Ponduke

Hi all, Not a contractor, just a DIY’er homeowner who has been reading this particular forum ravenously for the last few days or so. Being this is a forum aimed at contractors, and being that I am not one, I hope this post isn’t a violation of forum rules. If so, delete, or move, at will… Anyway, here goes; Last summer, I bit off a big ol’ heap of work for myself. I blame it on my never-ending quest of being the perfect dad and husband. My wife and daughter have wanted a pool for years and last summer I decided I’d make it happen. An In-ground was beyond my humble budget, as was a professionally installed, brand new above ground, at least of the size we deemed worthy of the expense. Therefore, having little sense,and even less money, I began perusing Craigslist. In short time, I found my pool. Just one county over, a guy was looking to unload a 10 year old, 27 foot diameter 52” deep pool, with (and here’s why I’m posting this) a huge wraparound deck. I went to look at it, and as it is prone to do, my imagination took over. I pictured it in my backyard, with friends and neighbors over for the pool party, everyone having a ball, and I observing the proceedings, proud in my ability to create a backyard oasis on a new picnic table and gas grill budget. So, I pay the guy what he’s asking, (not much, as he really wanted it gone as his kids were grown and he tired of pool maintenance is my guess) and drive off with that same summer oasis mind-movie playing in my head and likely a stupid looking grin. It didn’treally hit me until I was in bed that night. Did I really just casually accept the challenge of disassembling, moving, and reassembling a 10 year old pool and 500 sq. ft. deck? Wait a minute… I don’t even own a truck!! Crazy eh? My friends and family thought so too. So, since I’ve already given you folk a whole lot more background than my question warrants, I will just say that after calling in a few favors from a buddy or two, last summer and fall was dedicated to this task. But guess, what? I did it! Hundreds of hours and several barrels of Gatorade later, I did it. I got the pool up, and about half the deck reassembled before winter set in and this year, over the last couple weekends, I have just about finished reassembly of the deck. Now is where you guys come in (those who have made it this far into this meandering post anyway). About that deck. As I said, 10 years old, PT, previous owner stained every 2 years with an unknown brand, fairly dark stain. Never stripping it, only layering new stain upon old. Looks pretty bad. Contently wet decking from pool water has created some boards with serious grain separation that I replaced with new, other boards I flipped, and the rest of the boards I will be stripping with HD 80 and that’s what my question concerns. I am using a pump sprayer and have tested HD 80 on one of the worst boards and wow, that stuff is awesome! Mixed 6 oz. per gallon and dwelled about 15 minutes, then power washed at safe PSI. Ripped that stain right off. Some furring, but nothing too bad. I will follow with OX acid (can I buy that local in southern Indiana, or need to order online?) then re-stain of course, but my question about the HD 80 is this; When I used it on the test board, I had to re-spray every 4 or 5 minutes to keep the board wet. That’s 3 or 4 times over the 15 minute dwell. Being that I only bought 2 pounds of HD 80, I wonder if I could get away with one good coat of HD 80, followed by a pump sprayer of just water to keep it wet, or will I need to re-spray repeatedly with HD 80 to keep wet. I know it stops working when dry so I thought I could just keep it wet with water so long as the HD 80wasn’t washed off. Your thoughts? Also, any tips of concerns I may have not havethought of would be greatly appreciated. . 9 months later and my backyard oasis is closer than ever! Thanks, Brian

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I wasn't sure 2 lbs of HD80 would suffice. Will order more. Must I also order the Oxalic online as well or does anyone know if there is a brand of brightener with Oxalic that I can buy local?