gt2003

Years ago, with lots of help from you all, I stripped, brightened and stained an old deck that had been sitting for years. We just had a small pressure treated deck built around a portion of our pool yesterday. I remember back in the day there was a certain amount of time suggested for the wood to dry out before stripping and brightening. What is the recommended time now days? Of course the wife wants it done yesterday but I'm not doing it until it's time. Also, I used an Armstrong Clark semi-transparent stain back then. Is this still a good option or are there better ones out there? Thanks All

I know this thread is 5 years old but what stain did you use? It turned out beautiful!

My neighbor has a hunting lease with electricity available but no water. He is wanting to buy a power washer to use for washing off their atv's when they get muddy but wasn't sure if it would work. I did a little looking yesterday and from what I can tell (right or wrong) is that IF the power washer is a belt drive power washer then he is OK but if it's just an inexpensive one, it relies on being fed pressurized water. Is this accurate? If he opts for the cheaper option would he need some kind of inline pump to provide the needed pressure? What would you all recommend to him? Thanks

Thanks. Will get this ordered today.

I am buying a used ski boat with a Teak swim platform that will need to be redone. Will this be a oxalic/EFC 38 and Citralic type thing with some type of teak oil stain afterwards or is there a better system to use? The platform is removable from the boat if that matters. Thanks

If it is important, the boat will only be used in Fresh Water, never in salt water.

@Beth n Rod Are you talking about the cleaner/brightener restore-a-deck, similar to efc-38/citralic? That's what I was referring to, not any kind of stain/polyurethane etc. I just thought I would clean it and brighten it before I used the teak oil. If this isn't necessary I will just sand then oil. Thanks again

Here is a picture of it. As mentioned, the wood is Teak and in good shape. Is restore-a-deck a good option?

It's bare wood, maybe some old, old teak oil but that's it. It's pretty weathered but the wood is in good shape. I'm planning to use restore-a-deck as the sealer store has free shipping on it. I've used efc-38/citralic in the past. Will I notice a difference? Do you expect I'll be happy with the restore-a-deck? Thanks, Greg

I don't have the boat in my possession yet. I should have it in the next couple of weeks. When I get it I'll post and go from there. Thanks

We have chosen a lot to build on but the adjoining fences have not been kept up. I've ordered from this site before, years ago, but I can't seem to find the site now. Please assist

I inherited an electric Karcher power washer from my step Dad. Obviously this isn't the machine for heavy duty use but for cleaning siding it works OK. Here's the problem. I connect and turn on the water, turn on the power switch and it will start the pump. As long as I am using the wand and washing it works fine. The pump keeps going and the pressure stays fine. If I stop for maybe a minute or two, the pump shuts off and won't restart. I can pull the trigger on the wand to release the pressure but still the pump doesn't come back on and there is very little water pressure. Now, I can unplug and unhook the machine from the water overnight and the machine is good to go. However, if I let it rest and build up pressure we are back to square one. Very frustrating. Please assist. Thanks

Ok, so I just re-tiled her bathroom and installed new trim and all looks great! So, I'm talking to her today and she mentions repainting her porch(es). They aren't too big, maybe 150-200 sq ft total. But, they are layer upon layer of paint. Unfortunately, I don't know what kind of paint, only that it's a solid. She is wanting to repaint again with a solid paint, nothing transparent or semi-transparent. So, I need ideas on products I can use to help get some of the old paint off then sand with my orbital sander to smooth things out. 20 years ago there were products that would eat up much of the paint by bubbling up then allowing them to be scraped off. I'm not 100% sure of what's available nowadays so thought I'd check with the experts. Let me know and I'll get on the ball and be glad to provide pictures as the project progresses. Thanks in advance!

I was cleaning and brightening my deck today and wanted to check on the application of the Citralic. So, I thought I'd stop by Kens' website only to find out it's gone. When you go there it says "this website has been cancelled". So, if you have any contact with Ken check in on him and see how it's going. I was kind of surprised. I figure he'd bounce back from his mess.

Just FYI. I got a few emails today that Ken's site is up and running again. Good luck Ken.

I was wondering about the F18 and tried the search button using f-18 and f18 as search terms, both with no results. However, I'm kind of remedial sometimes and may not have been using it correctly.

I had to replace one on the gates on my deck. I built it out of PTP just like the rest of the deck. However, the wood is brand new. How should I clean/prep it prior to staining?

Thanks Rick, was wondering if I needed to do anything different. Take care, Greg

Treatment: 8oz p/g F18 sprayed with Deckster 20 min dwell time. Matt, what is the F18 and where do you get it? That's one I hadn't heard of until I saw your thread. Thanks, Greg

Charles, What kind of wood in the cedar semi-transparent pics?

Scott, as a homeowner, diy'er, it was easy to apply. I brushed it on the floors and rails without any problems. The wood seems to soak up what it needs to and then I just brushed out the rest. No lapping, no stain sitting on top of the wood etc. And, I applied it liberally to make sure the wood could soak up what it needed. Hope you do well with the line. Take care, Greg

I ordered 4 lbs each of EFC-38, Citralic and a 5 gallon bucket of A/C sierra redwood stain this morning. Here is my plan, let me how I need to tweak it: 1. Sand upper deck using 60 grit paper and a random orbital sander. Bottom deck is about 5 years newer and very smooth. 2. Clean and brighten using EFC-38 and Citralic 3. Stain the top rails and floor by hand brushing with a 4 inch, china bristled brush. I do have a couple of questions: 1. What is the best way to stain the lattice used on the top portion of the deck? I previously sprayed it with, of all things, a wagner power painter with the stain tip and it worked out OK. Is this acceptable? I would obviously cover the flooring first to preven getting overspray on it. 2. While using the EFC-38, I plan of using some type of deck brush to scrub it down pretty good. Should I use a power washer (approximately 1 foot away from the surface) on the lattice work? That would seem to me to be the easiest way to clean it. That's it for now. The top deck is the one with the failed Oly stain on it. The never stained decking is the bottom portion. Here are the pics. The 1st two are the upper deck, the third is the lower deck and the fourth is where the stairs coming down from the upper deck (old/failed stain) meet the newer, lower deck. Please give any advice possible.

I hand brushed the decking and rails and it seemed to go on smoothly. The older wood really sucked it in. I didn't have any problem with lap marks. However, I wash brushing about 3 boards at once. I'd brush a foot or so on one, then another, then another then do the next foot or so etc. The hardest part for me was getting my cheapo power painter adjusted to spray the lattice. Once that was done, the brushing was easy. The stain was pretty thin but almost had the color of chocolate syrup. I'm assuming these are the solids? If so, this stuff should last for a few years. Wish I was more accomplished so I could give you more qualified info. However, for a homeowner DIY'er it was a great stain to use.

Here is the sierra redwood semi-transparent on pressure treated SYP. I stained it the day before yesterday.

Ok, the stain has had a couple of days to dry and here are 3 pics that give you a pretty good idea of what it looks like on pressure treated southern yellow pine. Once again the stain is the Armstrong-Clark semi-transparent sierra redwood. I'll post pics there too in case some don't visit this thread.