RPetry

Pete, Sure looks like redwood. I'd try maybe 4 or 5 oz. of your NaOH flakes per gal. for stripper. Don't hit it hard with your pressure washer. Neutralize with oxalic, citric, whatever acid you use. If you don't have a moisture meter, let it sit for a day or better two to let the wood dry out. Staining can be a problem. But not always. Depends on the redwood itself. I had a redwood deck last year that I tested a small spot with regular Ready Seal stain. Immediately, within a second or two, the wood was nearly black from the natural wood resins coming to the surface. The Ready Seal redwood only formula worked and looks fine. I think it may have to do with the age of the wood. This deck was ~ 20 years old and the wood may have been from old growth stock. I know of many contractors in the West and California that use regular Ready Seal on redwood daily without the resin/tannin issue. This redwood may be from younger trees, possibly tree farm stock.

Mas, Keep 'em coming! The purple heart story is one of those pieces of information that is fascinating. Since we are both sitting around, waiting for the thunderstorms to abate, I have two pictures and a question. I realize it is difficult to ID wood from a photo, especially if it does not have unique visual characteristics, so I'm not asking for anything definitive. First pic, wood stripped and brightened with citric, still a tad wet. Second pic, stained with a color mix of Ready Seal stain. Wood had not been rubbed down yet when taken. Builder says its "mahogany", installers don't have a clue. i've been calling it "Philippine mahogany". It does not have the color qualities of what I consider higher quality mahogany. Want to make an educated guess?

Mas, Great! There are so many different "hardwoods" and "exotics" that some of us are seeing, and are having a difficult time making a correct identification. Stick around, your expertise in wood would be appreciated and enlightening. Lyptus sounds fascinating, I will look into this new species. Thanks for all the good info.

American mahogany, at least as defined by the Aussies. http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/hardwoodsqld/13321.html

Philip, Funny you should mention mildew and customer problems. When I got back to the office yesterday, there was a message from one of my oldest, first year in business customers. Returned the call immediately. I know this deck intimately, having serviced it a few times, the last being a full strip and stain two years ago. This one of the few solid oil jobs that I have taken on, I just don't like solid stain jobs. Anyway, they have a portion of their deck that is fully shaded, and is subject to mold and mildew. The customer asked if I could schedule a date to clean it up. As I am currently working in that area, said sure, I'll stop by tomorrow and take care of it. I've got a spare hour or two today, and I'll be just around the corner. The customer will try to pay me today, and I will not accept a dime. Why would any business do work for free? I'll try and explain. First, my cost outlay is nil. A half gallon of 12% BLEECH!, a squirt of Dawn, and a few bucks in gas for the PW. The most cost is an an available hour or two of easy labor. Next, these people are retired and the husband has not been in good health. I have explained how to get rid of mold and mildew to other customers and they have done the work themselves. These people can't. Most important is the referrals I have gotten from this customer. He referred me to his best friend, and I have been Ready Sealing his huge deck every two years, as well as two of the neighbors. That friend referred me to a business associate...you get the drift. In just doing a small bit of work tomorrow, I'll be the best, most valuable contractor they have ever used. They will never forget my company. He will tell his best friend, and I'll look like a hero. I'm sure you get the idea. In residential contracting, referrals are priceless. You can advertise like crazy, send out brochures and postcards, and buy a big space in the Yellow pages. Nothing in my experience comes close to satisfied customers that mention your services to others. Today will be the best marketing I have ever done.

Scott, Touche. Great comeback! That reminds me. I have your brother in law's deck and fence stripping job coming up. I'll get in touch with him late this week on scheduling. How's things in Nebraska? Working on any exterior wood yet? Bet those sq. miles of corn are just starting to poke their little heads out of that great soil.

Greg, the founder of the Deckguide board, recently posted here and it reminded me of his van fire years ago. New wood contractors may not be aware, but wood stained tarps, waste rags, paper towels, etc. pose a real and dangerous threat to your customers and your business. This is no joke, it happens. A small contractor in my area nearly lost his work vehicle last year due to spontaneous combustion. Now that the weather is getting warmer, the potential for fire rises. Some wood stains, especially those that contain linseed oil, can be volatile. This includes many Cabot products and a large number of consumer grade wood stains. Those warning labels on the top of Cabot cans are there for a reason. Go to http://gkdist.com/deckcareforums/showthread.php?t=475&highlight=van+fire and read the whole thread. The horror story, including an eye opening picture, starts near the bottom of the first page.

Dan, Mark Twain (aka. Samuel Clement) was a notable writer. His most memorable character, Tom Sawyer, subcontracted fence work and skipped town down the Mississippi River. That was near 100 yrs. ago. I am afraid things have not changed much since then.

RFitz, Ouch, biting one's tongue hurts. Are you dealing with cedar? You're in St. Louis, that's cedar territory. Talk to Reed. Or email or phone on my signature line.

Mas3372, Enjoy the moment. Stripping can never get better and it will get worse. My first strip job was 3 layers of solid that was probably acrylic. Did not have a clue, first year. Nightmare. Three days later, a boatload of sanding, and a doubling of the original quote got the foul stains removed. My oldest and first customer and still with me. Prepared their wood for staining this morning. There are still spots of that foul acrylic after six years. Smile as that beam of light shines down on your face because the fact is, not all of 'em are going to be so easy. Bask in success while you can, and don't make my mistake of spending a bundle of time and $ on strippers that are far from what is advertised. Strippers, second to stains, are the worst rip off in this business. Did not mean to rain on your parade. Congrats!

Pete, Come on, fess up! In my day it was an "open book" test. Sneaked a peek or two. Was a very basic, but helpful introduction, to wood care. Learned the advanced degree from the great internet resources that we have today. Outstanding marketing on Wolman's part.

Daryl, Richard covered the basics. Furring of wood or "fuzzies" for those of an idyllic nature with still warm feelings for their teddy bears, has a whole bunch of reasons. First and foremost for woodies, is using too much water pressure from the tip onto the wood. My vote for second would be wood species and condition when treating. Western red cedar, especially old, untreated, and exposed to a lot of sun will fur up pronto. Put your killer tip on and try to fir ipe. Can be done but the point is different wood species and constitution. PT wood, even old and untreated, does not fir anywhere near what cedar will. Stripping enhances firring. A very hot NaOH stripper can turn wood into a Chia pet. If you don't know what that is, you are too young. Jeeze, I can think of another half dozen reasons. Someone else please chime in.

Doug, I agree with Rod 100%. Their may be some power sanders for tight places but plain sandpaper and elbow grease works. Sanding pads can also work to get rid of spot fuzzies. Take care on using the Makita and defelting pads on cedar. It is easy to over buff or burnish the wood. For any species of wood, 60 grit paper is the highest I personally will use. As with burnishing cedar, you do not want to close up the pores or cellular structure of the wood. This makes stain penetration difficult and spotty. Klingspor makes very high quality, long lasting sandpapers. Available on line purchasing, do a Google search.

Terry, Cabot use to make good solid color oil based exterior wood stains. Did a complete solid oil job last spring using Cabot. Here in the Northeast due to VOC regs, they have had to change their formulas, not sure what you get in NC. If you have an airless, it applies quickly. You may want to cut it with a bit of mineral spirits, the Cabot oil I used last year was very thick in consistancy and needed to be thinned. My experience is to avoid acrylic and latex stains or paints on exterior wood subject to sun and rain. Seen too many cases of wood rot, both PT and cedar, on deck balustrades. In addition, these products can be a nightmare to maintain.

Pete, Didn't cheat and take a peek in the manual, did 'ya? Did not know they still had the program around. That is a good choice of products and sources. Good luck on your endeavors.

Pete, Like many, I started off in this business with the Wolman's certified contractor program. Used their sodium percarbonate based powder wood cleaner and their F&P oil stain for the first 2 years. The cleaner was ok but expensive. Contrary to their directions, you still had to treat the wood with a mild acid after use. The F&P stain was ok, on par or maybe a bit better than similar consumer grade stains. Knew about Ready Seal but did not do enough business to order 50 gals. at a time on a "less than truckload" shipping basis. When Tom Vogel of ACR Products started carrying the stain, I drove up there in a flash. Gave away my last 5'er of F&P last year.

Ken, Good for you. Is there any way other wood contractors could help bring some legal or other pressure to bear on these acrylic stain manufacturers? Someone on the Grime Scene should have papers dealing with the old Behr's "no mildewcide" class action lawsuit. The lead attorneys gained a settlement if I recall of ~ $150 million. That law firm might be a good resource. Anything to get rid of these foul acrylic exterior wood stains would be a blessing for all, the homeowner, contractors, and the wood itself.

This is going to upset a lot of small mom and pop retailers. Two of my local paint stores carry a full line of Cabot stains. Always seemed their marketing was to try to position Cabot stains as being high end. Not now. Wonder if they changed formulations and oil base to get their manu. costs down. This trick is used by some manus. of products that retail in Lowes and Home Depot. Ken, Sorry, I was writing and did not see your post. Is this true? That would be some very good news and maybe change the stain industry.

Roger and Tim, Do you have a web site in the U.K. where you all hang out? America is getting very stale.

Roger, Watch out. I'm coming over to visit you guys. Palm trees really growing in England and customers that do not want their teak stained? This is wonderful, a better way of things. Keep posting, your 500 yrs. of British history may still influence us colonials yet.

Dan, Please do not ask. This is the infamous Shane and Texas. I am sure whatever those Texans do is illegal in Mass. Try a PM, the enviro. police are not that smart. You have Ted Kennedy, they have Tom Delay.

Russell and Rod, If you are going to reuse tarps, Russell's directions are correct. If you have to reuse rags and clean up material, you may want to consider another line of work. Soak 'em in water in the gallon or 5'er of completely used stain, and dispose of any way that is legal and proper. Just do not let them sit unattended and forgotten.

Tim, Pure, real English. Read me a bedtime story. I am entranced by the language. Hail Britanania! Keep it up. Americans will have you on 5 different stains and 13 various chemical mixes in no time. Enjoy it while you can.

Tim, Congratulations! First deck and its a teak! It must be the Wimpenny maiden name grandmother on on my father's side but you Brits are the most welcomed addition to this web site in a long time. Refreshing. The wood looks great and will continue to look great. Don't do anything, allow the wood to dry and weather to a patina. Aside from nuclear war, nothing harms teak. No oil, no special hardwood stains, your customer purchased one of the finest woods available. No problem. You may just have an account for life. The customer wants you to come back in a year. In your climate, that is probably the perfect maintenance. Tim, your countrymen can be downright loveable. If someone in New Jersey had a bench like that, they'd throw it away for a new one! Its probably a very good hardwood that will last for 50 years. Three cheers and one on the house for the Brits!

Roger, Very good looking job. What kind of facility is that, not a private home is it? Had no idea palm trees could grow in England, looks real but must certainly be a replica.