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If our work is seasonal, how do we maintain long term employees. Over the last couple of years I've lost employees during the winter because they need to find another job. Every spring I have to hire and train a new set of guys. Does anyone else have this problem?

Which do you prefer HD 80 or F18 max. Im trying to decide on a stripper and I would like to hear it from you guys.

.....sounds good jon thanks for the info, very appreciated

Jon Thanks for the compliment. Im actually a bit frustrated with the service that I offer at this point because while some companys on this forumn are able to remove old stain and clean railings I unfortunatly have not been able to figure out an efficient way to do so yet. Hence, I tell customers that I need to paint them otherwise the Sikkens stain won't soak in properly and will look blotchy etc. I would like to give them the option to re-stain there entire deck. I saw this video today on sealmaxx's website where they kind of walk through the process of restoring a deck. Im pretty sure petrifying the wood is bad but the process they go through to clean their decks looks pretty good. As far as the sanding goes it is efficient for horizontal surfaces (But can get tiring depending on the job). I charge a dollar per square foot and for a 300 square foot deck(with no steps) I could get it done in an hour. Not every deck can get sanded depending on the railing structure. If the railings are constructed on top of the deck floor it can make it very difficuilt to get underneath the rail. The only belt sander I've found to get under rails or in tight areas is a black and decker model (not my favorite brand). Nails do have to get set but the orbital floor sander I use is pretty forgiving with nails.

Jon, I forgot to ask, when you use strippers what strippers/cleaners and equipment do you use. Currently the only chemical I use is a cleaner/brightner in one with a pump sprayer I got from the hardware store for like $20. Couple more pics for ya.

Jon I havent tried the DEK or the Cetol. I've used SRD because it was recommended to me by this guy I used to work for. Here are a couple more pics.

Thank you for the replying jon How do i get a hold of this Pierce and would it be weird if I just called him. 40 million in deck restoration sounds insane. He must now his stuff.

I'm relatively new to deck restoration by comparison to most who write in these discussions. I haven't found any discussion where people use the sikkens product. Is this because people have had bad experiences with sikkens? I've looked into Ready Seal and had some samples shipped up to me but i'm not totally convinced it's better than the sikkens product. Could somebody convince me otherwise? Here is how I do most of the deck restoration work. (I live in MN and most of the decks are Cedar) *If the deck was previously painted or has a stain which I don't think can be removed with power washing alone I will sand the floor and power wash the entire deck knowing not all of the previous stain will be removed on the rails. Since I do not sand the vertical surfaces I paint the railings and stain the floor using the sikkens stain. *If the deck can be cleaned using power washing methods I will apply Sikkens to the entire deck. I do not use any stripers as I have not had very good results using them. I've read here that many people use the HD 80 product. I'm going to have to look further into that product and how it is applied. I would appreciate any comments on my restoration process and any improvements I can make. I am going to try to post some pictures so people can see some before and after pics. ALSO: I just bought a titan 440i sprayer from sherwin williams. I've used sprayers for fences and the floors of decks but it's always been such a hassle on the railings because of overspray and what not. I would appreciate any comments as to what kind of sprayers people use and where they can be bought. Or, if the sprayer I am using will work fine if I just buy a specific tip for it. Any mentoring on the subject of deck restoration would be greatly appreciated. I don't beleive I entered a valid phone number for my profile but my email should work so if somebody is interested in taking some time to mentor a bit more email me and I'll send you my phone number. Thank you!