Is This A Deck I Should Pass Up?

[FLORIN 21]

Went out to see this deck today. It is aprox 1500sf counting all the rails and posts and steps. It has badly peeling PAINT on it. Im thinking its a latex or acrylic or something. The chips are not briddle, its kinda rubbery.

Can all of this junk come up with a strong strip or does it all need a hard sand to remove all so i could put a wood stain on it. He wanted me to just strip and repaint with same stuff but i got a feelin it will do the same thing in couple years. Or is there a paint that can be applied succesfully to a deck.

Its a gorgeous home with a great view in a great neighborhood and am pretty sure customer wont be too cheap. But I am wondering if its just a lost cause and will be more headaches than its worth.

How would you guys tackle tghis one?

[Jarrod 22]

Run!!

[James 625]

Try Stripper cream from Eaco chem- 5 to 6 thousand for the job

[Scott Paul 164]

Run!!

Jarrod I bet you wouldn't have even got out of the car for this one! You probably would have saw it from a block away and just turned around.:lgbounces

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

I'm with Jim. It can be done, it is expensive, but they need to know there will be residual pigment left. If they can't stand that thought they need to be ready for a solid stain.

Beth

[Jarrod 22]

Jarrod I bet you wouldn't have even got out of the car for this one! You probably would have saw it from a block away and just turned around.:lgbounces

You guessed it.

[FLORIN 21]

the customer is ok with a solid. When he called me he was exppecting me to just strip it and repaint it with the same stuff. The guy that did his deck 2 years ago sold him on that its better to apply an exterior paint rather than a wood stain. He can't get ahold of the "contractor" for some reason. Go figure.Ill give him the bid and explain the right way it should be done by using the correct line of strippers and stains. The sad part is though is he is probably gonna call a painter that will just tell him "sure we will repaint it for you" and then he is gonna be in the same predicament in two years. Gonna try. will see what happens.

[YVPW 20]

I won't run from any strip job. I love a challenge. That's why there calling a wood restoration professional. With that said there are many paint strippers that are non-methylene chloride that you can apply with an airless sprayer. Eacochem has them and most log home supply stores carry them. I think Sunbrite also sells them. Once it's stripped and you can tell how much pigment is in the cracks then you can decide what type of finish will be needed. Possibly Armstrong Clark Semi-Solid. That would be a very expensive job like Jim said. A lot of work. But if there willing to pay I would sure do it.

Edited July 3, 2008 by YVPW

[FLORIN 21]

thanks all. ill do a little more research on strippers available for this and cost and ill give him a bid on monday. we will see.... if he goes for it it will be one hell of a nice deck.

[NewYorkBoraPL 22]

No less than 3.50 per square foot. The amount of time and effort you will put into this deck will haunt you forever. The wood underneath that paint also looks in very poor condition. I would not be surprised if there was rotting and hence replacement boards needed.

[Jarrod 22]

Like I said, Run!

[RPetry 564]

Like I said, Run!

Jarrod,

Why? Some of us do true restorations, not just easy jobs. They can pay well, but you certainly earn it.

Florin may get 7 to 8K for the job. Meanwhile saving the customer 2 or 3 times as much as knocking it down and rebuilding.

[YVPW 20]

I know not everyone likes to do stuff like this. I truly enjoy it. Florin you're looking at about $1500 in stripper for that job, maybe more. You won't have to neutralize with acid, unless you want to brighten the wood more. I don't know what type of tools you have. You will definitely need the usual buffers with osborns. Also need an airless sprayer. I would do it for what Jim quoted, that's around $3.50 to $4 a square.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

We would not pass it up either. :)

Beth

[RPetry 564]

We would not pass it up either. :)

Beth

Beth,

Anyone that "passes it up" is not into wood. Look at the last picture. Gap between the early and late wood is huge. Florin is in Washington state. Might this be good redwood? I think it is.

You cannot buy this wood. At least, not on the East coast. You may not be able to grow the tree that made this wood in your lifetime. You cannot restore it in a day or an hour. But you can do something that not many care or want to do, restore it.

But it must be the right customer and a contractor with a passion for good wood. This ain't PT. Hah!

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

You can be both in to the wood and the money. We are fortunate - we love what we do.

Beth

[RPetry 564]

You can be both in to the wood and the money. We are fortunate - we love what we do.

Beth

Beth,

Very diplomatic. But truth be told, many woodies on TGS could be making a lot more cabbage on other endeavors. Money follows work, experience, knowing your market, love of wood, and a hard time or two.

It ain't easy.

[Jarrod 22]

9 out of 10 times on these decks, the customer does not want to pay for the cost of restoring it. Besides, what a nightmare! I would rather spend my time bidding decks that are on the more realistic side of things.

Sorry Rick, I know that I'm not as great as you are and I just want the easy jobs. Funny though, I strip behr, flood and many other PITA decks. None of those are "easy."

Maybe until I bid 100 painted decks and get only one of them and spend countless hours on the job and get stressed out, I'm not really into wood.

Gosh, all this time I thought I was a good contractor and did a great job saving many decks from these horrible stains by restoring them. Thanx for setting me straight Rick, I mean it. Thanx.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

I think we all like the easy jobs, with higher profit margins. But I know I won't turn away business if it is challenging and they will pay the asking price. But then, each of us knows what we want and don't want to do. There are jobs that 5 years ago we would have turned away, and today we laugh and say bring it on. Sometimes I think you get to a point where your hands on experience tells you, you are ready for something bigger or tougher. It doesn't mean it is wrong to not take on the challenge. It is a business decision, and that's that. I have seen great work from many of you regardless. As long as your customer is happy and would buy services again, that's the bottom line to me.

Beth :groovy2:

[plainpainter 217]

I am backing Jarrod on this one. One of the biggest reasons I left the painting trades - was after 5 years I woke up and realized that painting can never be made into a 'business'. It requires craftsmanship to do a quality paint job. The only way to make painting a business is to do high volume low quality work.

On the other hand Pressure washing can be made into a business - you can start the business yourself work up to well over 100k in sales off your own back - and then start training a helper to replace you after you have systemized your operations. And then further marketing and sales to find more work. Rick et al. Restoring a painted deck like that pictured above leads you away from a business and back to being a craftsman - which is noble - but I am all done being a craftsman - nobody gave me rewards or adulation for being a craftsman - I want to be able to afford a house now.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

I am backing Jarrod on this one. One of the biggest reasons I left the painting trades - was after 5 years I woke up and realized that painting can never be made into a 'business'. It requires craftsmanship to do a quality paint job. The only way to make painting a business is to do high volume low quality work.

On the other hand Pressure washing can be made into a business - you can start the business yourself work up to well over 100k in sales off your own back - and then start training a helper to replace you after you have systemized your operations. And then further marketing and sales to find more work. Rick et al. Restoring a painted deck like that pictured above leads you away from a business and back to being a craftsman - which is noble - but I am all done being a craftsman - nobody gave me rewards or adulation for being a craftsman - I want to be able to afford a house now.

Actually, you CAN do jobs like that, get paid what you need to make, and be a business. We do it every day.

Beth

[Jarrod 22]

We are business owners, not super heros. Spiderman, Batman, Superman & Iron man all had day jobs. Why, because being a super hero doesn't pay.

[plainpainter 217]

We are business owners, not super heros. Spiderman, Batman, Superman & Iron man all had day jobs. Why, because being a super hero doesn't pay.

This is absolutely hilarious, only Jarrod.

[YVPW 20]

I think we all like the easy jobs, with higher profit margins. But I know I won't turn away business if it is challenging and they will pay the asking price. But then, each of us knows what we want and don't want to do. There are jobs that 5 years ago we would have turned away, and today we laugh and say bring it on. Sometimes I think you get to a point where your hands on experience tells you, you are ready for something bigger or tougher. It doesn't mean it is wrong to not take on the challenge. It is a business decision, and that's that. I have seen great work from many of you regardless. As long as your customer is happy and would buy services again, that's the bottom line to me.

Beth :groovy2:

A very good post, that's exactly how it has been with me. I used to would've never tried a job like that. But after constant studying and trying things I would tackle it now. I'm not into mass production. I work on each job that I get. Why? Because I love to do it. And I like to keep it that way. I'm sure many years down the road things will change but as of right now I'm still going strong.

[RPetry 564]

Jarrod,

You may be missing my point, I'll try another tack.

These jobs can pay very well. So well, with the right strippers and equipment, margins can be much better than an average staining job.

These jobs are often non-competitive. Handymen don't have a clue, painting companies run away, and the local "hacks" with a Home Depot PW know better than to try and tackle one. Point being that often there are no other bids.

Within reason, a contractor can name his price. When faced with the cost of a tear down and rebuild, John Doe will often pay up to save his exterior wood.

I realize you are in a difficult market but is it as bad as 1 job in a 100 bids? Beth n Rod, Jason, and I land these tough ones in 3 separate areas. Maybe Florin can too. And make a good buck.

[Tom DeFrancesco 23]

Here is my two cents. Everyone on this post has the right idea but the problem I have run into a couple of times is alot of people do not want to face reality in accepting the fact that they have screwed up by putting solids on there 20K decks. They only want to hear that it could be scraped a little and repainted for about $500- $1000 no matter what kind of proper wood restoration education you try to give them. In my only 3.5 years of experience people hear an outrageous number such as the ones above, (I do aggree with the price) they immediately think you are trying to take advantage of them all because the clerk at the local HD or paint store tells them all they have to do is scrape the loose paint and go over it with some primer and new color. It all comes down to the contractors comfort level of tackling such a difficult job in a reasonable amount of time AND the HO willingness to get the job done correctly.