RPetry

Pete, If the new ATO is similar to the old ATO, Ken is right. Something in the stain is difficult to remove and I think it may be the tung oil. A decent NaOH strength and dwell time should get it off of the board tops without much effort. It is the ATO on the board edges between the gaps that is tough to remove.

Matt, This cannot be stressed enough. There are contractors every year that lose trucks and property to fire. Some on this site have scary stories to tell. Oil stains can be very susceptible to spontaneous combustion. Linseed oil based stains seem to be particularly vulnerable, due to a low flash point. Best advice is to check the manu's label and store/dispose of tarps and rags carefully.

Brian, (2) 2"x8" boards by 8 or 10 ft. long with metal ramp ends will work. These can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowes. The only downside is that the boards may be longer than the bed of your pickup.

John, If in fact there is no stain on the shakes, I'd suggest using a sodium percarbonate wood cleaner, pressure wash, and follow up with an acid (citric, oxalic, citralic). This will have the cedar looking like new and a fine prep for an oil based stain. Diamond Jim may have better suggestions, he does a lot of shake work in Ct. OK will do.

John, Are you sure there is a stain present? From the picture it looks like normal cedar weathering.

Kevin said: Wood chemistry is a very difficult field. Throw in variations of species, UV exposure, moisture, temperatures, and the myriad of chemical and stain compositions and the complexity of factors increase geometrically. During the "Great Bleach Debate" a few years ago, I had a Chemistry PhD. friend of mine take a look at the postings. His fundamental conclusion was, and I paraphrase .... "observation through experience is often the best teacher". With a paraffinic oil such as Ready Seal, absorption amount into the wood is the utmost consideration. Do a crosscut of a properly prepped and RS stained deck board. Note the depth into the wood, beyond the surface, that the stain resins and/or pigments reach. This is a primary factor in the lifetime of color retention. It is my experiential observation that higher grit sandpaper inhibit the amount of stain absorbed into the wood.

Greg, Structural framing looks more like a sandbox than an elevated deck. Single beams and lack of joists is a collapse just waiting to happen. Kenny should find another line of work.

Have to agree with Rod. For many of the reasons stated, we never use a grit higher than 80 for exterior wood, and nine out of ten jobs use 60 grit. If you do a lot of sanding, check out the Klingspor products. Their sandpapers are extremely durable and save time and expense. Makes box store sandpaper look like tissue.

Daniel, I don't post pricing on any public boards. The job was two years ago and if my memory is correct, probably twice the clean and stain rate plus additional for sanding and carpentry labor. James, I'm in Plainsboro, NJ which is the central part of the state, about three miles south of Princeton.

Kevin, Here in NJ with the freeze/thaw cycles and summer sun exposure, three years on deck floors and four to five on vertical wood. This is with one coat. Probably more if a 2nd coat is applied but no one wants to pay that much labor! Fine by me, don't like solid stains and would rather not use the old Binks airless ever again. Its been my experience that you can do one maintenance after three years. At the six year mark, it is best to strip and start over. The #7400 series is what Cabot's calls a "semi-solid finish" and AFAIK just has a bit less pigment than the #7600.

Jon, This would make a fun competition! This is the worst one we ever restored. In the first pic to the right by the shovel, note the pile of dirt. All that remained of a cedar planter! Took some wood replacement and some serious sanding to flush butt end deck boards but the job came out pretty well.

Jon, Agree. Have seen a few decks over the years that even some vertical wood was rotted. Either latex or acrylic stains were the suspected culprit. One a few years ago was an ~ 2600 sq. ft. western red cedar deck that was literally rotting from the inside out. Really felt sorry for the owners, their deck was close to rotting through and had to be replaced. At near $3.00 a linear ft. for 5/4 x 6 WRC, just material costs would be close to $30K, in addition to labor for tear down and rebuild. We will continue to use Ready Seal stain for nearly all our exterior wood jobs this year. Cabot's oil for the few solid stain jobs we service.

Chris, Yeah, there were actually two previous coats of Cabots solid oil decking stain on the wood prior to stripping. The substrate had cracked and started to fail in a lot of areas so it was best to get back down to wood before reapplication. Kevin, You are surely aware, but do not want others mislead: Cabot's OVT line (#6500 or #6700 series) is NOT a decking stain. The #1600 or #7600 (VOC compliant) series solid oil stains should be used on horizontal wood.

RJ, You have the right idea. If in fact the existing solid stain is oil based, a fairly hot sodium hydroxide mix will remove most of the old stain. This allows an intact substrate for your new stain application to bind or adhere. The job in the attached pics was originally finished with a Cabot's solid oil, stripped with 10 oz./gal. of ACR 760, which is very similar to F-18. The same Cabot solid color oil stain of the same color was then reapplied.

Matt, Years ago before we had a ready supplier of reasonably priced sodium percarb based wood cleaners, we used straight percarb to clean wood. Seemed to do the job just fine. I'm sure the formulated percarb cleaners offer advantages of surfactants, soaps etc. to better clean wood, but to be honest, could not visually tell any difference.

Rod, You are correct. Misting with water to re-wet NaOH generally works just fine on oil based semi-trans strip jobs. Its the heavy bodied solids and of course, acrylics that Kevin mentioned above that cause problems if the stripper dries out.

Hey Ken, Yeah, its been a long, cold, boring winter. Can't wait to get working again. A few more weeks and the temps should be warm enough to start wood season. I'll give you a call sometime soon.

Ditto here with Rod. We use a lot of sodium percarb cleaner for wood and do not worry about drying on the surface prior to rinsing. Stripper is another story. As it drys it reverses the emulsion of the old stain you are trying to remove.

Chris, If using light bodied semi-transparent stains, as opposed to heavy, solid stains similar in consistency to paint, check out the Decker 5'er or Deckster. Tom at ACR Products or Pete at Sunbrite carries them. There is a lot of info on these units here on TGS. Just do a search.

Ggreenwald, If your budget allows the material expense, build your new pergola with ipe'. No initial staining needed. In a few years the wood will grey to a silver patina. No maintenance needed. If constructed correctly the pergola will certainly outlast your deck and possibly your lifetime.

Charlie, Two pics attached.

Scott, You may want to check with Cabots. As far as I know, the 1345X numbers are the color designation. The 80351 product number may differentiate between the "old" ATO and the newer "VOC regulated" formula. Not sure as I do not have any "new" ATO in stock.

Scott, I have a few gal. cans of the old, pre-VOC restricted ATO in inventory. Product code 80351 13457 - Amberwood 80351 13459 - Mahogany Flame

Hey Beth, Yeah, due to the non-drying issue with WT on ipe' last season, took 2 months to finish that job that should have taken 4 days. Will never forget it. Have not been back to the home since completion but will stop by to see if I'm in the area. Hope things are well with you and Rod. Getting bored, can't wait until Spring.

Daniel, It is now ~ 10 months since applying Ready Seal to the test ipe' deck. Attached are two pictures taken today. The first pic indicates where the umbrella stand was on the deck floor. No doubt that the Ready Seal has faded, but there is still stain pigment in the wood. The second picture is the top of the handrail. Again, substantial fading and degradation, but stain pigment is still evident. Note that this deck gets full sun throughout the day. I know as I live here! Overall, the deck still looks pretty good. A bit lighter than a PT deck next door stained with RS about 6 months ago, but not by too much. It does not look grey. I am somewhat surprised that the stain has held up on ipe' this well, especially due to the extreme sun exposure. And you are right, a quick percarb cleaning in the spring followed by a maintenance staining brushed in will be all that is required.