Hhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeellllp!!!!!!!!!

[Medic442 14]

ok i need some help!!!!!! i have a guy to strip my logs on my house. the problem is a chemical stripper was used and now the logs are all fuzzy and i have streaks of light wood and patches of dark!!!!!!!!

he keeps saying it will blend in. he started one side and IT LOOKS LIKE CRAP!!!!

i need a solution to the problem. a new contractor in st louis. advise on cob blasting to do my self...

HELP!!!!!

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

1st: need to see some pics in order to assess the situation better.

2nd: need to know which stripper he use, which acid was used to neutralize with and the concentration of each.

3rd: Fuzzing is normal when using a chemical stripper. The fix is to defur the logs after they have dried, before applying a borate treatment or finish.

4th: calm down and take a deep breath. It is fixable.

:)

Rod!~

[Medic442 14]

calm down!!????? now that is funny!!!! lol lol i will have to post pics in the morning. i have the old dial up and it takes forever!!!!

i am to the point of telling the guy to get lost and start over!!

its bad enough that i had another contractor come over today to give me a bid on some other stuff and he even commented on it.

but thanks again for the advise!!!!

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/faq.php?faq=new_faq_item

Read this. It should help. There are certain steps to take, and until we see pics we can't tell too much more. But it will be ok. You'll see.

Beth

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Medic,

You have already heard from one of the best in the industry telling you to take a deep breath and rightly so.. You need to let a contractor finish their job and their method. I mean you hire someone to do a process you think you know how to do or you hire them for their ability to do a good job start to finish without your intervention?

Contractor implieing it is what it is or ya got to live with it is one thing but for you to bounce around looking for people to agree with you that a log home restoration includes the wood looking like it is finished when it is only part way through is a bit hasty.

Removing gray dead wood or using stripper to remove old finish usually entails some furring....it doesn'tmean something is broken or a fix or a change is in order..just part of a process.

Often times the fur comes off by itself a bit later on or contractor can mechanically grind or sand it off..no worries :)

[bigchaz 157]

your gonna have top put pics up to show what the deal is

Fuzzing is normal and easily corrected.

What kind of stain was on there originally?

Streaks of light and dark can be just part of the grain of the wood, which is why Im not sure if you are exaggerating here.

[Medic442 14]

no the streaks are pretty bad!!! its not the grain of hte wood. it runs vert not horz.

i understand the fuzz, not a problem. just the streaking is sooooooo bad its not funny. i am talking in some places it runs down 5,6,7 logs.

been trying to post pics. have the old dial up and its taking a very long time. i think i am still on pic one after 20 mins.

but thanks for all the help so far!

[PressurePros 249]

Isn't MO, Jon Fife territory?

Medic, those streaks can be quite a few different things. Pics are good. Do you know how to resize and compress. A web picture shouldn't be more than 50K. Even on dial up that would take seconds to upload.

[Medic442 14]

im working on it. i resized the pics and everything. i keep trying to attach them and it just keeps saying... uploading files.

the streaks, i think, are from the stripper running. you can feel the surface diff between the streak and the wood around it.

[Medic442 14]

anybody have an email i can send a pic to? i got one to load in my email

[Medic442 14]

ok i think i got one to post.. here goes

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Thanx for posting..yikers!... yer gonna have to explain to him that it isn't stripped and rinsed well enough to put stain on yet. Maybe he has plans for a second strip?

The verticle streaks are not gonna blend is my feeling and will not allow proper penetration or adhesion of the new stain/sealer. The horizontal light/dark differences is just your woods character and will look awesome if you use a semi transparent product. The neutralizing/brightening process after a thorough strip may take some the contrast out and prep wood good and proper.

Regardless, If my screen isn't playing tricks on me I think his strip has eaten some the roof overhang paint. Is that part of the plan?..stapeling up some plastic might be a good idear ahe?

[Medic442 14]

no kevin your eyes are not playing tricks. the whole house is like that. some places better some worse. he did only one strip and then started to seal over it as seen above. kept saying it would blend in!!!!! i kept telling him that i thought he was wrong.

[Medic442 14]

here is couple more. still trying to upload them. like i said before. the rest of the house just about the same. some places better some worse.

he first said he was going to strip twice. then he said it looked so good it only had to be stripped once!

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Oh man... I was under impression he had not put sealer/stain on yet..

I believe what I see and it aint good..

In reference to tricks of the eye..Is all the overhang muffed with stripper??!!!

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Medic, I have a probing question for you..

Did you sign a contract for having your whole house stripped and redone and if so, you mind sharing how much the charges are either in a sq. ft. or a linear foot way?

I'm scared for you in that if this guy is not insured properly that your going to be looking at many thousands of dollars to complete the job by a pro. Wonder if your prepared for that...In other words if the guy does this sort of work it is also likely he is what people would call a lowballer and perhaps not carrying suitable insurance coverages for the actual item he is working on..

[Medic442 14]

kevin,

only in a couple of places. he only started to stain about 1/4 of the front only. like i said before... i am soooooooo pi.....ed i am about ready to tell him to get lost and pay him!!!!!! but i hate to do that. if he can fix the problem that is one thing. but how long do you let him keep screwing up until you pull the plug?

i kept trying to tell him what he was doing wrong. but all i got was "trust me, you will like it when its done!"

i researched the project a couple of years ago when i was thinking on going into the biz by doing my own house first and then going from there. but i got a better job and thought it would be better to have a "pro" do the work.

see what i get for thinking!! lol lol

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Think about calling Roger or Celeste of CarolinaProwash..maybe they can help..:

Wood Siding & Log Home Care - The Grime Scene Links Directory

[Medic442 14]

he was recomended by the local log home builder. the price for two strips, caulk where needed, and seal with twp was 4000.00

thats why i just thought about renting a cob blaster from permachink and doing it myself.. lol lol .. cant do much worse!!! lol

[bigchaz 157]

Needs to be stripped again

[MMI Enterprises 289]

A strip is a strip is a strip. Yes sometimes a second strip maybe in order and actually figured into the bid as a whole but whether it takes 1 or 3 it needs to be done. At some point it comes down to inefficiency of mix and abilities of contractor being in question. Whether it takes 1 strip or 3 it still has to be done if you paid for a fully stripped surface. If you paid for what I call a strip cycle in an itemized way then you have to be sure the pricing of that item is proper and proper chem strength is used. Kind of becomes too subjective and you can get ripped off if ya got a scrupulous contractor milking you this way.

With that said you don't always want to be using so powerful a stripper that it all comes off at once in every case. You could damage other things and the area too hazzardous to work in.. :)

[Medic442 14]

i agree, i thought it needed a second or third strip. i think the stripper he used was to strong. i think he thought he could just spray it on stout and spray it off. job done!!! little to no dwell time.

did the price seem to low? he showed me a couple of other strip jobs he did and they all looked pretty good. he came recomended from the builder.

[PressurePros 249]

There is a member on here, Jon Fife that does log homes exclusively. He is in your neck of the woods. I'm certain he would charge you for a consultation but I think it would be well worth it to put your mind at ease. We can all take second guesses based upon what we see in pictures but a) its not really proper etiquette to start pulling apart a contractor's work before the job is completed and b) without knowing the square footage, performing a property assesment and getting into the job personally, you may end up more confused as to what to expect than you may already be. $4000 seems low to me, but if the house is relatively small that may be the right number.

[Medic442 14]

its not the issue of being confused or bang for the buck. someone asked about price and i gave it. just want to know if it was proper. but i think etiquette could go out the door if a pro happens to see a possible consumer being taking advantage of or rather he is doing a poor job. just a judgment request by his peers.

there was never any confusion on expectation. i expect a good looking job. one well done not half---. just wanted to know if you guys thought he screwed up so bad that the job should be yanked or the logs damaged!

yes the house is small. only about 1100 sqft inside.

BUT THANKS FOR ALL THE INPUT SO FAR GUYS !!!!!

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Nothin wrong with shooting for a heart attack from hearing some outlandish lowball price of say a few hundred..lol..:)

Just wanted to sort of make sure things are up and up and in reality far as ball park figures..

Oh but Ken..speaking of confusion..do you hear medic saying contractor thinks it is done stripped?

Still...no time to be too hasty. Just be clear to the guy and tell him your not happy about staining over what we see in pics.. Can all work out good..maybe it looks diffeent when wet and the guy will see it and totally agree to another strip..