Tonyg

Thanks Ron. It's not much of a deck but I was pleased at how the stain was holding up.

Same project with the fence Willis Fence 3.pdf

Ok, I've done a few repeat decks but found that they waited so long that I just did a light strip and recoated. Just did my first real maintenance coat for a customer from last year (http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/wood-cleaning-restoration-decks-fences-etc/19690-my-acrylic-strip-year.html) that wanted to have it recoated and freshened up. This is PT Pine with 2 coats of semi-trans (AC Rustic Brown/Cedar Semi/Natural) applied exactly 12 months ago. First problem was that the original coat had faded significantly and was dark like it almost seemed to have a mildew (or maybe it was just age?) Sold them on a house wash since I was going to do the deck too and just down streamed a mix with just Simple Cherry & 1% SH. Let dwell for about 15min or so and ran a deck brush over it lightly. I noticed it looked as though the stain was dissolving as it was dwelling. Used a 2540 soap tip to rinse. I was very surprised at how much of the stain remained and was very nervous about recoating since I had ordered the Natural to recoat as I had been advised before. I did have a gallon of the original so I was able to add some color but now I am worried that there is only a toner on it (at least more so than last year) I think I definitely need to re-adjust my expectations and those I am selling to my customers. Did I use the best process and cleaners? should the stain have come up that easy? Do you normally apply the same/original stain, or a lighter version, or just Natural (assuming the AC)? These are the 1) original finished 12 months ago 2) before cleaning 3) and after cleaning 4) Finish product

I have been modifying my mix ratios and was listing different ratios for Ox, Citric, and a blend. It appears Oxalic may be about 30-35% stronger than Citric in measuring acid strengths. I usually use a blend but wanted separate ratios for individually as well. If the Ox is stronger, do you have different amounts for the Ox over the Citric? Say 3 oz of Ox compared to 4oz of Citric, etc.,? Like I said, I usually use a blend but there are times when a safer mix of Citric is a better sell than Ox. Also, I think Ox will get stains out better so there are times I will use straight Ox rather than the blend.

I usually use a blend but keep the ox with me just in case. Sometimes if there are stains or rust, or even just a nasty deck, I will use the ox. Sometimes I'm just impatient and like the quicker action from the ox.

How bout something from Cars - Towmater with flowers and candy and a note saying "lets hook up"

I have been given a couple hundred pounds of a d-Limonene based degreaserthat was sold to one of the dealerships for their garage. I have tried using on restaurant concrete but am unsure of the mix ratios and concentration. I typically use NaOH and hot water bhut thought I could use this to help with the surfactant, and maybe a little extra cleaning power. The 'orange' seemed to separate and float to the to and I didn't see any advantage and don't think the detergent by itself would be strong enough to downstream. I have contacted the manufacturer about some data sheets. Can NaOH and d-limonene be mixed?

Dan, I know a lot of solvent based products would routinely list 10% reduction as a maximum on the product data sheets. Without a few years of testing, with a sufficient number of projects in different exposure settings, I don't think you could realistically produce a product that would offer any consistency. I've used Jap dryer for years in the alkyds of old and adding too much, adding more than the 10% solvent, or even a mildewcide additive, could change the coating in either appearance or bonding. I know paint/stain is nothing but a chemical recipe, and its not brain surgery, but brewing your own cocktails and getting mad at the results can hardly be blamed on the manufacturers. Honestly, I know you are a pessimist by nature and I highly doubt that any stain from any manufacturer will get by without your being unhappy with the results. I haven't found the magic bullet product but I will use what I know and if I find that I get unsatisfactory results too often I will simply use another product. If I buy a piece of prime rib that doesn't suit my taste, I'm not going to pour ketchup all over it to try to make it taste like the prime rib that I want. I just go to another restaurant rather than sit outside complaining about it night after night.

Dan, I think that looks good for a toner. I won't use them unless the deck is in full shade though. I would not not expect for a toner on PT with the sun to last more than a year at best. Here are pics of 24mo Cedar Semi on new PT. CORRECTION - SUPER CEDAR/ (AMBER) BTW, the deck was standard 24in off the ground but was tightly enclosed with vertical 1x6's by the builder that offered no ventilation. I suggested tio him originally to install a couple of vents to keep the moisture down but he never did. The last pic was at the estimate when it was new

Just some pics of the AC color blend Mahogany & Rustic Brown. This is on New PT after a percarb cleaning and citric neutralizing.

I thought Dan already had the East Coast? geesh, I need to keep up :-

I know there is an old custom cabinet makers trick to wipe wood down with acetone when they need a piece to be darker. Supposed to open the grain up but yet evaporates very quickly.( I have tried it on new pt when doing repairs to try to get the wood to blend and there is too much in the wood for it to make a difference). I would think saturating the wood would 'fill' it preventing absorbtion from standard stains. I wonder if waiting the 2-3 days and then another 24-48hrs would make that much of a difference in how much the grain opensa up. BTW, I thought Gemini only did interior stains?

@Charlie - I've seen where those guys in new construction will fog a coat of color on Hardie plank that will almost come off with a house wash.

Were these recently painted by any chance? The premium grade paints are much thicker than before and with a heavy acrylic it's possible they may have been 'softer'. Now, if its cheap paint, all bets are off and there may not be enough protection there to keep the chem from penetrating.

I hate spending the money for it, and I always keep a cheep version on hand as a back up, but the SSS has done very well for me in terms of longevity, draw, and consistency.

I've been wanting to do a gazebo or a cedar shake roof for a long time and finally got the opportunity with this gazebo. Although the final product was gratifying, I'm glad I didn't win those cedar roof bids in the past. This was much more time consuming, took much more stain, and was really more of a pain than what I had expected. Not to mention the rood had to be done from up top and I about slid off 3 times!

Thanks, it was the AC Cedar Semi. It was nice to do one but the point of the post as much as anything was to say that they need to be priced accordingly and that it would not have been worth it if it was at a cut rate. I put them up with the pergolas I guess. And I would still like to do a nice Cedar house or roof but I better see money falling out of their pockets when I drive up :)

It seems politically expedient to throw accusations at the other party but why are we so focused on the debt ceiling? If it takes $10,000 for my business to pay my employees and to pay my vendors/taxes/debt then I need $10,000 to break even just to survive to operate another month. If I only make $6,000 each month and I have to go to the bank or use my credit cards to get $4,000 every month, I would accumulate $48,000 in debt in one year. Now, at the end of the year I tell the bank that I am going to raise rates by 2% and I would only need them to help fund me another $45,560 so I can operate my business and just break even for another year. And, if they could also loan me another $4,000 so I could pay the additional interest. No Problem! If you're a Democrat you will say that we should cut our expenses by $100 each month and raise our rates from our customers to bring another $900 each. Eventually over time we will make enough in sales to our customers, even though we keep raising rates, so that we will be break even. But, for now, we should it makes perfect sense to to only make enough to cover 40% of what we need because in 30-40 years it will all work out. You're a republican? No Problem! They say understand that sooner or later the well runs dry, the borrower becomes slave to the creditor, and instead of investing in our future we spend eternity underwater as our debt is so massive that it will be impossible for any reasonable company, or country, to works its way out without major revisions. Unfortunately, they do not understand that in order to cut enough to make a difference we will have to eliminate our entire work force and tell our vendors that our taxes have increased so we will only be able to pay them half. If we raise rates from our customers, by any amount, we will jeopardize our future business and therefore we must only cut our expenses down until we are able to produce more sales. If we could only figure out fundamental change is what we should be talking about. If we could only figure out that we Must reduce expenses because no business can operate indefinitely with negative returns but we Must increase sales in a way that will not be jeopardize losing business.

Same color on a 25+ year old PT deck

This is same color on the fence rails

Thats funny, I will have a guest tomorrow to strip 2 decks, small fence, and a gazebo along with washing the house and driveway. He will also be helping to sand, prep, and stain also. Another paint contractor was doing the interior of one of my customers while I was doing their large deck and was asking a bunch of questions. His primary market was about 30 miles away and didn't normally come out my way so I offered to let him join me on this project that would be closer to him so that he could see how I do it. I told him as long as we were not direct competition I would be happy to help him. Even if we were bidding on the same projects if I help him offer a higher level of work at higher prices, as long as we were on a level field, I think I would still be able to make the close. I don't know how much I would share if he were right next door though. But, just think if everybody charged atleast as much as you did and put the same amount of work into their service - with the exception of the Walmart syndrome, basic economics says competition can be very positive for both the buyer and the seller.

I agree with Charlie, Natural Tone on the ceiling. I think the Cedar Tone may look great on the ceiling as well after the stain tones down some as it ages. Cedar Semi on the floor because of the sun.

Actually, There were a couple I did that I liked - one with a dark brown/light brown scheme and a bence with the AC Cedar Tone and Cedar Semi. Not sure what they looked liked when they aged but the other two didn't turn out so hot

I've tried two-tone in semi-trans on PT and didn't care much for it. Using the AC I did one with Super Cedar and Cedar Semi and one with Redwood Tone and Sierra Redwood. Couldn't distinguish definitive color tones and the impact really wasn't that impressive.