AboutEugene Clayton Expertise I would be happy to answer any question reguarding the construction of decks, composites verses natural materials, structure support systems,railing applications,stair design, how to figure stairs etc.. Pretty much anything that has to do with decks and or porches.
Experience I have been in the construction industry for over 26 years including new home construction, custom deck and screen porches. Most of my expertise is from framing custom homes for over 20 years. I now own and opperate a very successful custom deck and screen porch company in Atlanta Ga. Along with my Brother.
Question QUESTION: I need help! As a woman, I feel I am often taken advantage of by contractors,
especially since prior to this experience I had never painted, nor used a power
tool.
Anyway, is there a specific paint you recommend for decks and sunrooms?
My contractor went ahead and painted when I was on vacation. He didn't
caulk, sand or even tape before painting our brand new deck, so now I have
to go back and sand, caulk and repaint. I want to use the best paint, that will
be easy to maintain. Also is there a sander that can sand between the
pickets? I should also ask about wood putty since he didn't use the best
wood. I live in the Atlanta area. Do you provide referrals?
ANSWER: Hello Kathy,
Sorry to hear about your deck project, good contractors are hard to find.My company prides itself on having every single customer we have ever had on our reference sheet. Anyway enough horn tooting huh?
The type of paint depends on the type of wood. Pressure treated needs to have a oil base primer or the knots will bleed through everytime.As far as a brand any High quality (expensive) paint will work, I like Sherman Williams, or duron. They make a sander with a triangle shaped head that might work. Most sanders won't fit and you end up doing it by hand with a block sander.Once again if you go to a paint store not a large home improvement center you will get far better service and advice on the putty and paint.Three brothers painting ( Mexicans) has painted allot of our porches and they do superb work, they puttied every single staple hole on our beadboard ceiling, I was amazed.Not to say everyone of there crews is the same but from what I seen it was very good. Hope this helps, Who built your deck? My company is ATLANTA SOLID BUILT CONST. INC Hope this helps.
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QUESTION: Thank you so much for your very timely and comprehensive response! I do
have one more specific question. I was at Sherwin Williams today and I left
even more confused. You said I need an oil based primer for pressure treated
wood, which I have, but what about using Sherwin Williams' SuperPaint
Exterior Latex in a high gloss or gloss for the handrails, pickets and
sunroom? The clerk thought I should use a satin...Thanks again!
ANSWER: I really am not an expert in painting to be honest, But I know you use a oil base primer ( white) as the 1st coat. after that I would assume you would keep with a oil base paint semi or high gloss, high will be easier to clean, but putting latex over oil? That I don't know.If the clerk at Sherman recommended satin he knows more than I do. Sorry and hope this helped a little.
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QUESTION: Thank you for all of your help! I have one more critical question: Is $85/hour a
fair price for a handyman? I need to finish my guest bathroom: the plumbing
needs to be connected, the electrical needs to be hooked up, the crown needs to
be completed, the final painting needs to be done. The only truly skilled item is
adding one 4" strip of marble tile, the rest is complete.
Answer Hello Kathy,
Every once in a while we come across a job that is hard to bid, way too many variables, so in order to not have ourselves shorted or short the customer we will do work on a hourly basis ( sortof ).
The way we figured it is my brother and I own the corporation and in order to pay ourselves a certain salary each week we need to make 600.00 dollars a day (the both of us) in a 8 hour day that works out to 37.50 each a hour. Now you have to take in account you are getting 2 people not 1. So cost out of pocket is actually 75 an hour but two people are faster than 1 so less hours. We fill that is a fair rate.
But I also can tell you most of the time if you broke down the deck jobs profit into how many hours were involved we earn the corporation a 85-100 a hour. But 85 might be a little high, it really depends on how you feel about the person, do they get the job done? And are you ok with paying for the service you get.
