You've got to hear this.

[KC Deck 14]

I went today to bid a job. 500 sq ft deck with 91 ft of railing and 100 spindles. The deck is about 15 years old, and 10 feet off the ground. Needs stripped, cleaned and stained. I bid it at $1700. I give it to the lady and she almost loses it. She was under the impression I would just come in and spray over the old stuff, that is around 5 years old. She says she is getting ready to sell the house and just wants the deck "touched up". Yeah right. People are amazing. I told her about the old sealer interfering with the new sealer, but she didnt want to hear it. She said she was going to do it herself. I would love to see that deck when she gets done with it.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

She'll call you again when it's even worse....

Been there, done that...

;)

Beth

[seymore 90]

I have that happen every now and then and Beth is right she'll be caling you.

You would think when people say "I'm gonna sell the house" they would want everything to look as good as it can huh.

I also get people buying stain from me to do it themselves"2000

sqft dock" yeah right.:rolleyes:

I get a call a few months later wanting me to finish the job cause the 2000 sqft.was a little more than they could handle.:lgbounces

[Washaway 64]

A homeowner called us back just yesterday, this after I gave her a quote two weeks ago. She, then, told me that she paid half that last time (which happened to be 4 years ago). Either way, I thanked her for her time and left.

Her message said something about being sorry for not calling me sooner but she had unexpected guests arrive and blah, blah, blah.

Oh yeah, and "Please call us as soon as you can b/c we'd like to schedule a date".

[Aplus 525]

Amazingly, I've also come across many customers who are satisfied with a low priced splash & dash. They have no concept of what they are missing. They refuse to understand anything other than price. This kind of customer is best left to someone else.

[newlook 265]

We try to educate them as much and as quick as possible as to why our prices are at the level that they are in. I try to "snag" the bargain shoppers with a quick overview of the work we will be doing and etc. If they are still set on a low price, I thank them for their time and wasting mine ~ then move on.

We have customers call us and ask us to come out and fix what the original company did or did not do. Usually the problem is that the 1st company was using a 0 degree trip on the wood trim and stucco. Then the customers gets on a rampage about the fees we are going to charge to fix the problem the 1st company created...go figure!!

As Tony said, the general public does not have a clue....:)

[mikew 14]

We have customers call us and ask us to come out and fix what the original company did or did not do. Usually the problem is that the 1st company was using a 0 degree trip on the wood trim and stucco.

Hi Carlos,

Newbie here wanting to know what kind of problem using a 0 degree tip on the wood trim and stucco would cause. I don't want to make the same mistake when I start!

Thanks!

Mike

[RyanH 14]

A 0 degree does not fan the water out and spread the force of the water over a large area; rather, it concentrates it in a very small area and puts a HUGE amount of pressure on the wood. Doing this can gouge out wood and rip stucco from the side of a house down to the "chicken wire' (you're from GA, so you have probably noticed that we don't use real stucco here...this stuff you can put a hole in with your thumb). It can even gouge some concrete. If you gauge the wood, no amount of sanding the areas around it will every smooth out the damage and hundreds of dollars worth of damage can be caused in the blink of an eye. The only thing I've used my 0 degree for is to knock wasp nests down out of high places.

[Don Phelps 85]

It works great at fending off unwelcome visitors during night jobs too! :lgbounces

[CCPC 26]

Had a lady call me out to give her an estimate on cleaning her house, screen porch and driveway. While walking the perimeter, she went on about how the the last guy who cleaned her roof had killed a bunch of her shrubbs and another guy had left wand streak marks all over her screens on the porch while cleaning the house. So finished writing up the proposal and presented to her and she looked a little suprised at the cost. She told me she would talk it over with her husband and that she would get back with me that day.

Three hours later, the lady calls me and wants to know why I charge so much. She tells me that she called someone else in the phonebook and their fees were about half of what I was charging so I spent about 5 minutes explaining my services and procedures (again) and finally at the end of it all she says "ok, thats all I need to know" and I never heard from her again. I wasn't upset that she didn't call back, I actually felt sorry for her. People like her will never get it and every time some hack butchers her house she will complain to the next guy she hires and they will give her the same crummy results.

[RyanH 14]

Should have told her that that price was her insurance and assurance that she would NOT be receiving the same level of treatment as the last hired help.

[Washaway 64]

I've thrown many a ball valves in lakes before realizing that the only ones that last are the cast iron, 7000psi rated, heavy duty ones.

Coincidently, that's exactly where all of my 0 degree tips are aswell, at the bottom of the lake. (I've never used one and have never kept one either) Having one laying around is a big mistake waiting to happen.

[mikew 14]

A 0 degree does not fan the water out and spread the force of the water over a large area; rather, it concentrates it in a very small area and puts a HUGE amount of pressure on the wood. Doing this can gouge out wood and rip stucco from the side of a house down to the "chicken wire' (you're from GA, so you have probably noticed that we don't use real stucco here...this stuff you can put a hole in with your thumb). It can even gouge some concrete. If you gauge the wood, no amount of sanding the areas around it will every smooth out the damage and hundreds of dollars worth of damage can be caused in the blink of an eye. The only thing I've used my 0 degree for is to knock wasp nests down out of high places.

HI Ryan,

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a 0 degree could mean trouble if you aren't careful.

I am in GA and I have noticed that the stucco here is lousy. I haven't tried to wash any stucco yet but I have seen the stuff around (my wife is a real estate agent).

Mike

[PowerPlay 14]

Were you planning on sealing the underside of that deck?

[KC Deck 14]

The 14' 4x4's yes, the rest of the underside, no.

[CLASSICPW 14]

I've got too many hacker stories, but I bid a job today for a friend of a friend at $1250, she said the guy that did it last time charged $500, and I even gave her a hookup. I seriously think that her deck is worth more than her house, I won't be hearing from her.