bigchaz

All done. Glad I don't do this for a living haha. Looks real nice though, thanks again everyone. Sorry for the low light and camera phone pictures

Sweet Sent from my BlackBerry 8530 using Tapatalk

I did some of it today to see how it looks. Its flush with the siding but looks pretty clean so just need to paint it. I guess either I go white and paint the caulk too or sand the floor and run clear on the raw wood. Thank you very much for the tips so far, I may need to try both ways and see what looks best

Yea Rick I don't know the full story but I believe the house sat for a few years after construction before my customer bought it so good chance the builder bailed or ran out of money on it. Ironically the front porch is done right where floorboards lap to the siding so who knows. John, I love this business (wood resto) and have been in it 5 years now. Started part time first year in college and graduated May 2010. Been full time since then. Sent from my BlackBerry 8530 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the ideas guys. The flashing there should be sufficient since the metal stuff is not recommend anymore for the new PT lumber. With the way they gapped out the bottom course of siding I don't know if the 1x_ will sit even or be recessed in there but sounds like thats my best option. Cutting to follow the waviness of hat crazy gap will be fun. Since the deck has already been stained, what kind of caulk do you use on an oil surface? Does clear silicone work? I normally re caulk before we stain so didn't know if it mattered.

Its got the rubber flashing by the way, newer home so probably ACQ lumber

Maybe she will send you a plaque John, that's what really matters Sent from my BlackBerry 8530 using Tapatalk

Hey C, I mix the two often (percarb/stripper). Like Jim said it works good (for mild mildew anyway if you are stripping and cleaning in the same step).

The strength of brightener would be negligible at best to the coverage ratio but it wouldn't cut it in half. Heavy stripping (you said you stripped it 3 times?) will play a role, but more than likely it's the individual deck. Some are just dryer than others.

1) you can't mix bleach and percarb 2) using extra oxalic doesn't cause you to use twice as much stain

I don't think I've ever seen any of your work before Jim, that is a beautiful deck and even more beautiful stain job. Thanks for sharing, very cool!

Whatever I happen to buy that month. I've never seen a difference and I dump everything into a 5 gallon bucket on the trailer so technically a blend I suppose haha:)

Sick car Rick...is that new estimate mobile hahaha

The handwriting is on the wall even down here for sure. Going on two weeks for a job we ended up running the fans on so it would dry out. Still some warm weather but that sun just doesn't get up high enough anymore for some of these jobs. I know I'm looking forward to hibernating for a few weeks! Congrats on the great season Rick, hope you rest well and can kick it even more in 2012!

Yea Sealer store ships the day after you order it.

Its like a massive slip and slide!

Never heard of a deck guy with Bonding either. The clorox outdoor bleach (not regular clorox) actually does contain a fair amount of sodium hydroxide for cleaning purposes not just like the regular bleach. It may be worth trying a deck brighener to neutralize but I would suspect that darkening of the wood is the last of your problems. Pats suggestion to rinse rinse rinse along with letting weather again several months would be a good idea. Revisit in the spring with a professional two step deck restoration process, do some sanding to remove any dead or damaged wood fiber from the bleach cleaning and then stain

Did you try a deck stripper?

Did a deck today that was stained with 3 coats of Sikkens Cetol Dek. Starting to peel as it hadn't been done in 3 years. The homeowner had bad experience with the last application and I was able to sell on penetrating product without the shine and film of the Sikkens. Not to mention the application instructions for Sikkens are just not practical IMO...must be dry for 72 hours after staining...I dont think that has EVER happened in North Carolina! Thanks to those who helped out with advice on this job, you know who you are. We took orbital sanders with 40 grit paper to the railings to scuff up the finish and take off the shine (20 minutes). Then loaded it full strength stripper (Timber Strip Pro) with Alka-Foam and 633AD booster from ACR products. Also added some Potassium Hydroxide flakes to heat it up even more. The alka-foam is awesome by the way...great cling. Dwell time of about 45-50 minutes, spraying the deck about 3 times to keep everything wet and used about 55 total gallons of stripper. The top coats on the Sikkens melt off almost immediately as they have no adhesion to anything but the previous coating. It was slippery almost immediately. Its that base coat that takes the most time it seems. Temperature was around 85 today, deck was in partial sun. After scratch test and another final spray of stripper we washed it down and came off very nicely. Boosted stripper like that usually reeks havoc on painted siding but no issue there (just some door trim which we will repaint). Wood gets super black so needs a good strong acid to neutralize. Pictures are only during the stripping process and after final rinse down (dont have any before shots).

RS employee has a daughter in college eh? Maybe I need to switch to a stain manufacturer owned by someone younger than Jake hahah! Kidding!! Sent from my BlackBerry 8530 using Tapatalk

Anyway, here are the after pictures for the deck originally posted in this thread. I have to give some credit...the wood underneath that sikkens was in remarkably good condition. So for what's it worth although the finish was peeling and unsightly, it seemed to keep this deck very well protected for its age (6 years old). We did some minor sanding to take out residual Sikkens (not much), and stained this thing with about 7 or 8 gallons of Armstrong Clark Sierra Redwood and Rustic Brown semi transparent mixed 50/50. I rarely go this dark on a deck, but the homeowner and I really loved the way this color came out. Really goes well since they don't get as much sun and have good tree cover which not only helps the wood blend with the yard but keeps the surface from getting as hot with a darker tone. Been a busy few weeks...need to make another run to the dump for all the cans. I'm sure some of you use way more stain but I try to keep Scott at the sealer store busy as best I can!

I'll post pictures of the deck this thread was originally about tomorrow. It was stained with a beautiful blend of Rustic Brown and Sierra Redwood Armstrong Clark. Beautiful finish and my customer is elated as usual. You've had problems with the stain, Dan we get it. You posted one or two pictures after a supposed two years worth of problems. Go marry your TWP (i think that's legal in your state?) after the one deck you did and and I fare you and TWP happily ever after. TWP is a good stain, if it works for you I say go for it. I don't have any motivation to convince you otherwise. I just wish you would give up what seems to have become a personal vendetta on AC and quit attempting to convince the entire world that the product I've made a strong business on is the worst thing out there. My results speak otherwise. I tried Ready Seal early in my "career". I didn't care for it, I had problems with getting the results posted by others on the boards. But my poor results don't marginalize the product as a failure. It didn't work for me and my business and my geographic area simple as that. But I don't have any reason to come on here and spend inordinate amounts of energy highlighting Ready Seal or it's manufacturing as some sort of terrible failure. It didn't fit what I was looking to do so I found a different stain. Guys like Rick and hundreds of other's have posted great results with RS (just as myself, Tony, Rick and others have posted with A/C).

I'm surprised your customers are that gung ho about getting on the deck ASAP. That makes for a great sell if they use the deck that often. Most of y customers seem to assume it will be a week before they can use the deck and are always pleasantly surprised when I tell them to go ahead the next day. Most of my clients are barely home during the week anyway so you could just tell them Saturday and be good to go. Sent from my BlackBerry 8530 using Tapatalk

TWP 200 instructions actually specify addition of spirits for horizontal or walking applications, but I wonder what its starting VOC is Sent from my BlackBerry 8530 using Tapatalk

And by thinning a toner you distribute even more an already low concentration of pigment (compared to semi trans) which makes me even more impressed by the results you posted at the 17 month mark or whatever it was. I don't use any mildewcide James, I don't know if it would help a little bit but its impossible to find around here anyway. I always thought M1 was for latex too. Sent from my BlackBerry 8530 using Tapatalk