Can you do me a favor?

 so, I wanted to start this blog about MY BUSINESS, so that my potential customers could feel like they KNOW ME, and my "crew"

When you call up a big company, usually you are NOT talking to the person who will do your actual job. first you talk to an office person, and then somebody might come out to your house, and then somebody ELSE comes to do your job. With US, it's MYSELF and One employee. when I worked for larger companies I made 15, 17 dollars an hour, now the "going rate" is probably 22$, sometimes I made less just because I'm a woman. That's another reason I struck out on my own.   I pay well, and I take care of who helps me. Believe me, if I didn't I'd be one of those business owners CRYING for good people. I want to SHARE success, I really do. and I honestly think if more business owners took the attitude of sharing profits, they'd have good help. 

Today I'm going to tell a story from the business owner's point of view for you and why some people do have such a HARD TIME FINDING GOOD PEOPLE.... 

Most of you already know, I work with another young lady, who is about 15 years younger than I am, but I'm trying to teach her all  the things I know so that maybe one day she can be a leader and teach someone else. WE both live in Alder Manor, in warrenton, across the street from each other. See, after I started my business I KNEW I needed help, but good people are especially hard to find around here!!! I think it's the housing prices, and the cost of living, but I digress. We both have ultimate goals of getting a "real house" where you are further from your neighbors. Most people I tell this to are very happy to hear this. they say things like, that's something they can definitely get behind, or basically are happy to know what our ultimate goal is. 

so back to today's story. 

One day whilst waiting for lunch,  a middle aged woman, who dressed like she worked in an upscale office, asked us/we came to conversation about what we were working on that particular day. 

Insert ---- CAN YOU DO ME A FAVOR???

She explained she is getting ready to sell her house in gearhart, but needs some decking replaced. I told her right off the bat, that we usually don't do jobs that small. Well she was pretty insistent, so we agreed to go look at it. 

We get to this HUGE HOUSE , I mean three stories on a dead end road. HUUUUUGE. probably worth 600K  but I'm no realtor!! 

Well she needed about 14 , 16 foot long outdoor type boards replaced on her deck. I told her she should paint the deck before selling, like other people do (we replace them after they are sold) to get away without having to replace EVERY DECK BOARD. She liked that idea. 

I bid the job for $1400  materials, and $1400 for labor. Total of 2800

she needed about 14 boards, which cost $72 at builders supply, screws for the new decking, a demo blade for the saw, DUMP FEES for the old decking, and cutting it up, taking it to the dump ETC. We are definitely NOT the cheapest, but we DO A GOOD JOB, the best possible, and I can live with that.  

She said she HAD to get it done by the first of May. So we put her on the schedule. 

The day came to do the job. On her contract it reads, down payment is due before we start. down payments are usually the materials cost plus half the labor, with the other half labor at completion. 

We get to the house, she says her kids are there and will give me a check. that did happen, the reason I'm saying anything, is what she tells me a week later. 

ANYWAY, we do the job. That particular morning, we went to the lumberyard about 730am and showed up about 830. we got done around 2pm we got to the DUMP and paid dump fees around 3pm. got home about 330. (that's a flat 8 hours times two people, 16 man hours) ($1200) plus dump fees, gas, etc. 

I sent her pictures of the framing underneath her deck, because she's selling her house, and the inspector might want to know what the framing looks like. had I not sent the pic, she would have NEVER known what time we were done. So later that night, after she paid the other half labor, she wrote me a long message saying she thinks she was overcharged because it only took us 4 hours.Well I told her, everything I just explained. she didn't reply. I explained insurance, workman's comp, to name a few. 

A WEEK LATER SHE SAYS, YOU OVERCHARGED ME. 

I explain, what it takes to operate for one hour, 

LABOR COST (hourly wage) plus 30% for payroll taxes and unemployment, PLUS 33% for workman's comp, plus liabilty insurance, plus commercial auto insurance, ETC.

 we charge $75 an hour. I have heard other rates at 130 and 150 an hour so I know we are not the most expensive, and no we definitely are not cheap. You get exactly what you pay for!! If this was easy, would houses cost 400 THOUSAND DOLLARS??

Again, I apologize she feels the way she does, I GET THREE MORE MESSAGES about she thinks she was overcharged and her contractor who lives by her says the job should have only been a grand, total.

I say a final reply, with the lumber was $72 per board, and JUST THE LUMBER was a grand, so I dont know how that works. she even called me unprofessional and threatened a bad review. I said what can you possibly say thats bad? you FEEL you were overcharged, yet you had the contract and was on the schedule for SIX WEEKS??? I also told her of the job we just finished, and that NORMALLY I wouldn't even take on a job this small, but I was TRYING TO HELP YOU OUT with getting your house on the market. that's what I get, right? Of course if there was ANYTHING bad about the work itself, she'd be all over that, but since she cannot, and obviously her "contractor neighbor" can't either. she even AGREED in the messages that we do good, quality work and show up on time. she said, she was "grossly overcharged" 

really? 

so I took the time to write this up , just in case that bad review comes, and just to let SOME PEOPLE KNOW out there in interweb land, THIS IS WHY PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO DO YOUR JOB!! Even when people TRY THE BEST they can, and do the job 100% as described, there's still a chance you'll get a shitty review. 

I'm keeping all this anonymous, even though I  have the messages I could PROVE all of this is true. I know I shouldn't let one little person like this bother me, but it does. I always want my customers to be happy. even when it's a small job. I don't leave the house in the morning to PISS people off, I'm trying to better my life, and my kids lives, and my employee's life too!!! And it costs money. I'm as transparent as possible. There is a lot 

So to wrap up, this lady told us she couldn't "Find anyone relaible" to work on her house, found us on our lunch hour, and was fairly persistant until I went and looked at her job. we had her scheduled for 5 weeks or so, did her job ON TIME, for exactly what I quoted, did a good job, and a week later she writes me 5 messages on how she was grossly overcharged. I did the BEST I COULD in every aspect of having a business. 

On another note, I got a STELLAR review on google now, from my most recent client!!! which made me feel so good!!! I mean, that is what we are trying to do out here, do GOOD WORK, and make enough money to buy a real house. 

Thanks for reading my story, or STORIES... We are currently booked about a month to 5 weeks out, but would love to help you with your project!! I hope me sharing this story doesn't scare anyone away, that's not the prerogative!! Instead I hope it helps explain things from the "other side" nobody talks about. Talking about money is uncomfortable for a lot of people. it's scary and intimidating. but you'll always know what's up with me. I will NEVER charge more than I say it will be unless YOU are adding something and are GOOD with that, the whole way! another reason I always have a written contract. 

the fastest way to get an estimate, is to text or email me the info/pics of what you need fixed/done/built, etc. I can't answer my phone during the day, becasue I'm WORKING on jobs, and if I stop work everytime the phone rings, I wouldn't get ANYTHING done!! but as 99% of my clients say, I do promptly respond, and if I'm working on YOUR job, you'll know exactly what's going on, and if we aren't there, you'll know why! 

503-791-7473    acowan1216@gmail dot com

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!!!! I WOULDN'T BE HERE WITHOUT IT!!!

I'm leaving you with before and after pics of the job I talked about. 

and I really DO WISH the best for this person. I would never wish bad for ANYONE honestly, life is hard enough as it is, right? 

Fencing, in the (soggy) Pacific Northwest

 Why do fences blow down so much around here??

There's more than one reason, obviously but I think the biggest culprit is the POSTS.

I recently started using METAL POSTS, by POSTMASTER, at almost 8 feet long, once buried 25 inches in the ground with three bags of sac crete, it makes them incredibly strong!!

The bummer is the cost. But, with prices of wood triple what they were a year ago, NOW it's only about 25% more per post, and the trade off is, a FIFTY year post that will be someone else's problem by the time it wears out. 

Even if not using metal posts, you can make a barrier with TAR, or FORTIFLASH membrane, 30 PD FELT PAPER, or the like, around the bottom of your post, where the concrete will touch. this will ensure your posts last longer than 3 winters. 

some people mention the PREFAB PANELS from home depot. the only problem there is, 

A. no frame holding the cedar boards TO your posts,

B. you better be PERFECT in your post layout, that means PLUMB, ON YOUR LINE, and the EXACT measurement your panel is. and then pour concrete. Otherwise, you're taking panels apart, and it's better to build them anyway, and more cost effective than dressing up the cheap ones. sometimes they are made of treated pine and NOT cedar. 

General rule of thumb is, you get exactly what you pay for.

here's how I build fence...

First we set a stringline to where YOU want the fence to be. 

then we lay out the "holes" every 6 feet (72 inches) and mark where any gates are going.

Dig the holes at LEAST 24 inches. 30 inches if you're digging in sand.

set your posts in your holes. this is where you want to create that barrier I was talking about, if you're using wood posts. Plumb your post both ways, and make sure you're on your line. do the line side first, then plumb the other way using LATH and STAKES to hold you to your line.

POUR CONCRETE. slope the concrete AWAY from your posts, so you have NO water "sitting" around the base of your post, this is for metal and wood. 

Build "frames" between each post of 2x4. you can see in my pictures, when you look at the back side of the fence, how exactly I place the 2x4s. you would run them the opposite way if doing VERTICAL fence boards. 

horizontal fence boards make the fence stronger. so does having posts every SIX feet instead of 8 or 10. the stronger the fence, the longer it will last. 

I will attach some pictures to this blog post as reference of the instructions.

if you have specific questions, feel free to send an email to me, acowan1216@gmail.com

the type of fence I described, costs about 100 dollars a foot installed, 70/30 materials/labor

and a five year warranty.             7

final pics of Large cedar deck, and client Review

Cowan custom finishing CCB 225044

Acowan1216@gmail.com

503 791 7473

My finished deck project, took about four weeks for demo and rebuild. 

Demolition took 3 days, concrete took about 4 days altogether. We mixed and poured by hand due to it being around one yard total. 

Framing took about 2 weeks, and decking took almost a week, railings took about 3 days. 

I’m including the clients review of the job, as well.

Thanks for looking! 

Deck prices start at $25/sq foot for Cedar and $30/sq ft for composite, 

Goes up from there depending on if it’s ground level, difficult terrain, or a number of other things. 

The handrails used on this cedar deck were very comparable price and labor wise to Cedar railings, 

We used cedar 4x4s, 2x4s and powder coated aluminum spindles. 

Dont hesitate to email me 

acowan1216@gmail.com or text my phone 503 791 7473

Or message me on Facebook or my business page! 

Thank you for supporting local businesses!!!!! 

Progress on my largest deck so far, on a steep hillside

Cowan custom finishing CCB-225044

acowan1216@gmail.com

503 791 7473

Here is a steep hillside, With a rotting deck, the client bought the house last fall. 

First I had to draw a blueprint, and come up with a framing plan.

After looking up codes (I always do even though I’m very familiar with most of them)

I decided to use 4x6 and 4x4 and not span more than 7 feet anywhere with 2x8 framing. 

In the code book you can span 12 feet. But I like making things, building them to LAST longer than I will.

So first came demo....

Then came the pier posts and footings. 

I laid those out with string lines according to my blueprint.

Next we poured concrete. By hand since it was less than a yard total needed. 

After the concrete set 12 to 24 hours, 

We started setting ledger boards. Normally I’d set all the ledger board then frame to it, 

But this site had unique challenges.

I couldn’t set a ledger board 12 feet in the air where nothing else was set.

So I decided to tackle it one 7 foot section at a time. 

As we needed more ledger board as we framed, I set it with temporary braces. And that’s basically how we built a 650 square foot deck , 12 feet in the air!

We still have handrails to build , that should be done next week. 

I’m super proud of myself and my crew, this hasn’t been an easy job at all. But the thing about doing hard things is, you’ll never learn anything by staying in your comfort zone! 

My prices for decks are average 25/30$ a square foot for composite (trex) and 20/25$ a square foot for Cedar or pressure treated wood. That’s for ground level, no handrail or stairs. 

20x20 deck as composite= $10,000.00

Cedar = $8,000.00

12x20= trex $6,000.00.   Cedar $4,800.00

I can give estimates with pictures and measurements via email or text! 

Thanks for stopping by!

I’ll make another post when this monster is complete! 

second story composite deck, and general info on deck costs.

Cowan custom Finishing CCB#225044 

503 791 7473

acowan1216@gmail.com

Heres what my first large deck job looked like. We did this one in may/June of 2019.

There was an addition added to the back of a traditional house. 

So first I had to get environmental testing done so we could take the debris out to the local dump. (Also known as asbestos testing)

The first pictures are of that structure.  Took us about 8 work days to get it all down and hauled away too. 

The deck took about a week, and the railing a few days more. 

Trex is a good product, they use a clip system instead of screws through the top of the board. 

The aluminum railing is fairly durable and realistically priced.  

Most decks (with trex/composite decking) range 25/30 bucks a square foot for ground level, with simple cedar railings. 

A cedar deck is a little less, 20 to 25 bucks a square foot. (Please keep in mind these are ballpark figures)

For example 12 feet by 20 feet deck, ground level =

Trex= $6,000.00

Cedar= $4,800.00 

20 feet by 20 feet, same as above 

Trex = 9 to $10,000.00

Cedar= 7 to $8,000.00

It works out to about half labor and half materials. 

To calculate square feet, just multiply two sides of the deck measurements. Then multiply by your price per foot. 

Deck height, permit fees, stairs, fancy railings, access to jobsite issues, power outlets, etc are also all things that affect price.