Bozo the Clown Applied Urethane on This Job

Nostalgic for a trip down memory land, I'm going through old pictures of jobs I looked at. This one at Justin Vineyards in Paso Robles I didn't redo, it went to a suit I heard over the leaks and application process...but here's some pictures of the job, it's a pathetic looking mess that is a urethane system, brand unknown, that was put down over a damp substrate is the way I heard it, and it's outgassed.
A lesson in making sure your applicator is trained and experienced...

Decks In the Line of Fire" a good article on deck building in CA fire zones

I found this article in Professional Deck Builder online regarding the new fire codes for decks in wild land interfaces. Written by Santa Barbara author and deck builder Bill Bolton, there is some good info here to know and implement into your building strategy.


First 100 Words:
Decks in the Line of Fire Deciphering the code behind fire-resistant construction Bill Bolton As a deck designer and builder on the West Coast, I occasionally build decks in what's called the wildland-urban interface. The geography here is a little different from, say, the woodlands of New England. Winter rains on the California coast support plentiful vegetation, which then dries out in the summer to become a tinderbox (Figure 1). This large fuel source, coupled with high winds in the surrounding mountains and canyons, creates an environment ripe for the wildfires you see on the evening news. Despite the danger,

Click here or our headline to go to the article at Professional Deck Builder online

Picture of the week, a couple weeks late

So I'm looking through a cd I burned of pictures of old jobs; came across this job on the water in Cayucos that I did a few years ago.
As you can see in the first pic, the house is on the water, subject to very harsh conditions.
The deck has urethane on it that burned up from UV and has split and allowed water in. I opened the bubbles on the deck to find salt underneath! Here's the pictures that show it...
after fixing plywood, flashing, and sloping, the deck was redone with the Desert Crete decking system from Hill Brothers.
Pretty amazing sight to see, crystallized sea salt...

Crowded Field of ICC Approved Fire Resistant Deck Coatings Becomes More Crowded

Browsing through the ICC list of tested and approved deck coatings, the addition of Londeck Fire Retardant Roof and Walking Deck as an approved product caught my eye...
so I looked it up and found a Japanese company, Lonseal Inc. with a vinyl type coating that utilizes cement underlayment to help it achieve fire resistance.
I've requested literature and samples from their US based division in Carson CA.
We'll report more on the product once we receive their samples and booklet.
In the meantime, take a look at the ICC reports on file at ICC's website by clicking our headline above...
Or click here to go to Lonseal's website

CENTEX Announces sale of lots in Atascadero, next door at Southside Villas, the project is at a dead halt

So the Tribune had an article in Sunday's paper that CENTEX, a publicly traded national homebuilder has sold their remaining unfinished lots at Dove Creek in Atascadero to another developer.

At least that's a better thing than closing down the project like so many others have done...next door at Southside Villas, a condo project that started several years ago, is dead in the water. Stopping by on Sunday, there are 2 finished buildings, and one unfinished 3rd building partially dried in, yet not dried in. Roof tiles started to get put down over the roofing paper which was left out in the sun for what seemed way to long...the decks and stairs are dried in with Desert Crete (I know because I sold the job through a previous employer, who still has the contract), the walls are covered in buiding paper that went on black and has now faded out to a light gray from UV.
Right next door to Dove Creek is Southside Villas and here is the all to familiar conundrum when it eventually starts back up...the underlayment weatherproofing that has no UV resistance to speak of is damaged now by UV. Will the paper and sheathing be torn off where damaged by weather? Or will a sub contractor simply go right over it? While the decks look ok for now, damage could happen due to contiguous building materials being damaged and water getting into the substrate beneath.
If the developer isn't careful, they could find themselves in trouble too.
Remember the 80's? That's when a lot of condo's and homes that were built had problems in construction, we had a big downturn then...and what do we have right now?
All I can say is that it won't be bad for my business...

Elite Crete Los Angeles Division offers Training Classes on their Product Line

Just opened my email this morning to find an invite to Elite Crete LA's intensive 2 day training class being held on Saturday and Sunday, April 26th and 27th.
Click the headline to go to their seminar info pdf. It looks like a great training seminar, covering decorative finishes, including acid staining, thin overlay stamping, epoxy and more!
If you are a concrete or deck contractor, this may be a big help to your bottom line in expanding your business to include decorative overlays and flooring. It's $250 to attend, but what you'll get from it and with the offer of free estimating software (a $300 value right there), it's a great deal!
Contact Michael Wagner at 310-612-2502 or by email at wagner@elitecretela.com (copy and paste if not highlighted)
I do have one criticism though, in the sample sales lead generator letter that was included in my email, the contractor hopefully isn't from California, as the payment terms outlined in the sales letter violates California law in that contractors can only take a deposit of 10% of the value of the job as a down payment, not the 50% as described in the letter. It also seems that the contractor is offering to finance the other 50% until the house sells...who would want to crimp their cash flow with those terms?