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?

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Is This A Deck I Should Pass Up?

Well ya know what they say when they say "If ya got to ask"...

That said, the horizontal area is ready to give up the ghost all flaking and degraded like it is. Shouldn't be much different than an intact acrylic stain would present. The verticles likely another story and ya should plan for stripping with a gel or cream type stripper with good hang time. I would sell the deck as strip job conversion to a semi trans stain and then the verticles redone with solid after washing, scraping, and sanding any loose stuff.

Shouldn't be more than a couple hundred in strip supplies and $3 a foot is doable although I would want more. Even with the bigger swing machine for sanding/defurring I would want more.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

PS- Jarrod forgot Hancock

[Mathew Johnson 123]

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:

Whether or not we would take this job depends on many factors. The two most contributing factors are; our current work load and whether or not the customer wants to pay the freight. I agree, a challenge makes one better at their craft and have found that just about anything is possible. But, I would decline a job like this in the heart of the season, regardless of price they would be willing to pay. 2-4-10 K, it wouldn't matter. I would offer them the service for the early fall.

THe other issue is that in the past 5 years, the three biggest pain in the a$$ projects have all been solid decks - One I lost money on, one I broke about even and one I hit a grandslam... In that order, no less. There is a lot to be said for the learning curve of professional wood restoration

.

Good luck and happy stripping!

[Jarrod 22]

I'll sum it up with this, It's easier to strip the deck than to convince the customer to pay the price. That's why I won't even bother. I would rather spend my time getting realistic jobs than wasting my time trying to sell a painted deck strip.

I'll make a prediction - you either won't get the job, or if you do get the job, you'll wish you hadn't.

I'm not trying to be negetive, but, my experience (8 years) in this line of work tells me this.

Good luck.

[MudDuck 20]

Or "C" after you talk them into forking up six or eight grand "to do the job right" they will expect a brand new deck. So you better know your stuff and what you can do and set expectations before accepting the job. Tell them it's just going to depend on how well it strips as to what can be done with it. Factor in a possible cost overrun in the "estimate" and see how they take it. Dont low ball the job because you want the "challenge" or afraid you wont get the bid. Make it pay or walk away.

[FLORIN 21]

Bid it for $5200.00 plus being on contract for at least the first maintanance. Even though after all my educating on why he needs it restored and why paint is bad for his deck he said he needs to think about it. Most likely will end up going with a painter that will repaint it for 500.00. If maybe I was a better closer maybe i would have gotten it. Ahh, no lost sleep here. Im not writing him off though, ive had customers come to me when i thought there was no way i was going to get the job. Wont play the chasing a price game with them to get the job.

Thanks for the info all