Money-Making ideas are EVERYWHERE!

> 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.