taizentek

Hey, I am an occasional visitor to the site and have gotten a lot of help in the past for which I am very grateful. I'm curious if any of the regular pros on this site do work in nassau county. There are a number of regular contributors that I can tell by their history on this site that are true professionals. Unfortunately for me, I doubt they would travel to Long Island for a 300 ft2 deck. (would you Rick?, Beth & Rod? Diamond Jim? etc. Anyway, I'm giving my ipe deck one more attempt on my own, but if this doesn't work, I will be looking a pro in the spring. Rick, if your reading this, I tried that defy water based on my deck this year and while the rail still lokks good, the deck looks like it failed quickly. I automatically assumed that I screwed up in the application (especially since I did it on an extremely hot day and it seemed to be flash drying on me even as I was giving it a wet onwet coat.), but I saw that your experiment didn't turn out that well either. It makes me feel a little better knowing that it might not have been all my fault. Anyway, if there are any LI pros out there, a great way for you to advertise is to share your experience on a site like this. It lets a homeowner see your professionalism before they even call and IMO makes them less likely to waste your time just matching prices. I know, you get what you pay for.

I am in the process of refinishing an ipe deck. I have stripped the old woodtux with sodium hydroxide. i came back today to neutralize with oxalic. I notice there are water stains ( i Guess) on some of the boards. Is this a problem or will everything be ok once I neutralize? I am refinishing with more woodtux. Or do I need to re-rinse the deck before I neutralize? Thanks as always for the help. Mike Grace

Two falls ago I completely stripped/brightened my ipe deck and then stained with wood tux. It came out beautiful but still didn't last more than 6-8 mos. I never had a chance to lightly strip/clean it last year where I had plannned on doing that and giving it another coat of stain. Now the stain has pretty much completely failed, even on the vertical surfaces. My question is: Do I start from scratch again? I have plenty of woodtux leftover so I don't think I will be buying anything new. Do I need to completely strip/brighten/sand again. Or will I be able to get away with a lighter cleaning and then apply stain? Also, I've seen in the contractor posts that some use stright Oxalic acid on the IPe and some use a citric blend. And finally, what kind of stripper--sodium percarbonate or sodium hydroxide. I will probably be shopping at the sealer store again so preferably a product they carry. Thanks, Mike

Thanks Rick. I'm just curious if you think I will definitely need to go with Sodium Hydroxide as opposed to percarbonate. If so, I guess I will go with the defy wood stripper and defy brightener. Thanks again, Mike

I recently asked what stain to use for my Ipe and massandruba deck. I decided with the help of many on this site to go with woodtux. Thanks for that advice but now I need more help. A little history is in order so that you know what stage I'm at. I built an Ipe and massandruba deck two summers ago. I let a not so professional finish it with messmers. He used twice as much as necessary and didn't wipe off the excess. (You get what you pay for!) Anyway, so much for my two tone deck. Everything came out super dark. Last fall I rented a drum sander and sanded the whole deck except the railing. It came out good, I evened off the boards which were pretty cupped and the color was back to the way it was originally. Yesterday and today I used RAD on the railings and the deck with my pressure washer. I sanded the top rails of my railing first as I did not do them last fall. Most of the top rails (ipe) came out good but one of them and many of my floor boards did not come clean. They remained dark. I used the rad as directed and tried it at a stronger dose as well. I was able to sand some of the stubborn dark spots out on the steps. I also had some wolman deck stripper from last year. I gave that a shot on one board that I had already stripped with the rad. It got the ipe back to the original color. So with my bright idea I decided to use it on the entire floor. Some of the boards it worked on and some it made real dark. Also, I know trhe directions of the rad say to make sure you rinse it well. As many times as I go over the deck boards, it still suds up. Will the brightener nuetralize this or do I have to keep rinsing. (i've spent the entire day on about 300 sq ft.) Can the dark spots be tannin that has been drawn out by the stripper? How can I get rid of them? I am sorry for the long post but I could use some advice. I took a few pictures but I haven't had a chance to upload them. I will try later. Thanks for your advice. Mike

Alright, if the weather is good I plan on LIGHTLY sanding on friday and then staining it the same day. Can I use one of those mitts to apply the stain on the rails/spindles. I don't have access to a sprayer and I really don't want to set up for overspray protection. Any other suggestions are appreciated. As always, thanks Mike

Are we talking going over the whole deck quickly before the stain is applied? When I sanded my top rails (prior to the rad) I used 40 grit and a lot of elbow grease. It seemed that almost no stock was removed. One more question, I finished with the rad step 2 on thursday and now have had a couple of dry days, but it doesn't look like I will have a chance to start staining until thursday at the earliest. Will I have any issues with ph or anything? Thanks Mike

I think I figured out a how to upload.

I took some picture of the deck so far. I finished with step two of the rad so I think I'm ready for stain. I can't figure out how to upload the fotos. It took me an 1 hour just to get them as an attachment for an email. Is there something I'm missing.

Beth I'm a fireman but I do carpentry on the side. This deck is actually at my mother's house. I usually try to stay away from any other phases of construction besides those dealing with wood. I should probably leave the deck staining to the pros too but I don't think I can find any that work for beer. Rick You're right, I needed to get away from the deck and let it dry. It does look better but it does have water stains on it and a few black spots. And I don't think the massandruba looks that good, but I guess I'll see after I put down the brightener. I have some rad left over in my sprayer-Do you know if it keeps its potency? I was thinking of cleaning my siding this weekend (if I can get the deck stained before that. Thanks again Mike

So I should go aheaad and use the brightener? I wasn't sure if I should go past this point. What about the sudsing? Will the stripper neutralize this? Thanks

Alright, I have all but given up on ever receiving my order of woodzotic from Ken. I'm not interested in starting another thread dealing with those issues. What I am interested in is the easiest and best choice to replace the woodzotic. I have read the other threads and am embarassed to say I'm still a little confused. I would like to order the woodrich or woodtux but I'm not sure of the difference. I read about mixing the colors to get the woodzotic color. I want to keep it as simple as possible (no mixing). I have an Ipe and Massanruba deck that I built two years ago. I have the rad which AI have yet to use but I did rent a floor sander last fall and flattened out the deck removing the old messmers in the process. I should be ready to go a day or two after using the rad I think. Which color will keep the most natural look of the freshly sanded woods? Which is the easiest/quickest to apply? I have about 350 ft2 plus railings to stain. If I buy a 5 gallon container, can I use it any leftover over the next couple of years. Thanks for your advice. Mike

Thanks Rick, I meant that I want the look of it when it is wet anyway. I'll check out Celeste's pictures before I make my order. Thanks to everyone for their help.

Thanks Beth. What color would most likely give me the natural color of the ipe and massandruba?