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What waa I thinking

Mathew Johnson

New member
We origonally bid this deck as a strip and seal. It didnt strip well, HO decided to have us come back after she had siding installed and she would select a product and we would apply it. She paid us well to wash the deck.

She called a couple of weeks ago and said that she had decided on a stain, that her contractor was done. I went over to look at it and to my surprise, her contractor had also added lattice panels around the entire skirting of the deck.

I told her I would send her another proposal (she also wanted the lattice panels a different color to match her new shudders and fascia. hunter green). I did not really want the job, even warning the homeowner that I wouldn't reccomend the coating she selected. So to make a long story short, I rebid the job high enough to ensure I wouldnt het the job.

We finished it today:saai:
 

Carlos Gonzales

New member
We origonally bid this deck as a strip and seal. It didnt strip well, HO decided to have us come back after she had siding installed and she would select a product and we would apply it. She paid us well to wash the deck.

She called a couple of weeks ago and said that she had decided on a stain, that her contractor was done. I went over to look at it and to my surprise, her contractor had also added lattice panels around the entire skirting of the deck.

I told her I would send her another proposal (she also wanted the lattice panels a different color to match her new shudders and fascia. hunter green). I did not really want the job, even warning the homeowner that I wouldn't reccomend the coating she selected. So to make a long story short, I rebid the job high enough to ensure I wouldnt het the job.

We finished it today:saai:

Ha..don't you hate when that happens? Good deal Matt :clap:
 

Mathew Johnson

New member
PICS of the project
 

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Ken Fenner

Active member
Sometimes there is no accounting for taste. I still have the waiver I made this homeowner sign letting her know I was not liable for her color choice.

Edit: added another one that will never make my portfolio.
 

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Mathew Johnson

New member
Sometimes there is no accounting for taste. I still have the waiver I made this homeowner sign letting her know I was not liable for her color choice.

Edit: added another one that will never make my portfolio.

The Waiver was right in her contract, I also clearly stated that I did not recommend/approve her stain product choice and I would not be responsible for failure or any issues with the finished product.

I did tell her I would stain between the lines:yes:when I did the lattice. It took us 2 and 1/2 days for staining and 1 day of prep. She paid well ( a little over 4 K, plus she bought all of the stain) and gave us a huge tip:clap::clap:
 

plainpainter

New member
When big time actors take on lousy scripts to pay the 'bills' - it's not beneath them - why should a two tone pink/purple deck be beneath us? The money is always green.
 

The Cleaning Doctor

Contributing Member
Sometimes there is no accounting for taste. I still have the waiver I made this homeowner sign letting her know I was not liable for her color choice.

Edit: added another one that will never make my portfolio.

The second one would have looked much better in a two tone with white railings. YUK on the color choices :villagers:
 

Florin Nutu

New member
I dont know what you guys are talking about.... I think the green deck scheme looks good. Not sure about that acrylic looking stain but I like it.
 

Rick Petry

New member
Matt,

Nice work, that is a lot of staining labor. For solid colors, I think it looks ok.

When big time actors take on lousy scripts to pay the 'bills' - it's not beneath them - why should a two tone pink/purple deck be beneath us? The money is always green.

Don't know about that. One of the benefits of wood restoration is the satisfaction of substantial improvement to a property. Take a look at Ken's red and orange decks. Now those two jobs are hideous.
 

plainpainter

New member
Matt,

Nice work, that is a lot of staining labor. For solid colors, I think it looks ok.



Don't know about that. One of the benefits of wood restoration is the satisfaction of substantial improvement to a property. Take a look at Ken's red and orange decks. Now those two jobs are hideous.

You know Rick - sometimes what really irks me about you is your holier than thou approach to wood restoration. If I had 2 million in the bank like you - perhaps I could take a chi-chi approach to wood care as well. But a job is a job is a job. And if a homeowner lights up with happiness at their newly restored pink-purple two tone deck and signs the check - that's all the satisfaction I need.

My satisfaction in the painting business was about how much I use to prep a home - how much more loose paint I removed than my competitor - how I would pre-drench exposed wood to conditioning oils even prior to priming them - how I would use the most expensive caulking that required a full 2 day cure - and on and and on. And all I remember from that were complaints about how long a project took - or why was so expensive. So now I look at things from a customer perspective - it's not about me - it's not about my likes. I have many many many customers, Rick, that absolutely hate the look of natural wood or anything brown related like semitransparent stains. Why would you shove your tastes down the throats of paying customers?

I am in the midst of a solid latex stain restoration customer - where I sold pressure washing as much of it off as possible, re-priming the bare wood after scraping and sanding. And a full coat of latex 100% acrylic solid deck stain on top of everything. And when it's all done - the customer will love it! I talked them out of any expensive type paint stripping restoration work - and that if they were that commited it made more sense to have the deck rebuilt - and they were happy to hear that - and they will be 100% happy even if they don't see precious wood grain. They want something that will look neat and presentable for at least 2 years, and that's happiness for them
 

plainpainter

New member
Matt,

Nice work, that is a lot of staining labor. For solid colors, I think it looks ok.



Don't know about that. One of the benefits of wood restoration is the satisfaction of substantial improvement to a property. Take a look at Ken's red and orange decks. Now those two jobs are hideous.

You know Rick - sometimes what really irks me about you is your holier than thou approach to wood restoration. If I had 2 million in the bank like you - perhaps I could take a chi-chi approach to wood care as well. But a job is a job is a job. And if a homeowner lights up with happiness at their newly restored pink-purple two tone deck and signs the check - that's all the satisfaction I need.

My satisfaction in the painting business was about how much I use to prep a home - how much more loose paint I removed than my competitor - how I would pre-drench exposed wood to conditioning oils even prior to priming them - how I would use the most expensive caulking that required a full 2 day cure - and on and and on. And all I remember from that were complaints about how long a project took - or why was so expensive. So now I look at things from a customer perspective - it's not about me - it's not about my likes. I have many many many customers, Rick, that absolutely hate the look of natural wood or anything brown related like semitransparent stains. Why would you shove your tastes down the throats of paying customers?

I am in the midst of a solid latex stain restoration customer - where I sold pressure washing as much of it off as possible, re-priming the bare wood after scraping and sanding. And a full coat of latex 100% acrylic solid deck stain on top of everything. And when it's all done - the customer will love it! I talked them out of any expensive type paint stripping restoration work - and that if they were that commited it made more sense to have the deck rebuilt - and they were happy to hear that - and they will be 100% happy even if they don't see precious wood grain. They want something that will look neat and presentable for at least 2 years, and that's happiness for them
 

Rick Petry

New member
You know Rick - sometimes what really irks me about you is your holier than thou approach to wood restoration. If I had 2 million in the bank like you - perhaps I could take a chi-chi approach to wood care as well. ...

Daniel,

This statement is absurd. My only comment is that if I did have $2M in liquid assets, I would not be running a small wood restoration business.

Why would you shove your tastes down the throats of paying customers?

Hardly the case. Been in business going on 9 years, with ~50% of new customers coming from referrals.

As for applying latex or acrylic stains to horizontal exterior wood, you are correct, we will not do that.
 

plainpainter

New member
Rick - face it, if you had 10 million in the bank, you'd still be out there doing decks with Readyseal.

As to the latex decks - if there is latex on them - there will be latex going on it again. Work is work. I don't sell latex solid stains on wood decks - but when this atrocity has been committed - it shall remain - no going back.
 

Rick Petry

New member
Rick - face it, if you had 10 million in the bank, you'd still be out there doing decks with Readyseal.

Daniel,

That is so unlikely to be out of the realm of possibility.

As to the latex decks - if there is latex on them - there will be latex going on it again. Work is work. I don't sell latex solid stains on wood decks - but when this atrocity has been committed - it shall remain - no going back.

We often are asked to restore this type of work. The problem is it is very expensive. Attached are two photos emailed to my web site yesterday. Deck wood is rotting, the customer wants repairs and all these foul coatings off the wood. Have not been out to see it, but the cost will be extremely high if we decide to do the work.

Sure we could spot sand, prime, and slop on some more solid acrylic/latex stain, but it will just add to the problem and eventually fail again. The customer is back to the same problem, with probably more rotted wood.

Better just to hire a carpentry contractor and re-skin the deck.
 

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topcoat

Contributing Member
There are band aid projects and there are reconstructive surgery projects. It seems that after a while we all get the point where we contemplate which one we are selling. Its easier to run around throwing band aids on things and certainly an easier sell because it keeps costs down, which most customers love. Its a bit higher level sale to educate the customer and help them to choose the more comprehensive and longer term solution. However, many customers understand value enough to know that it doesnt mean cheap and quick short term fix. Sure, you will lose alot of sales by selling the better solution, and thats where your definition of what exactly it is that you do comes into play.
 
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