Can I remove paint on a deck?

[erovegno 14]

I have an estimate tomorrow and the owner told me that the deck had been painted by the previous owners. He would like to get the paint off. Anyone know of any products I could use to remove the paint or am I going to have to hand sand the entire thing? I was thinking about using wolman deckstrip. I have heard from family that if left on long enough it will strip paint, but I have never tried it before because I have never run into a painted deck. That is until now!!

____________

Eric Rovegno

A.D.E Residential Pressure Washing Ltd.

www.aderesidentialpressurewashing.com

[CCHSNC 14]

RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, I would unless you can get big $$ for it. I have stripped a few painted decks. It can be a real nightmare. Give the people a rough cost but make sure you leave the quote openended and have them sign it. I had one that I threw everthing at that was available at the time and I would up power hand planeing and sanding the whole thing. Started out at a $900.00 job and ended up to be $1,700.

[erovegno 14]

Hey Robert,

Thanks for the info. The guy said he tried to power wash it himself and had gooten most of the paint off but still had some left. I didn't tell him I could get it off for sure. I will be going out o see him and the deck tomorrow. What kind off pricing should I estimate if I need to hand sand? He was even talking about replacing the whole thing. I guess that will depend on what I have to tell him. Hey I've got another question do you know anything about the Wood Restoration Manual from sun brite. If so is it worth the money? Let me know

___________________

Eric Rovegno

A.D.E Residential Pressure Washing Ltd.

www.aderesidentialpressurewashing.com

719-251-0588 cell

719-948-9685 home

[PressurePros 249]

I agree, let that one go. You will never get all the paint off. The only option is probably going to end up as wash away flaking paint, treat with TSP and reprime and paint. Figure every few years doing that. He is better off to replace it.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

On stripping paint, depends on the paint. Some come off as easy as stain, others will not budge. On paint, always do a test spot prior to pricing it.

On the wood manual...if you are taking the class and following along, yes. If not go to http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/fplgtr113.htm and download what you need. ( main site is http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/)

Beth

[Howard 50]

Eric

I've tried almost everything to strip a painted deck and like Beth said some come off easy some not. The worse I've seen was what was called deck stain it was called Super Deck solid, it was acrylic latex. I've only had luck one way and that was with a wet sand blaster. It really worked although it left some in cracks and crevises. Also, it never hurt the wood at all just took the solid off.

otherwise I agree with Robert RUN.... RUN FAR and RUN FAST....

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Do you have ABR products in your area? If so, try their product called "strip it all".

I have used it to strip off some army green paint from a deck many years ago but didnt like the fact that it came in this thick gel. Apply with a brush or roller and leave on thick. Neutralize after you wash it off.

If this doesnt work...got a match?

j/k :)

Rod~

[JFife 14]

Eric,

Try Removall 310 from Biowash. cost about $150 pr 5er, and you apply with an airless. Removes up to 10 coats at once. Awesome stuff,

[erovegno 14]

Hey Eveyone,

I went to see that deck on Thursday! It's 10.5 X 12.5. It's a raised deck about 6' high. The stairs are in terrible shape and the hand rails are even worse. I went today and used wolman deckstrip on a post and the paint came of pretty easily. Still going to have to sand some. The good thing is I will be replacing the stairs and handrails for the homeowner. I quoted him for around $850.00 for stripping, sealing and the labor for the deck repair. He is paying for the wood. I charged him $1.00 per sqft to clean and seal the deck with an added $0.75 for cleaning and sealing the new wood. As for the labor on the repair I quoted him for 6+ hours at $35.00 and hour. Does that seem about right? He is also talking about having us do his concrete wall and some other handy work. The neighborhood is nice and alot of houses in need of some good service. Should I put a sign in the yard for a while and if so about how long.

___________________

Eric Rovegno

A.D.E Residential Pressure Washing

719-251-0588

[tropical wave 22]

never had to strip paint, so I can't help with your costs, but as far as the sign is concerned, leave it out there as long as the homeowner will allow it or until you need it at a different site.......good luck with the project

[seymore 90]

Eric

That seems to me that's a fair price for the size of the deck.What makes it hard is to estimate the stripping part of the job.I will estimate hourly on how long it will take to strip my hard jobs.I'm not sure how many guys you have working for you and what you need to make $$ wise to make it worth all that hard work.Stripping solid stains has sure hasn't got any easier over the years.So I think it's fair to you and your customer to charge accordingly to each job.I feel like if i charge by the sqft. to strip and clean and end up spending allday cleaning it's not worth all the hard work.Same goes for saving your customer a few $$ if you are just in and out for a light cleaning.

You might want to sometimes bid a little higher on those hard stripping jobs.You could end up spending more time trying to strip that paint off then you figured on.

That's why when i price my decks to clean it's a job by job basis.I may get light clean and seal so i have a min $$ for simple jobs 2-3 hrs or so to clean.Now when you have a heavy duty strip job like you have there it might take you 6-8 hrs.You have to keep in mind the dwell time to let the stripper work 20-30 min keeping it wet.Sometimes stripping 2 or 3 times depending how solid the old finish you are trying to remove.Those tough solid stains/paints come off easier after taking a layer or so off at a time.

There has been times when i'm stripping a deck and the old solid stain is coming off pretty good then after a while it's not coming off so easy.You sometimes would want the deck to dry up a little bit so the stripper doesn't get dilluted and doesn't work as well.

Here is a deck that i had previously stain with my Gray Away Oil base stain.The homeowner decided to let the painters paint the deck along with the house a year ago.So they primed and painted some solid Sherwin Williams paint ON TOP of my oil base stain.

I'm not a painter but i can figure out myself that the oil they painted over made the paint not stick to the wood am i correct?

So after trying to get a "CHEAP" paint job to save some $$ she had to call me to come and fix the bad paint job.My cleaning charge was almost triple the price it would have been on a reg. 2yr. clean and

re-seal.I stripped the whole deck W/S.H stripper and didn't have to do any sanding .:cool:

:lgmoneyey

[erovegno 14]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the advice it's greatly appreciated guys. The owner had told me he had priced out the wood for the deck. He tried to remove the paint last year using a rental pressure washer with 1200 psi. I told him when I first saw the project that I was not sure if I could get the paint of. But after stopping over there on Saturday I found that it shouldn't take to long. I'm sure to run into some setbacks but that’s all a part of every job. As I said earlier I am replacing the stairs and handrails. So the under side and top side is all I'll have to strip.

As of this moment it's only me and my wife doing these jobs and we are just getting started. I tried to start last year but it was too late in the year. The temp just dropped to low to even consider pressure washing without having problems. I'm hoping this year will bring much wealth. We have an ad coming out in the yellow book with a coupon for 10% off labor charges in the back for new customers. I'm hoping for a good response. I have looked through the forum and found lots off people saying the book is good for residential contracts. I think you Shane were one of them.

The question I had about price was for the labor on the repair of the stairs and handrails. Did you guys think that $35.00 an hour is about where I should be?

Oh yeah I think the deck job you did Shane came out great. What kind of products do you use? At the moment I’m using Wolman. I’ve heard nothing but good things about their products. My brother in-law said that it works great.

Eric Rovegno

A.D.E Residential Pressure Washing

Pueblo, CO

719-251-0588

[seymore 90]

Thanks Eric :cool:

I mix all my cleaning chemicals myself S.H.stripper,oxalic,bleach etc.I use Baker's Gray Away wood stain and the color in that pic is a custom color i mix myself Taupe.

Eric if you find a deck company who's willing to give you some referals works out great.I have a few deck company's who reffer their jobs to me and in return we pay them a % of the deck job.

Does that $35/hr price include tearing out the old railing etc?

[Pams Pressure & Clean 64]

I cannot see how you can profitably run a professional business and charge only $35.00 per hour.

This is only my take, and surely isn't the final word. Perhaps the cost of living, insurance, etc, etc, is much different there, but there is no way we could do that here.

[Degraffreed 21]

Pam,

Got any deck work coming up soon..?

DeGraffreed

678-480-0123

[erovegno 14]

Hey,

Yeah that $35 an hr includes teardown. But it will not take me no longer than 25 minutes to do. I really don't think all the repairs are going to take more than 4 to 4- 1/2 hrs. The stairs maybe 1 1/2 and the handrail 3 1/2. Everything is pretty straight forward. The thing is I know with this job will come some more, not only from this job but the neighborhood too. And I would think even if the job took a full day it will work out in the long run. Well thanks again guys

__________________________

Eric Rovegno

A.D.E Residential Pressure Washing

Pueblo, CO

719-251-0588