Tonyg

Thanks Lyle. I have played with the colors a little more also and have one that I think I will try out at my house. I know you guys out west use this more but here is a closer pic of the color on PT:

I have less than a gallon left. Oh, and one orange Homer Bucket :banana:

Thanks John. Scheduling wasn't ideal thats for sure although it worked out with some interior painting to finish up on the bad days. Stripped it early last week, prepped Wed & Fri, did the AC on Monday when it was in the 50's, and a couple of coats of the SW Deckscapes (good down to 35 degrees) Tues/Wed. Definitely colder than I think spring should be. I don't like using the semi-solids, and this is the first time for an AC semi-solid for me, but it wasn't as bad as the samples. I think the older 2x6"s had more open grain which gave it a little more of a penetrating look. I had previously used Cabot for semi-solids and will say that the AC was tremendously better. I do have samples of the old boards but the color seemed to be still heavy on the 5/4" boards. I made up samples of both the old and new but didn't have enough old boards to make a good set. I found an old fence that I made up but although they looked 100 percent better, they still looked like crap so I stopped using them. I have been looking around on trash day to see if anyone is in the middle of a deck demo. I live close to the dump at Mount Trashmore II so I thought I might go rummaging through one Saturday :o

Thanks! It was a nice one to start the season with. I will go back in a couple weeks to take some portfolio pics when the sun comes out again and he has mulch down. He is also replacing the hot tub cover. The screened in section with pergola cover will be replaced this fall. I did learn that my standard two-tone rate for the railings was not enough for working over the red. The white over the red would show the slightest splatter from 3ft away so I had to slow down considerably. I will definitely factor in the color as an added cost.

Just thought I would update this. The Sequoia turned out better than I thought it would. My samples are on new PT and it comes out very much like a solid but on the old deck it showed much more of the grain and looked pretty nice. I would have still preferred a different color in a semi-trans though.

I have a couple of decks over water that have an existing stain with just some mildew and soil. Normally I would just use a house wash for a maintenance cleaning but I didn't want to use anything with phosphates or SH. I planned to use EFC-38 to clean and kill the mildew because I wanted a percarb with surficants. Does the EFC-38 have too much stripper to do a maintenance clean on the existing stain? Any other suggestions?

Yes, talked to Jake today (great service by the way) and all of the stains can be mixed. There is no longer a clear offered so all of the stains are mixable together. I dropped off an alternative sample to the Sequoia tonight and waiting for a response. I ended up with about 3 alternatives but found one that I liked a lot and was hoping to sell them on the change. My choice is Rustic (2)/ Natural (2)/ Sequoia (1) and ended up with a nice redish brown that is closer to a semi-transparent.

:rolleyes2 Oh well. I was actually looking forward to the Cedar/Rustic but the HO just called and it seems women of the house (mother and wife) decided on the Sequoia Semi-Solid! This is after he told me today they didn't want a red and thought the solid stains didn't look good. He also wants a sample to look at for going two-tone with Sequoia on the deck with white railings and accents. I didn't quite know what to say. Anyone ever do a red and white deck? :(

Thanks. I think I might have a little left of the samples and might go out to mix it in the morning. The Cedar/Rustic sounds like it may work. Did you do a 50/50 mix or what combination worked for you?

I know it can be done this way for a maintenance coat but I was wondering about how it would look on the original finish. Anyone tried any other combinations with the Rustic Brown?

How about an official statement from the UMMAC? Shoot someone on the transition team an email and have them fax something on letterhead with some sort of recomendation from an official trade organization.

It sounds as though they are talking about a petrifying sealer. Cretowood 5 Gallon

Well, I was initially more concerned about damaging the existing stain with the stripper in EFC-38, I did follow up with our DEQ (DNR) about the enviromental issues. Their stance is that can't authorize or advise in any way because even using straight water is a contaminent because our local water has chlorine and other additives. These are two "decks" that extend over the water and not docks. The house is surrounded by water on three sides with no boats (and no immediate neighbors) and belongs to a widow. Disassembling or lifting them and moving them 100yds is a little... uh... crazy? Unofficially they said someone is going to end up cleaning them and would probably be far less responsible. Not saying to do irt or not, or what to use or not. If there were a fish kill or other major impact I would be responsible but other than that they are aware this activity is happening every day and they can't regulate that. IF I still decide to do them I will spot them with a percarb (not EFC-38) and a little warm water as recommended above. The stain is tight so a quick wash with a little pressure should be fine. Dan, I think I remember the MSDS for the EFC-38 said it was 70% sodium percarbonate. Thanks all!

Thanks all, I will put in a call to the VB Environmental Mgt today to make sure since this is on the Chesapeake Bay watershed. I think I will go with a basic percarb and some slightly warm water (although this would be a first I think with a secure stain I will feel better). This is an existing stain and the stripping potential from EFC-38 scares me a bit as I do not intend on staining the decks.

Hello all, I thought I would jump into the fray. Been around a bit but usually only try to be active on a couple of BBS's. A converted painter by trade but really enjoy the wood. I started out focusing on house washes for the painting leads and I still do most, except roofs, but really only market and push the wood and commercial PW. Other than the two BBS's I will occassionally peep in once a month or so here and else where but have never participated. I wanted to focus and pursue much more wood this year and TGS has such great depth that I felt I should do the intro and start posting or contributing.