James

I have said this many time before; Prices for house washes have come down. Part timers and painters are working for 50 to 75 dollars an hour. I did better on houses 10 years ago. People are working for less money and paying more for supplies. Good thing I have a clientele.

For situations like this I keep the area wet with water. I do alot of Garage doors and this works the best. I had a small bucket go airborne(20mph winds) that was on top of cardboard and spill on assfault. A wonderful sight to view from your truck!

Has anyone used a product yet developed for sealing composite decks ?

I think the tricky part of sealing will be or is making sure all the mold is gone. The last one I did was brutal and I soaked it twice then had to acid for tannin stains. I love Trex!

Kev, your solution wasn't strong enough or it didn't dwell long enough ? I don't use precarbs unless I'm out of bleach ( which happened the other day). I don't have issues with furring unless I srcew up, it's under 2 years old, It's a hardwood, or stripping. The other day I thought I was just washing a regular customer's house. They added 7 pieces of teak, 40 year old Redwood deck(never sealed) I cleaned 4 years ago, Blow out gutters and bleach down roof. Didn't have enough bleach so I precarbed the teak. Worked out great! Bleach will fur if it's to strong, left on to long and while smoking a Bong!!

The older the wood (cedar , PT, Redwood)the less furring You should get. With the correct solution, pressure and volume of water the top layer of degraded wood becomes easier to remove the longer it sits. Trying to remove the wood that has grayed (degraded) in the first two years of weathering is more of a challenge and produces more furring. Because it hasn't degraded enough to be remove! If you Furr wood older than 4 years old you used to strong of a solution or to much pressure. The solution you use probably went beyond the degrade wood and affected the new surface. If you prewet or dampen the surface it will protect the new surface .You might want to start with a precarb. It will not attack the new surface and will prevent furring old wood . With bad mold you may have to do it twice. I stay away from using Sodium Hydroxide on bare wood.

Did you prewet the surface of deck or soak the deck with Ripit.Makes a difference IN the out come.

Hey 4000, when I go Starbuck's. I pay for the next 10 coffee's and have them hand out my card. Upscale clients !! Has worked well. I stop at two in my area and always see my clients talking to new future client's....LOL

The composite came out great. Something for next year ? Easier than wood !!!

Mold and sap stains on new wood have to do with controling moisture, storage before and after the milling process.

Neil, there are different types of fungus and sap stains in wood. I've come up against very bad mold this year ( worst ever). If you don't get the mold out it will come back through the finish.

Unless you put something like sand on right away to draw it out nothing will work.

Keep a toothbrush with ya.

Acetone and a scrubby.

Redsox Nation !!!

Instead of sealing and staining I tend to use the word preservation or preserve.

The RedSox, The Patroit's, Boston College Eagles, The Celtic's are back.!!!

When I do an ad for wood I name the type's of wood I've worked on. This has worked well. People have saved an ad for a couple of years with that in mind.

Paul, that"s what I went with a Superseal type product for masonry.

Thanks for the replies, I'm starting to get request in this area. I've cleaned many.

Looks great.

Woodcare expert , Restoration and preservation, Woodcare plastic surgeon- "Give you deck a face lift", The Cedar Shake saver,Hardwood expert( ipe and Mahogany)

Ken , your correct I thought I had all the answers and Ken, hypocrite dosen't fit here. Now I have doubt about a product and no answers except my own experience to rely on! Your skewing the real issue here. The maint issue! Do you recoat or remove and how to decide! It's a money issue for me and my customer. So is WTW worth the trouble and effort. Your alway's the money guy and respect that part of you. This is a real delemma I have about 15000 sqft done I think on ipe. Cris, I have two decks that are Grey looking over the floor less than 6 months old.

Pack them in ice and send them East!!

Ken, I've talked to others who use the products and none are getting more than 8 to 12 months. Its Wtw pure and the three I did last was the good stuff. Ken, I thought you would have a better response ?So if I leave the 3 decks until spring and then strip them I can say I got 18 months? I have put alot of time and effort into this product and the end resuts are becomming questionable. Kevin, where is stripping a concern with new wood or when a coating isn't present? ( emulsification)