Money-Making ideas are EVERYWHERE!

Learn all you can about your product. You have to be very careful with some of this stuff. If you splatter it on any painted surfaces it will cause spots (ex. siding of house). Also, make sure you water the grass surrounding the deck to help dilute any overspray, again the chemicals can kill grass.

You will want to avoid application in direct sun at high noon in the middle of summer. You may have to work small areas at a time. If you spray the whole deck, the product may dry out before you are done.

The better products I have seen are a multi-step process. Strip one day, clean next day, let dry 24-48 hours and apply finish. The over night fixes are just that. New decks that were never finished weather to a gray color, and yes you can apply a cleaner to restore the deck. Some of these cleaners provide a finish, which would be acceptable.

Check the warranty offered by the product suppliers as well as the method of application. Some you can spray on, roll on, or brush on. If you do not apply it accordingly you void out the warranty. Hope this helps.

Hi John:

First thing is to get liability insurance but only use it for claims that are beyond reach because the rates climb quickly with too many claims.

Okay here is what can happen - first hand experience.

Background - I had a Duct Cleaning business - 31 people working - 18 as independent contractors - I supplied jobs, trucks with equipment, they got paid by the job.

Here's what can happen...truck backs into the driveway of a job. House which was a split level was soon to live up to its name - independent contractor backed into corner of house and shifted it 6 inches on the foundation - $32,000 damage.

Different independent contractor drives into a driveway - tight fit - while watching the one side managed to catch the mirror on the neighbours wall - fifty year old brick home...chipped 2 bricks and gouged 8 more. Bricks no longer available anywhere in this province. Found them in Indiana at a recyclers yard...finished bill for the repair $3200.

Another Independent Contractor cleaning a large daycare building ...hooked into the wrong ductwork...result was sending dust and dirt in reverse...filled the whole building...3 days later cleaning bill totalled $8500.

And the grand daddy of all...brand new 6 week old truck and equipment...while independent contractor working in home the truck burst into flames...singed 2 nearby cars, burned a neigboring garage including the vehicle inside, flames climbed a wooden utility pole and proceeded to burn the hydro lines, the cable tv lines, and the telephone lines - severed these services to about 30,000 people. Sum total of damages (including my unit) just touched $350,000.

What can happen in deck cleaning...just about anything when you have people working...damaged house siding or brick, a pressure hose pops and becomes a deadly weapon, the owners little toddler manages to ingest some of the chemical and ends up in the hospital or worse, the home owner walks around to see how the job is coming an trips on your equipment and breaks something, the owner claims you ruined his deck and wants it replaced (in this type of work I would take a series of before and after pictures of every job because sure as #$#$$# someone is going to take you for a ride on getting a new deck),...and the list goes on and on,

If you are going to use contractors of any nature, or even if you decide to do it yourself the first thing you do is get the liability insurance or you could be facing the biggest nightmare of your life.

Cornell

> I'm thinking about doing this as well. Does
> Bruce get paid Don's rates? I'm attempting
> to figure out how to price the system, and I
> can't imagine telling someone $800 for a
> morning's work with a straight face. But if
> that's realistic, then I'll do it.

Well, it's not exactly a mornings work.

Bruce said the cleaning for an average deck (maybe 300-600ish) takes around 3-4 hours to do right (darn spindles are the tricky part). And then you come back the next day and the sealing takes 4-6 more hours. So you're looking at 10 hours. Bruce said he makes his bids for around $70 an hour so say $700 a job. That's still a nice profit (at least until the tax man gets ahold of it, unless that's not going to be a factor). $700 for 2 days work. You could live well on 2 jobs a week.

> I also went online and found many
> do-it-yourself sites that insist that deck
> renewal is a three-step process that
> involves a lot of scrubbing, stripping,
> staining, finishing, etc., even though I
> believe I found the company Don talks about,
> who claim just the opposite with their
> "chemical" that you just spray on
> with a spray gun they provide. Obviously,
> Bruce uses a power washer, so maybe his
> system is different than Don's chemical?

I think it's a little different. Bruce actually just uses a power washer. He says he uses a cleaner if they want the wood lightened up a little. It's up to the homeowners.

If you're going to use a cleaner, it looks like an oxygen bleach wood cleaner is the way to go. Timberwash and Delco DSR-47 were the 2 I read about.

Here's a nice little guide which takes you step by step through the process (one of many)

http://popularmechanics.com/popmech/homei/0004HIHIAM.html

You just spray it on and then give it say 15 min to soak in. Then you can either lightly scrub it with a nylon brush or just spray it off.

I guess it's either powerwasher alone, or powerwasher plus a cleaner. And then you come back the next day and finish by sealing the deck.

(Note: if the deck is already stained, you may have to use a paint stripper to remove that for an even better finish)

> I'm out of work and I have $312.34 left to
> my name. I think I'll spend $21 today for a
> classified ad akin to Don's to test the
> market before I invest any other money.

Good luck, John! I think this is something you can definitely do and 'make a good coin' (as Bruce put it).

Success,

Erik

Thanks, Erik!

You mentioned in your post that "Spindles" are the tricky part.
Thanks.

> Well, it's not exactly a mornings work.

> Bruce said the cleaning for an average deck
> (maybe 300-600ish) takes around 3-4 hours to
> do right (darn spindles are the tricky
> part). And then you come back the next day
> and the sealing takes 4-6 more hours. So
> you're looking at 10 hours. Bruce said he
> makes his bids for around $70 an hour so say
> $700 a job. That's still a nice profit (at
> least until the tax man gets ahold of it,
> unless that's not going to be a factor).
> $700 for 2 days work. You could live well on
> 2 jobs a week.

> I think it's a little different. Bruce
> actually just uses a power washer. He says
> he uses a cleaner if they want the wood
> lightened up a little. It's up to the
> homeowners.

> If you're going to use a cleaner, it looks
> like an oxygen bleach wood cleaner is the
> way to go. Timberwash and Delco DSR-47 were
> the 2 I read about.

> Here's a nice little guide which takes you
> step by step through the process (one of
> many)

>
> http://popularmechanics.com/popmech/homei/0004HIHIAM.html
> You just spray it on and then give it say
> 15 min to soak in. Then you can either
> lightly scrub it with a nylon brush or just
> spray it off.

> I guess it's either powerwasher alone, or
> powerwasher plus a cleaner. And then you
> come back the next day and finish by sealing
> the deck.

> (Note: if the deck is already stained, you
> may have to use a paint stripper to remove
> that for an even better finish)

> Good luck, John! I think this is something
> you can definitely do and 'make a good coin'
> (as Bruce put it).

> Success,

> Erik

> You mentioned in your post that
> "Spindles" are the tricky part.
> Thanks.

Don't worry. All decks don't have them.

Sometimes on the outer edge, instead of an easy rail, the homeowner will have an appx 1" x1" square pegs looking poles. They go up and down and connect to a rail. It looks fancy and from what Bruce told me, is the only thing you really have to work hard at. That and avoiding hatcheting.

Hatcheting is when you stop the power washer at any time in one place. You'll get what looks like a hatchet mark. You get a lot of them if you spray one way and then change directions and go back the opposite way.

Good luck guys!

Erik

Anyone know what to charge by sq foot on this?

Thanks,

Gary

> Well, it's not exactly a mornings work.

> Bruce said the cleaning for an average deck
> (maybe 300-600ish) takes around 3-4 hours to
> do right (darn spindles are the tricky
> part). And then you come back the next day
> and the sealing takes 4-6 more hours. So
> you're looking at 10 hours. Bruce said he
> makes his bids for around $70 an hour so say
> $700 a job. That's still a nice profit (at
> least until the tax man gets ahold of it,
> unless that's not going to be a factor).
> $700 for 2 days work. You could live well on
> 2 jobs a week.

> I think it's a little different. Bruce
> actually just uses a power washer. He says
> he uses a cleaner if they want the wood
> lightened up a little. It's up to the
> homeowners.

> If you're going to use a cleaner, it looks
> like an oxygen bleach wood cleaner is the
> way to go. Timberwash and Delco DSR-47 were
> the 2 I read about.

> Here's a nice little guide which takes you
> step by step through the process (one of
> many)

>
> http://popularmechanics.com/popmech/homei/0004HIHIAM.html
> You just spray it on and then give it say
> 15 min to soak in. Then you can either
> lightly scrub it with a nylon brush or just
> spray it off.

> I guess it's either powerwasher alone, or
> powerwasher plus a cleaner. And then you
> come back the next day and finish by sealing
> the deck.

> (Note: if the deck is already stained, you
> may have to use a paint stripper to remove
> that for an even better finish)

> Good luck, John! I think this is something
> you can definitely do and 'make a good coin'
> (as Bruce put it).

> Success,

> Erik

Gary, I saw it suggested 1.25-1.50 per square foot. And unfortunately the rails, etc don't count as extra for the estimates I found it did say add $50 extra per step.