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Greg R

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Posts posted by Greg R

  3. Posted · Edited by Greg R · Report reply

    Just out of curiousity - what kind of discount on average do you other "woodies" provide to repeat customers? Obviousely we all want to get the most from our work but I feel you just about have to discount the service when they return every 3rd season or so. It's justified too since the work involved isn't as labor intensive and doesn't usually require as much chems or sealer. So what kind of discount on average do you tend to provide to the repeat deck/fence maintenance customer?

    We're around 20% on most jobs

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Hey buddy - I wasn't trying to pick on you or start anything. We can all learn things from one another and to me thats what the forums are all about. Perhaps it was just that picture for that matter. We've had decks that were not not prepped to par and had to go back and reprep..... it happens. Especially when your business is growing and you don't have a hand in everything that happens daily. Stick around - Im sure you can learn some things as well as teach us alot in return.

    My comment on the deck prep wasn't to call you out... it was to offer help but perhaps that job was something a little different. Ken's a great guy that also knows his stuff and you seem to have some trust built with him so ask his opinion on the deck prep.

    On a positive note - great looking website and I like the business name. Stick around........ I'll shut my trap :)

  10. Posted · Edited by Greg R · Report reply

    This is a deck we do every year on the ocean (bay) close to a coal fired power plant as well. The HO wants it done by by brush and roll her way or the hwy...... she stays right there while we do the job and supplies all material and tools-- absolutely no spraying in this area ( she pays very well) All she has used is A/C and it does hold up well but she recently added on alot of new deck boards and fencing and although the stain took well it faded very very quick....We also do a small log cabin for her as well, close to the ocean a with A/C our thoughts on the product eh....... We have to get the ladders up before high tide , she does not like us leaning over the rails......saftey issue......lol.. [ATTACH=CONFIG]14868[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]14867[/ATTACH]

    I say this out of nothing more than to perhaps help you in the long run but I wouldn't let my guys stain the deck if it looked like that after the prep. Honestly to me it looks like your staining right over the weathered surface and the resulting color where it's already been applied is showing that. The prep work is 90% of the final appearance you get with any semi trans finish. Again I mean no disrespect - just wondering if there's something your perhaps not doing to get the results we see. Could you explain your process perhaps?

  13. Posted · Edited by Greg R · Report reply

    Hey Lyle - crushed glass has worked better than cob. It also depends on how heavy the coating is though. If its really caked on there we're more likely to chem strip it. If it just a layer or two and peeling the glass works great. In tends to want to profile out the verticles so you usually have to sand those areas. If the rails are painted we try to convince the homeowner to go two tone though.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    We end up media blasting alot of painted decks and it works well - some need a light sanding thereafter but often they are ready to stain once we're done. Pressure treated pine holds up to it nicely to blasting - cedar you have to be real carefull on. We've also chemically stripped many down to sand out as well but I dont think I would ever try to sand it all off unless its a real thin layer.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    5 years late to respond to this but..... hey what the heck :) Yes we lost two. The first was an employee that was trying to be "neat" by folding up a used wet tarp into a plastic container. Burst into flames in my driveway on a 90 degree and humid day. It was Menwood - which that stuff appearantly had a very low flash point.

    The second van went from a squiral that decided to nest behind the exhaust manifold. Caught the van on fire driving down the road.

  18. Posted · Edited by Greg R · Report reply

    Burn out happens .... sometimes you just have to step back and re-evaluate things. Burn out got me a few years back and I ended up starting another business and took a 2 yr hiatus. At that time I was deciding as to whether I wanted to sell the business or not and move onto something new but after awhile I just missed it. Glad Im back on track now but I did make alot of changes in the way we do things.

    To be honest I even miss owning/running deckguide and the forums at times but there's only so much time in a day so you have to prioritize.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Business always drops off around July around here with regard to woodcare. I've never really pinned down what causes it but I think when the kids get out for summer break the attention goes to vacations and such more so than home improvement projects. We put most of the the marketing effort into March through June - slow in July and August and pick it back up late August through October.

    Last year we were definately down in sales overall from 07' and 08' - our close ratio was certainly tighter as people were hanging onto thier money. The steel mills did alot of laying off and alot of union trades had alot of layoffs. It was still a "good" year overall as you just adapt to the situation.

    2010 seems optimistic... hearing of more people getting back to work and such so we'll see. :) Home shows start up end of next month.

  21. Posted · Edited by Greg R · Report reply

    I wasn't insinuating you would - Im sure Beth wasn't either. I guess my response was more for those who wouldn't know any different. I've done the same with regard to experiments believe me :)

    In all reality even that wood could be prepared and stained to look "ok" in appearance. Unfortunately structurally speaking it wasn't worth saving appearantly.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    Scott - I am still thinking this all out - but I think there may be a tendency to try and relate this back to what we know with hypothetical situations of 'what if'.

    I think the point is, if you are in an industry where the bulk of your dollars goes into materials, a simple 10% markup can go a long way. Look at the guy installing Mahogany decks or Ipe for that matter. Say he builds a hundred decks in a season with a crew of 5 guys, let's say you have the same crew size - same amount of 'crew' hours but your materials simply paint. A 10% markup on all that lumber can go a long long way towards net profit margins.

    Looked at it another way - why is it so hard to compete in the painting trades? Because our estimates are mostly man-hours. I think my man-hour needs to be $57/hr - you may think a good crew can make a handsome profit of $47/hr. Then there is local 'townie' that paints all day long for $21/hr. Since 85% of overhead is in labor - this translates to huge swings in the final price tags.

    Now look at competing deck builders, let's say labor is 33% of the total estimate. The materials is a pretty much a non-negotiable item - it is what it is. Looking at the labor portion - say one guy charges labor at half of someone else - since labor is only 33% - this only translates to a 15% difference in price, unlike in painting. And the materials cost is what it is - you now have with the same labor hours per year as any other trade like painting or plastering - but you have an additional 66% of materials that you can easily markup 10% - and that will translate into huge profits.

    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.

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