$150 just to see @janaw11 outwork me from across the room.

Yeah exactly... gluing the middle first takes all the fight out of it.

Yeah you mentioned 'stubborn buildup' and that's exactly the kind of stuff that makes me wonder if people are confusing creosote with actual glaze. I mean, a poly whip works great on soft creosote but if it's that hard glassy stuff, sometimes you need a rotary cleaner with a metal head to really break through. Idk, maybe it's just me but I've had a few jobs near the coast where the creosote was so baked it looked like black ice and the poly whip just kinda bounced off it.