Fence and deck cleaning

Absolute1 said:
Rich, Roger and Celeste are two very informative people and they are amazing at what they do! I would definitely take notes from these two if you are interested in doing any type of wood restoration. Check out their website. That is world class quality!
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Ok,,,,,,,so I am waiting on them to give me some advice. I asked them what their recommendation was on the stain/seal.
Believe me I would not be doing the work I do now if it were not from the people on this site.......

He says I was not professional so now I want to know what he recommends so I can be professional.....just waiting to here back.
 
SHE said the product was not a professional product - and it's not. It's a Walmart variety of something that is made to fail.

You posted in Pete's forum - Pete teaches wood restoration, Pete sells products and Pete sells stains. There are a number of quality products for professionals - Ready Seal, Armstrong Clark, Timber Oil, Flood, even Olympic has some very good products.

The customer can request a certain stain all day long but if it doesn't meet the standards that OUR PROFESSIONAL COMPANY strives for, they can do it themselves. When a customer asks for Thompsons, we tell them why the product is a poor choice and sell them on our knowledge, expertise & professional advise. You are doing your customer a disservice putting that stuff on their deck.

Celeste
 
CarolinaProWash said:
SHE said the product was not a professional product - and it's not. It's a Walmart variety of something that is made to fail.

You posted in Pete's forum - Pete teaches wood restoration, Pete sells products and Pete sells stains. There are a number of quality products for professionals - Ready Seal, Armstrong Clark, Timber Oil, Flood, even Olympic has some very good products.

The customer can request a certain stain all day long but if it doesn't meet the standards that OUR PROFESSIONAL COMPANY strives for, they can do it themselves. When a customer asks for Thompsons, we tell them why the product is a poor choice and sell them on our knowledge, expertise & professional advise. You are doing your customer a disservice putting that stuff on their deck.

Celeste
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Celeste, Richard is an awesome guy, if you met him you would like him, I dont know beans about wood nor do I pretend too or I would have told him myself but do me a favor and be the nice Celeste for me and remember what it was like when you were just learning how to do wood restoration, sometimes we forget how long it took us all to get where we are and know what we know. He (Richard) has been pressure cleaning in Prattville (where he and I live) for going on 3 years and just in the last couple of months started reading and teaching himself how to do wood, so help my old buddy out cause I cant.

Tell me and everyone involved what it is that makes Thompsons so bad, rather than just saying "its bad" so he can educate his customer like you said.

Thanks Russ
 
Russ, I am not speaking to Richard's niceness or professionalism - simply his choice of product!

There are 100 threads about good wood products......Thompsons has components that make later work horrible! It's just not good.

I remember EXACTLY what it was like when we were new - hell, we're only 6 now! Truly - when he posted he was using Thompsons, I really did think he was joking!

Celeste
 
Down here in South Texas the Thompson's does not last but a few months, it fades, cracks and peels. It might be due to the salt air, high temperatures with high humidity all year long (on the gulf of mexico) or a combination of all the above.

People that live on the island say that it only lasts a few months then they have a hard time getting someone out there to take care of making it look good again.

I do not get many calls for wood restoration and don't really want to since most here do not want to pay much for it.

Maybe in other areas of the country it might last a little bit longer.
 
Celeste.....water under the bridge!!!! The customer I am doing the deck for requested the Thompsons cause they liked the way it looked 2 yrs ago when they put it on.....believe me I used it on my deck a few months back and I am about to strip it and redo with Ready Seal.
The customer is selling the house and doing the deck for some inspections reasons......in a month they will not be there, so they really dont care what goes on it.....as long as it gets done so they can go...LOL
I am in the process of putting together a sample board now with a few of the stains that Ready Seal offers. Should help with selling the future customers since they will be able to see the wood itself.
Oh and I have Russ fooled......I really am an a$$hole....LOL
Have a great day!!!!
 
Richard, some of the sealer companies have samples of wood with their sealer on them, maybe that brand can send you some to make it easier?
 
Christopher said:
Richard, some of the sealer companies have samples of wood with their sealer on them, maybe that brand can send you some to make it easier?
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Ready Seal doesnt have the sample boards.....but they will send you samples of the stain.....I am going to make a board.....
I will also be looking into other brands as well.
Ty for the input!!!
 
Richard Fleming said:
Celeste.....water under the bridge!!!! The customer I am doing the deck for requested the Thompsons cause they liked the way it looked 2 yrs ago when they put it on.....believe me I used it on my deck a few months back and I am about to strip it and redo with Ready Seal.
The customer is selling the house and doing the deck for some inspections reasons......in a month they will not be there, so they really dont care what goes on it.....as long as it gets done so they can go...LOL
I am in the process of putting together a sample board now with a few of the stains that Ready Seal offers. Should help with selling the future customers since they will be able to see the wood itself.
Oh and I have Russ fooled......I really am an a$$hole....LOL
Have a great day!!!!
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I already know, Stacie just said I had to be nice to you since you are my only friend ........... "bless your heart":dance3:
 
Richard Fleming said:
I have a buddy of mine that has his own chemical business---he supplies to car washes....The last bag I got he was able to get it for me.
But me and Russ get bulk chemicals from a supplier in Birmingham!!!
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If you don[t mind elabortating a little on the chemical and where in Birmingham. I have a couple of deck jobs lined up and if I could make it look like the one you did that would be Awesome!!!
 
Thanks for the comment Roger and Celeste - Thompson's is definitely NOT the way to go even if the HO requests it. We get work because IT FAILS. The HO's wonder why the clear Thompson's doesn't work... If they request it we educate otherwise - at least to Cabot's.
 

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Joshua and Richard. Great job! Both decks look good to me. This question is for the both of you. What pressure did you use to clean with?
 
Richard Fleming said:
Ready Seal doesnt have the sample boards.....
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Sure they do. Request one from Pierce @ RS.

The down side is that the sample boards rarely reflect the actual outcome due to the various species of wood out there that we have to deal with.

But it does serve as an example.

Best bet for the customer is with the samples themselves if you are able to do a swatch onsite for them.
 
Richard Fleming said:
Here is a deck I stripped yesturday. I used a caustic mix to strip the old stain off and used oxalic acid to neutralize and brighten!!!

Even had a visitor at my jobsite!!!! Although I think he was casing the joint, he still stopped in to say hey!

This deck had a stain finish on it that was several yrs old.... it was in pretty bad shape but the cleaning turned out pretty well for me (I thought anyway)
I will be back on Monday (if the weather permits) to put the stain and seal on it!!!
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Nice job, what type of caustic did you use to strip it? I have a large deck to do next week. I have Ox to neutralize it but what ratio do you use.
 
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