time and material involved and work it both ways. Sq Ft pricing works well but not on everything. For the one we just closed we'll have it all prep'd in one day and finished in about 4 days. It's not all that big of a house but it's 32' to the peak and board and batten so the need for scaffold will slow things.

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