Wolman's....Where is it??

[Ronniels]

I have Wolman's certification...
I like what I have seen of their products...
I have heard and read nothing but good things about them...

I cannot purchase it locally!!

I called Wolman's, they will not sell to us directly, but they gave me a list of 9 or 10 dealers, and none of them carry Wolman's anymore....

I am based in Va Beach, VA

Any suggestions or ideas?

Ronnie

 

[Barry Loy]

Hi Ronniels, I have had the exact same problem. Did the certificate program, have all the materials, liked what I say and read, tried the product and liked it, have the 'contractor' book, video and all, but nowhere locally to purchase their product. What a bummer ! I',m sure it's probably a marketing thing right now, other companies right now have their share of the wolman market. These companies all have market swings, right now it's not in the favor of wolman. Can you find any Flood products? ,
( CWF - UV ) they have a very similar program.



Barry Loy

 

[Mike Hughes]

For your sake, I hope you don't find CWF......

I don't buy anything for deck cleaning, or sealing from a store. Ever. One reason I like to use a sealer like Ready Seal is you can't just hop in your car and go pick some up.........it adds value in my opinion. Makes the customer feel they are getting something more professional then they could have done themselves (and they ARE).

Just my two cents....

Mike

 

[Andy Wheatley]

Ronniels,

When I went through that program, I called Wolmans up, asked them where I could buy it, and they gave me the phone number for one of their district sales reps who sold to retail paint stores. I called him up, asked him where I could buy it and he gave me the name of a store I could purchase it from.

But lo and behold I walked in a Sears Hardware Store a few weeks later and guess what they carried...Wolmans, and their prices were cheaper!

So, if you haven't done this already, call Wolmans back, ask them for the name of their sales rep in your area, call him up and see what he says.

(OR) If you have any Sears Hardware Stores close, you might stop in and check - ask them if they could order it for you.

(OR) You really might want to check into the Ready Seal as Mike suggested.

Good Luck!

 

[Lenny Schrecengost]

I started using Wolman also and I like the job it does. I'm up the road from VA Beach and I get mine at the Duron Paint store. another local hardware store also has it. There might be a Duron down there at the Beach.

 

[Deck Works]

One of the reasons I have been using S.W Cuprinol UV is I can go into any Sherwin Williams store and they have it in stock. The only place around me where they have Wohlmans is Sears. However the qty that I usually buy doesn't permit me to purchase there....they simply don't carry enough for me. On average I buy probably 35 gallons of stain/sealer a week. I will admit that the only stipper I use is Wolhmans but I do use CWF's or Behrs brightner/cleaner to nuetralise the stripper. It is cheaper than Wolmans. I look very hard at my material costs.....part of the reason I make at least $50/hr profit on every job (that includes driving, setup, and cleanup time) and this is a part-time business for me.

On a sidenote I just did a pool deck last weekend. This job was mostly rail and spindles with about 8ft of decking between the pool and the rails. I used CWF-UV Redwood Tone on the whole thing. This was purely a cost reason. I bought 5 gallons of CWF for $60 where 5 gallons of Cuprinol wood have run me about $110. I went thru 20 gallons of stain on this job. Now I have to admit that I don't usually like running CWF on horizontal surfaces. But this is all I use on Fences. I spray all my decks (unless they are small) and fences with a 3/4 airless sprayer. One thing I found about CWF that I liked is you don't need to back brush anything. With Cuprinol you have to back brush the horizontal surfaces.

For any of you contractors looking to save time....invest in an airless sprayer. Not only does it look excellent with no brushmarks, the time you will save spraying spindles and rails is unreal.

John

 

[Greg Rentschler]

I have to ask...... what do you tell your customers in 2 or 3 years when the CWF-UV is peeling and you have to strip the entire surface before re applying. Just yesterday I met with a couple who applied CWF-UV to their deck last year and the product is peeling already on the horizontals. The deck is one year old and they are already having to dish out $1700 to refinish. On top of that the deck looks terrible.... blotchy and uneven (a trademark of CWF-UV because it is difficult to apply). My suggestion??? I told them to call Flood and raise all hell...... just to compensate for the restoration costs.

.....and get this..... before I gave them an estimate on the job they had some yahoo who cleans gutters offer to do the entire job for $400...the guy didn't even know what kind of wood it was and argued that their cedar deck was all pressure treated pine (and the homeowner was the one who built it?!) This kind of stuff just gets my goat....

Greg

 

[Deck Works]

I've applied CWF to probably 25 fences over the last couple of years. Several of them I have annual maintenance agreements for cleaning and touchup. I have not seen any of them peeling on the vertical surfaces as you have. On fence contracts I do offer my customers the alternative of going with Wohlmans or S.W cuprinol but I tell them the contract will be more $ as materials go up. I never hesitate to spray CWF-UV on rails or fences. I usually don't like going with it on horizontal, not cause if peels but fades faster. I have never seen it peel as you have. Im a part-timer in the business - I probably haven't run across as many decks as you have.

John

 

[Mark]

I have been a dealer of the Wolmans product line for a number of years, I may be able to drop ship factory direct, to some of you guys I think I can do free freight with @ 50 gallon orders.

I will check it out and post later this week.

Who out there would be interested?

 

[Beth]

What Andy suggested worked for us here. We found local retail stores had pulled it from their shelves. We could get it from Duron except that our Duron store was horrible about ordering it. Rod spoke to the Wolman rep and the S & W guy and now he gets it there, at a better price!

Speak to your Wolman rep. and your contact at your store.

Beth

 

[reedsterstl]

Don't be discouraged. I know the retail business very extensively and there are two major reasons that a paint store tells you they can't get something. 1) They know what sells in their area and are not willing to take a gamble on a product that only a select few will use. 2) They don't want to do the paper work and route through their "home" office for a purchase agreement.
I am lucky enough to have two stores locally that carry the Wolman's and Flood. I prefer the Wolman's purely because it works better than the flood. I have the Wolman's cert. and flood crew cert and the Olympic cert. I use what the job requires. Flood cleaner and brightner is best when working around aluminum, won't harm it and Wolman's will. But as far as getting to the mildew, Wolman's does what it says and I use it on new "wood" for sealing. Don't be misled about letting wood set for a few drying and wetting cycles. I am a firm beleiver in sealing as soon as you can, but you HAVE TO remove mill glaze and Wolman's new gelled all exterior cleaner/brightner does the job.
Remember, every one has their own opinions, just like they have their own a** h***. Research, research, research. This is the only way for any of us to do what we think is best. Educate ourselves to the products available and put our knowledge to work.

As far as sealers, ReadySeal and Cuprinol solids work best for me. I do two toned decks and Cuprinol for spindles and solid color decks, but readyseal for the true beauty of cedar.

 

[powerkleen]

Mark,

What is your price to drop ship 10 five gallon cans of F&P cedar tone sealer in the virginia area.

I had to order some last fall through my local Sherwin-Williams store and the price went up. The first time that I ordered the district rep quoted me and had to follow up on it @ $62.86 per five gallon can. Second order of 50 gallons went up to $78.75 per can.

I currently have 60 gallons of F&P Golden Pine sitting in my basement storage area. I ordered it after Labor Day in 2000. If anybody needs any in the area, e-mail me and I will see what price I can work up. Cost?


Anthony

 

[Greg Rentschler]

Many people are unaware of this but Wolman has preferred pricing set for any Certified Contractor. Contact your sales rep and tell them to call Wolman for the pricing structure. All Wolman products are available at discounts right off the bat. You can typically get the products for even better prices. Last year we were paying $72.00 for 5 of F & P while I believe the contractor price was $78 or $82.

Greg

 

[Beth]

So.....I'll ask (I'm in sales, I have no problem asking) if you paid $72 last year, what are you paying this year?

Beth

 

[Greg Rentschler]

Hi Beth,


We are paying $75.00 per 5 gallons this year.....although we are using more and more Ready Seal. We have only applied 20 gallons or so of F & P this year. More cost up front for the Ready Seal but the time savings is substantial (no brush! ). Our supplier for Wolman products is MAB paints.....check locally, I believe they nationwide.