Old returning client (way before my time here) with an all cedar home. See the pics the area that is “discolored”. She is certain it is because she had us avoid that area the last time. To me it has to be either stained differently, or a different type of wood altogether, She’s sure it’s a result of us not doing the area the last time, because we told her it would look different if we didn’t wash it. I’m convinced that no one could ever make that clean of a dividing line between what they did/didn’t wash.
She’s worried that if we do a full wash to prep for restaining, that there will always be a difference in the shades between the 2 areas… Thoughts/ideas?
She should be worried about that garage door falling on someone’s head and killing them. That’s probably an extension spring setup from the 80’s on a heavy wood door. No bueno when those springs go bang. ETA Just noticed she has a keypad so maybe she doesn’t have extension springs anymore. Nevermind me.
Anywho, yeah which part is discolored? The area that Mike mentioned looks like it matches the rest of the porch area. The area above the garage roof line looks like it’s been replaced and stained more recently.
Sorry, I thought it stuck out like a sore thumb (as does she)…yes, the portion from the garage gutterline up to the chimney/peak. We washed her house a few years ago and she told the guys not to worry with that part (no info on why), they told her it wouldn’t match. Now she’s saying she was clearly wrong and shouldn’t have told us how to do our job…but, she wants to restain, and is worried if we wash the entire house it will lighten the rest of the hous more than that area, and still not match. My money is it will never match…but best answer would be to wash the whole house, maybe tell her we’ll hit that area 2x, or with double strength, to try to minimize the differences
There are so many things that could be affecting it. Looks like the wood could’ve been replaced while the wood below wasn’t.
It will be hard to match period.
If I was staining it, and she wanted it to match, I’d use a slightly darker stain on that area. Actually, I’d mix the regular stain color with a darker stain. I’ve done that before when someone adds on to a deck and they want it to match the old portion of the deck.
We didn’t have the proper skilled techs, we had a bunch on the books that were improperly priced (which was why they were so easy to sell), everyone wants them done at the exact same time (which is when we’re booked out 6 weeks with wash jobs)
I think I’m the only washer in my area who also stains. Maybe there are a couple out there but I haven’t found them. The biggest washing companies around me don’t do it.
But I started with staining so making the switch to houses and concrete wasn’t too hard.
I had a request to quote a deck last year. I went & had a look at it & she said she had someone that was going to come over & paint / stain / seal it afterwards. I told her it would be cheaper to let them take care of all the prep work. I never heard back. I consider that a win.
