I just finished a patio cover repair, where there was a lot of wood with dry rot. It wasn't in the budget to replace the whole structure, so we (the customer and I) set about identifying all the parts that were in a state of deterioration - quite a lot, it turns out. When I counted up all the 2-by-3's that were effected, and added 10% for waste, I came up with 50 pieces - That ran almost $400.
There were also major pieces of the structure that I would have liked to replace, but would have required demolishing most of the structure to do so. We decided to scrape out any signs of dry rot, treat the lumber with Copper Napthenate, and fill the gouges with an exterior quality wood filler.
The new lumber was sealed with Kilz2 (my 2nd favorite primer, at about 65% of the cost of my favorite), painted with the customer's White Exterior Semi Gloss, and assembled the whole thing like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
The patio cover looks great, it passed inspection, and the home will close escrow on time in a few more days. Hooray!! And the reality check? My finished project came in at about $400 less than my competitor, who did not include painting in his bid. My competitor also did not include treating the structural pieces in his bid. I guess that puts me in at close to $1000 under on this project. Good for me, except I wouldn't mind having an extra grand in my pocket.
Check out my website for Executive Painting and Texture, the nicest painters in Santa Clarita: www.executivepainting.net
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