RPetry

Hah! The nozzle search is classic. Nice pressure washer. Reminds me of my first season in business, pw wood without a clue.

Matt, That old finish does not appear to be acrylic from your pics. Try maybe 8 oz. / gal. of NaOH on an intact stain area as a test. As long as you can strip it, that deck will look terrific when restored. Agree with Charlie on the random orbital sander with low grit, you can work around the nail heads and get rid of the 0 tip damage. Looks like a bit of carpentry work is also in order. Have used a 24" flex lance many times on stripping outside balustrade similar to your photo and it works well. Just hit the wood with your body at an angle to prevent blowback to your face. This biggest danger is keeping the tip away from body parts. Take plenty of photos. The "before and after" pics will help sell plenty of future customers. That redwood will look terrific when done.

James asked; Another name for sodium percarbonate. Neat video Michael. Would also make a good demo for waterproof watches.

Yaz, Sorry for the delay, took a bit of a break late this week. We refinished two mahogany decks this week with Ready Seal and had some serious thunderstorms with downpours, being that we are 30 miles west of you. Did not have any "washout" problems. Maybe the difference is in application? Both our jobs were new customers where the wood had to be stripped of old stains. Once brightend and dried, a single, light app of RS was handrubbed into the wood using lambswool. Once dried, another app of stain is again applied the same way. No problems that I know of. One job was completed Thurs. afternoon and we were hammered with thunderstorms and very heavy rain Thurs. night. Have an estimate on a large mahogany / cedar deck accross the street this afternoon and will check the finish just to make sure. Usually, if there is a "spotting" problem from unexpected hard rain on hardwoods, a quick mineral spirits rub with lambswool will cure the problem.

I should already be dead. Still 13 years to go!

Russell said: Ok. I give up. I want something that will cure correctly on a now 6 week old job waiting for WT or whatever stain.

Beth is my personal wood minx, she cannot get any older! A very Happy Birthday to you.

Rod, Arrrggg! Now I am really confused. I thought the "mid to late summer" batch of WT from last year, 2006, was the good stuff. Dried without problems, better consistancy, etc. I thought that this is what was currently or "soon to be" manufactured again. Something that I could finally use on an ipe' job that has been waiting for WT since late May. It almost sounds like you are ascribing to WT the same problems due to VOC regs as to what happened to Cabot's Aussie Oil. Just when I committed to using WT at a customers request on ipe', it goes downhill? Gotta' believe that ESI can get out a decent product, something compliant yet still useable for hardwoods. Come on Rod, you and Beth were the original distributors and maybe even one of the original contractors using the stain. You guys must have hundreds of wood jobs over the past 4 years with WT applied. How can you bail on the product now?

6" natural bristle stain brush, along with a detachable pole if doing a deck floor. A "truck wash" brush and a 5 gal. bucket is fine and even faster on a floor, at least if using RS. Still cannot beat a decker / deckster for applying stain.

Hooo..Boy... Don't ask. The "why" of the question would take weeks to explain. A very long, convoluted, nightmare of a job that just never ends. Anyway, the question. 1 yr. old ipe', balustrade now done in WT warm honey gold. Due to, again, don't ask, customer now wants to change to a combo of western cedar and brown sugar. Question. Anyone have any idea how a 2nd coat of WT would look on ipe'? Would this "custom" color dominate without muddying or obscuring the wood? Or would it just be best to strip and start over yet again? Thanks. Not very experienced in WT.

Jim, You are going to give the impression that I drink a lot of beer. Just because I have 6 frosted mugs in the freezer and my own green glass recycling bin does not prove anything.

Charlie, When you mix sodium percarbonate crystals into water, it releases a ton of gas, I think it is mostly oxygen. This tends to "choke" a Shurflo pump, ie: too much gas in the line. You cannot get a good steady flow of liquid through the pump. The reaction will slowly fade after 10 min. or so.

Matt, Yes, I GUESS! We use a Decker 5'er which I think is similar to a Deskster. Pump Tec pump. Have never used any chems through it, only Ready Seal stain. EFC38 should also be just fine. Again, never used it but I think its mostly sodium percarb with some sodium hydroxide for some "kick". Anyway, soak the wood and get at it.

Mike, One other thought, though not original. Ready Seal "likes" a neutral to acidic wood prior to applying. Are the caustic strippers or cleaners without an acid app for neutralizing/brightening compromising the zinc?

Travis, This is a pic of Ready Seal natural cedar on 16 year old clear cedar that was heavily covered in that mold prone Behr's and stripped hard. With new cedar, the color will be much lighter. Wood was wet after a rain shower but should give you some idea.

Matt, If I recall from the pictures you posted, that redwood has little or no stain left. Straight sodium percarbonate should work just fine. Have used it for years with no additives. Its not like NaOH stripper where you have to keep the wood wet. Soak the wood well and do not worry if it dries. You should try to mix the percarb in very warm to hot water, maybe 6 - 8 oz. / gal. Mixes much better and quicker. The problem initially is off gassing. Chokes Shurflo type pumps. We usually start with a backpack pump up until the mix cools down, then use the Shurflos. After a couple of hours the percarb loses effectiveness. Keep the mix fresh.

Daniel, You are correct. Not much to report. Both the oxalic and citric side of the test ipe' look about the same. The Ready Seal has lightened up a shade but that is normal. Otherwise, nothing yet as far as results.

Kevin, RS Gold is I believe a clay pigmented product. I've use some on sample boards and it looks great on clean cedar, but it is not a 2 to 3 yr. stain like the normal RS. Have never used it on a job and would be hard pressed to do so. Aside for some hardwoods, all my customers are looking for a minimum of 2 yrs. before maintenance and so am I. Ken, 7 parts mineral spirits to 3 parts WT? Wow, the VOC police would have a fit! Amazing that it lasted a year.

Since I'm blowing Yaz's horn with redwood, might as well post a few of a cedar job we finished last week. 13 yr. old clear western red cedar deck with two coats of some worthless clear stain. Covered in mildew in places and nearly black in others. Stripped with ACR 760 sodium hydroxide stripper @ 4 oz./gal. and then brightened with citric acid @ 6 oz./gal. No rinsing of the citric. Finished with Ready Seal regular oil, medium red, the same color as Yaz's redwood job.

Adrian, That logo scares me. Looks like some gov't enforcement agency. Do not want to do any business with them. Might wind up behind thick steel bars.

Ken, Almost seems to be a geographical occurance. I've never seen anything like those pics from that RS company in the upper midwest here in Central NJ. How about you in Southeastern Pa.? Jim Foley has seen some in Conn. Where were your customers domiciled?

Kevin, Certainly was not me. I only dabble from time to time with WTW on hardwoods. Plus I'd fire the guy that got that much stain on the concrete step pad. On PT, does not look like there is enough pigment.

Matt, Happy belated birthday. Can see your quandry on access to the lower front fascia. My best guess would be an extension ladder with a small flex lance and low pressure. The higher front fascia looks like it can be reached from the floor with a smaller extension or larger stepladder. Neat looking house. Pergola looks like a future Richter Scale victim.

Yaz asks: For a Jersey guy, OK. Lets not make a habit of it, it is a bit of work! I'll id with numbers, you provide the commentary. PIC #1 PIC #2 PIC #3 PIC #4 PIC #5 PIC #6 PIC #7 This post should give my web server a good workout.

Daniel, Ok, so its not ventilation. Maybe its the stain? You mention a "curing" type stain, is it dark and form a film? I service a bunch of 19 yr. old small 2x4 PT decks that get full sun nearly all day long. Know this as they are my neighbors. Through the years have done a whole lot of similar wood with similar exposure. Yes, you get the sappy board here and there but nowhere near the condition of the complete floor as you have described. Just guessing, its either the stain retaining a lot of heat or just bad lumber. Or maybe both?