mccabedoug

Hello, had my house power washed this weekend. It needed it. Used a local power washing company who I've used several times before. This time, for no extra charge he stripped about 80% of the stain off my PT yellow pine deck. The stain was only 2 years old and looked great. When I asked him why he did it he said that he just helped it and it was coming off. I didn't wish to argue and that is not why I am posting. Background as to what products I used in Sep 2020 and have on hand now: RAD Deck Stain Stripper and power wash, followed by Citralic Brightener/Neutralizer. The stain is Armstrong-Clark Chestnut Semi-Transparent. Followed all directions and deck looked fantastic. So, what do I do now? Strip remaining stain off and start over?

Spent the long July 4th holiday cleaning, brightening and staining my 16'x20' PT deck. Did my homework and used EFC-38 to clean, Citralic to brighten and AC Cedar Semitrans to stain. First, this was a HUGE project, way more involved and labor intensive than I thought. More than 160 ballusters, 13 stairs and a 16' x 20' deck that is 10' in the air on a weekend with temps in the 90's made for quite a project. It looks great, however. Anyway, despite using several hundred square feet of freshly purchased tarp, I still managed to get some stain on my nice brick patio. Mostly due to the tarps flipping over in the wind. I tried a Simple Green with a brush, bucket and water approach followed by a pressure wash and I can still see the stains. The bricks are Boston colonial pavers. Any tips for a homeowner besides replacing the bricks?

Nope, it was just a couple ounces that spread out when spilled from 10' with a nice breeze to help. I was using a 4" roller to do the ballusters and the pan only holds about 4 oz. Less than half of it spilled when I climbed the ladder and my foot slipped a bit when I reached the top. FWIW, it was 90oF when this occured and the bricks were almost too hot to walk on. The stain was immediately absorbed (ie, nothing on the surface to wipe off, around 30 sec after the spill). So, the stain now is IN the bricks. Same goes for the mineral spirits. As soon as I poured a bit on it was absorbed by the dry, hot bricks. Previously, I tried pouring spirits on a towel first and scrubbing but nothing came up so I then poured a little on the bricks and scrubbed with towel. A little came off, but I am now left with a dark spot on the bricks. Again, thanks for the suggestions.

I'll try that tonight. If it works, fantastic. If not, I'm out a little cleaner, some water and a few minutes elbow grease. Thanks for the suggestion!

The largest spill was no more than a couple ounces. However, since I was on a ladder and the wind blew it to the side of the tarp it spread to about a foot in diameter. Again, not much volume spilled, but it covered a few bricks. The other stains were drops of various sizes that evaded / went between the tarps. The mineral spirits I used was the odorless mineral spririts that I have had for several years. I would have throught that mineral spirits would leave nothing behind too, but in two of the places I used it, there is a dark stain there now (no brown color). In the places I did not use it, the stain is brown.

Yup, thought about that too. The pavers have curved edges on the top. The bottom is just square. The link above kinda shows that. Thus, I cannot flip them. I will try mixing up a little of my leftover EFC-38 and try that. If all else fails, I will buy a few bricks if I can find and purchase a small quantity.

Thanks. I tried mineral spirits on one of the largest stains as soon as I did it (was on a ladder). Seemed to make sense at the time to me too. Now that stain is no longer brown but now it looks perpetually wet. So, I don't think I want to do that again.

I've an elevated 16'x20' PTP deck in New England that is 2 yr old. It's never been stained. I'm going to change that this spring. I'm a very handy DIYer and am considering ReadySeal, WoodRich and AC. Lots of good press on all three products on this forum and elsewhere. I'll likely use a brush or pad on the deck because of the elevation what is under & around it (plus I'm a DIYer, not an experienced contractor). For ease of use and performance, does one of those three products stand above the other two? I know I am asking a subjective question, but that's one of the beauties of the Internet....thanks.

That'd be great. I am just curious how 'orangey' the end results are as well as your comments on ease of application and coverage. Thanks.

Well, I decided to go with Armstrong Clark based on a lot of what I read here AND the fact that I left an email message with them and within 24 hr someone actually called me!! Although I did not catch his name he thoroughly answered all my questions AND agreed to send some samples. Talk about customer service. I got the samples (Cedar Tone (transparent) and Cedar (Semi-transparent) which were tiny little cans of stain. I also purchased some EFC-38 and Citralic from the Woodrich site and cleaned/brightened a piece of scrap PT SYP. Both stains made the PT look kind of orangey now (which I don't like) but the Semi-transparent makes the PT look more 'wet' (it's pouring outside so the comparison is easy) and is growing on me. So, I am leaning toward the Semi-transparent Cedar. Thanks to everyone for their help and thanks to Armstrong Clark for the fantastic customer support.

Thanks for the reply, Adrian. I've been doing quite a bit of research and I'm getting to the point of 'analysis paralysis' in that the more I read, the greater the variety of suggestions and the further I get from making a decision. I believe all three are very good and I will likely not go wrong with choosing any one of the brands. Regarding wood prep, I think I have a pretty good handle on the cleaning/brightening steps based upon my research, as well as the products I will go with. It's the particular brand of stain that's got me undecided.....again, thanks.