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Is the name 'Deck Doctor' a franchise? It seems like every city has one.... just curious, if someone incorporates that name or starts a franchise, does that name have to be relinquished by everyone who currently has that name?

We've lost 3 bids for condos mainly because we state that we 'spray' 'brush' and 'roll' the sealer. After the fact, we've been told that spraying is a no-no, they're all worried about over spray. We only pump spray the floor, to save time from dipping in the can repetitively. None of the...

We've always used oil based tinted sealers, but while at Sherwin Williams, the salesperson stated that water based tints last longer than oil. TRUE? Comments.

We decided to do a 8" ad in our local paper along with inserts, full color, 2 sided, 8 1/2 x 11. Anyone have suggestions on what to put in the ad? What would work best... photos, our logo, pictures, detailed info on us, etc???????

A ton of newbies appeared in the local phone books and newspapers this season. LOTS of competition.... We've pumped up the advertising quite a bit already and noticed that the phone books around here are NOT priority when looking for power washing / deck cleaning people. More...

There's a guy in town who doesn't recover his water. He does commercial work (store fronts, banks, etc). The business that hires him, are they responsible for making sure he's recovering the water? He does a bunch of local chain stores, we were surprised to see he isn't recovering...

Ok, so the new phone books came out. OH MY GOD. These guys must be jumping out of the wood work, there's about 10 more guys than last year with decent sized ads and now every painter in the world owns a pressure washer and knows how to do decks too! (Our ad is under deck maintanance and also...

A new call... bid for 50 VARIOUS sized decks. We've done condos in the past, but all the deck sizes were the same size. How would you bid these decks out? Individually, groups, small / med / large? The decks were done 2 years ago with Cuprinol. Last guy seemed have used a paint...

Has anyone been following up on the EPA's test results for their study names: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Surface Coatings in Reducing Dislodgeable Arsenic from New Wood Pressure Treated with CCA? If so, do you feel that these results are positive enough to increase your business if...

Wondering what the normal % people are spending for advertising per year. In 2005, business was dead the end of the season. Not sure if we should have advertised more... or if people just weren't spending money cause the cost of gas. Would have hated to spent a couple thousand more to...

Most of our business is PWing decks. Have 2 cold machines, 2 guys washing. Presently running out of the back of a pickup, wanting to move the stuff into a trailer.... open or enclosed?? Pros/cons....

Thinking about the 2006 season and advertising expenses. Wondering how others promote their business.

Thinking of incorporating. Accountant suggests an s-corporation. This business is seasonal and part time for us, we gross anywhere from $20k - $40K a year. The accountant stated it will cost $400 to s-corp the business. We're doing this mainly to protect ourselves (taxes, liabilities)...

We moved to this area 2 seasons ago from a much larger, wealthier neighborhood. We've learned this year that our prices are much higher than others in the area and that cheaper rates tend to win the bid. We realize we need to lower our prices next year in order to stay in business. This is...

We're typically pretty slow in July. This year, we were not only slow in July, but August and so far, September have been a slump too. Sometimes I just pick up the phone to make sure it's working! We've past out flyers in predominant areas... haven't even received a call from those!!! We...

When deck has 2 year old semi-trans sealer on it and the same color is going to be reapplied (same color, but not same manufacturer), do you need to strip the wood or just pressure wash it? We gave an esimate for a big job (condo association) and found out that another competitor got the job...

Got a call from a customer who had his deck done by another company about 3 weeks ago , used Penofin. The other company has come out three times to try to fix a problem. It seems that the other company washed this 3 year old deck and applied Penofin (2 coats), but in some places the Penofin...

Anyone deal with Sealmaxx? They supposedly have a 25 year guarantee. Contacted the company, received some info. It's a $91,000 investment... yep, $91,000. (includes trailer,training, laptop,chemical package) The average price for a 300 square foot deck (15x20) supposedly sells as...

Anyone advertise to real estate agents or inspectors? We think its a great selling point to have a clean exterior & deck and want to push our business on agents, so they will in-turn suggest it to the person who is selling/buying. Anyone who has tried selling their services to...

We think we've been bumped out of a job that we've done in the past for a condo association. We've done the decks 3 times and the entranceways 2 times. This year, they're using a new company for the entranceways (a friend of one of the Board members won the bid). The property manager...