Would you walk away from a job?

[Celeste 341]

There have been several posts of late where some have had customers who wanted (insisted) on putting a not very attractive finish on their decks - against their deck professionals better advise I'm sure. At what point to do you KNOW it's going to be ugly and fail and decide that you would not like your name affiliated with the results?

[Beth n Rod 1,278]

Personally, I think many of us start out applying things we might not want to apply, and as our companies mature we switch to only offering certain things. We have a number of clients whose decks we maintain with products we do not suggest using, but they are fully aware of how we feel about them. Some of these clients have already switched to products we suggest using. The vast majority of our clients use what we suggest. (greater than 95%) We have gotten to the point over the years, where we will bid what needs to be done for the deck for the sake of the wood, and if it is not what the owner wants to do, we are not the company. It's just that simple.

Beth

p.s. one thing some folks want that we will never understand, is the look of the grey deck. You clean it and seal it with a grey color so it looks old and weathered. ( I know, it looks like driftwood) Personally, we don't understand the elation and joy these folks seem to have when we do one of these, but they love it, so we do it. And the tone is offered in a line of products we use.

[PressurePros 248]

I will use what a customer dictates if the product is sold in a paint store (Cabot's, TWP, Sikkens etc) I tell them my warranty does not apply and I make no guarantee of color based upon a sample color chart. This sways most of them, the few hardcore ones (with copy of Consumer Reports in hand) hold their ground. With proper prep and maintenance cleaning, most of the higher end retail products hold up fine

[Dale 16]

It depends. If its a product that I know is a nightmare to apply or maintain I probably wouldn't do it.

If the owner says "This is what Jake used and I really like the color and it holds up good..and besides..I already bought it" and I know its a not great, but decent product, I'll do it.

When working with products that have a life of 2 yrs before needing maintenance its kinda hard to stress durability of one product over another to the veiw of a customer. To a contractor that extra 6 months from a particular product IS a big deal.

To be honest I think that a lot of our preferences are oriented to what makes our job easier and faster and therefore more profitable.......not that theres anything wrong with that.lol.

Dale

[SDI 14]

We At SDi Have A Stain Authorization sign off form,explains the diffrent tyeps of stains and were they are most effective on. the customer is asked to put in the brand and color & type of product they want us to be used. this free us from any misunderstandings and puts them in the spot. on the back of the form we list 30 things that affect decks and coatings, and that theyer responsible for reasonable care of thier deck. (this protects us from any blames in the future).

SDI

[reed 500]

I tell the customer of the products I offer and I do not use over the counter products unless I am certain of them. There are only two products over the counter I will use, Deckscapes Solid white and Cabot's Aussie Timber Oil.

I offer my products and if they want something else I politely tell them to hire someone else. This was the case for the gazebo with Aussie oil, homeowner wanted penofin and I said I would use the Aussie oil and he went with me and was very pleased with the result.

reed

[EmpirePW 14]

If a customer insists on something that I don't recomend I just make it clear that I will use their product if they want but I put into the contract that I am not responsible for any damage or dissatisfaction caused by the product. I also make the point that since I will be purchasing only the amount of product I need for the job and not in bulk the price of the job will probably rise, sometimes significantly. I then leave it to the customers to decide what they want to do. If they hire me that's cool and if they don't it's ok with me too.

[James 624]

They do it my way only and use my system of deckcare. Or they can have Joe deck filmer do it. I have decks that are ten years old that are mint. All customer's call back 98%.. THEY DO IT MY WAY !! ( I love Frank)

I have more fun talking people out of what they thougth was good for the deck. And picture's of that product being stripped off.

[Cleveland Mobile 14]

I had a situation last year with a guy who insisted on a behr semi transparent stain. Sherwin Williams tried to match the color and when I brought a sample to him he wasnt pleased so I did a stupid thing...I went with the Behr. 2 nights later it rained and he called....said a lot of the stain washed off. Part of me wanted to say tough...but I went back and redid the floor and rail tops. Lesson learned....never again.

Andy

[JFife 14]

Note: If you do talk them into something else against their will, they will hold whatever it is to a much higher standard. If someone is adament about wanting something in particular, make your disclaimers, and cheerfully do it and tell them how great it looks. Like James said, you do know best, but if they are standing their ground, let them win. My opinion.

[Henry B. 4]

I walk away from jobs all the time... Some may think I'm foolish but why should my company bust it's butt working on a difficult job when it can do 3 easier ones in the same amount of time with great results?? Some people say it's a challenge to do the tough stripping jobs. Maybe I'm getting old but I just don't need those kinds of challenges in life anymore..lol I'd rather make more money for what I do.

[Beth n Rod 1,278]

These are all considerable points. Especially where your companies reputation is at stake and I cannot blame anyone for refusing to use a customers choice of product over one that the contractor knows will perform better.

I am sure there are exceptions in the case of recoats or maintenance work, but where it comes to the end result and from experience we know it will not look good, regardless of whether we need the work or not, it is not far from a vicious cycle.

We have reached a point where we may use a customers choice product only after first understanding we will not warrant the work due to the known characteristics of the product and difficulty in maintaining the finish.

Home Depot/Lowes off the shelf type products fall into this category.

Reputation is one hell of a thing to build up to have it go into the toilet just to get a job. After all, who is the professional?

Rod~