Ready Seal Over Olympic Maximun Stain

[lenpga2b 14]

I have a 700 square foot cedar deck. The deck is about 3 years old and was previously sealed with Olympic Maximun CedarTone sealer. The intention was to do a complet strip of the existing sealer and then a restain with Ready Seal Cedar stain.

After having the deck stripped the end result is abouut 90 percent removal of the previuos stain from the horizantal Boards (except for area under BBQ grill). The Vertical Spindals and Vertical boards still have 70% of the original stain remaining. The contractor states that applying ready Seal over any of the existing stain will cover just fine.

Can I feel confident that the Ready Seal product will cover the remaining Olympic Stain? When the ready seal fades over the next 6-12 months can the underlying stain bleed through.

The contractor is trying to prevent more aggressive stripping and powerwashing in order to avoid fuzzing up the deck. I don't beleive he wants to spend that time to sand the deck. However at this point my fear is the job will get bigger if it is stained with Ready Seal and then have to strip all of it again becasue of poor results. He wuld have my money at that point and I would have to rely on warratny work to fix problem.

I have attached some pictures af what the deck looks like after it has been "stripped" please post your commnets ASAP.

[dpaull 80]

I have attached some pictures af what the deck looks like after it has been "stripped" please post your commnets ASAP.

That deck is not stripped.

--

The deck NEEDS to be stripped of ALL old stain and dead damaged wood before applying a new stain, otherwise, it's a waste of time and will fail prematurely. The stain is meant to sink into the wood. Two "things" cannot occupy the same space at the same time (the old stain and the new stain in your case).

Regardless of anything else, fuzzing is going to occur when wood with a good bit of damage is stripped properly. It is caused by the removal of the old damaged wood...and it will wear away after time on the floor boards. The only thing that would probably need sanded would be the handrails.

Hope that helps, feel free to call me with any questions. dp

[seymore 90]

That deck is pretty dirty black spots etc.also with lots of old stain on it.Your final look of the new stain will only look as good as the deck is cleaned.Especially with RS that is very transparent and will show all of the wood grain.You need to have a even and uniform look to the wood when using RS

Deck not cleaned properly= blotchy looking wood grain!

[seymore 90]

P.S this should be in the ask the pros forum...

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Thanks Shane :)

[MMI Enterprises 289]

I concure with the other fellas..

Although Olympic has various offerings I believe the one your refering to may have curing oil properties to it which will not be friendly to the RS oil feeding type stains. "When the ready seal fades over the next 6-12 months can the underlying stain bleed through?".. yes is likely..The new stuff could also cause flaking and failure of the old stain like a continuation of the stripping process. Sometimes you can indeed use same type products over each other if they were same type but this isn't the case here. Have placed RS over other penetration type stains to decent looking success but failure down the road is untested...best to strip All old off. You won't be able to get the exposed wood to match the covered persay but your guy should be able to remove all the old stain and that mildew/grease to the right of the bbq.

Think you need to allow the wood condition/buildup conditions themselves dictate what the wood will need in way of final prep after it is fully stripped.

Contractor should have allowed for that and shoudl be open to adjustment of it needing some sanding prep if need be...

Perhaps most important thing I want to convey to you is that full stripping this deck will not and should hardly ever include a stronger more aggressive use of the actual powerwasher. 600-1k psi with proper wide angle tips are generally used to prevent wood damage. To finish this up contractor needs to either just do one more strip cycle of same strength or a slightly stonger strength if what we see is not the worst areas.

[bigchaz 157]

Yea your contractor barely even cleaned this thing. The spot where the mat was or grill is going to stand out majorly as well. That area should match the entire deck if it is prepped properly

[lenpga2b 14]

Thanks for the replies. Let me add this. The contractor came out again today to do a restrip and completed the whole job including equipment setup and teardown in 20 minutes. My wife has stated that the "old stain still looks the same".

I also ask how stong of a stripper could they be using if they are running it throught the power washer? I thought that strippers (real strippers) were failry caustic and would reak havoc on a power washer. Maybe just best for me to finish this job on my own.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Did you check to see if this guy was licensed or insured? 20 minutes including set up and tear down? Right. (shakes head)

Beth

[MMI Enterprises 289]

There are guys here that can tell you about being able to strip via the chems through the washer...

20 minute is pretty quik..too quik in my opinion especially considering most professionals will also neutralize the deck after with an acid spray down. This also happens to be the part of the process that brightens or lightens the decking.

Charlie, how you get that covered part to match? you mean you can get it to match before staining or after?

ps- here an example of stripper through machine method:In case you were still on the fence regarding DS'ing decks

[Adrian 155]

No deck can be stripped in 20 min.

Decks can be stripped and neutrilized with a pw and the right attachments, xjet low flo ect.I do it like that alot. A deckster or bucketster is another approach. You WILL get fuzz more often than not.

Yes, the deck does need to be stripped in order for the RS to adhere correctly. Do it right the first time and you will have no regrets. Do it improperly and it will come back to haunt you.

[charlie 14]

lenpga2b check your pm I live in wi maybe I can help

[bigchaz 157]

Comparing that square to the rest of the deck it looks like it is either A) still holding the old stain (see the way it matches the spindles?) or B) The gray wood around it should be cleaned.

Fully clean the deck and brighten the area around the square more heavily and youll barely be able to tell it was there. Little sanding around the edges will help blend it as well.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Ok..good eye Charlie..Some that gray in B) is both dead gray and stain and some parts I can see where it started to get clean or lighter.

What I run into on shaded areas or bbq areas is that no matter how clean, stripped, or sanded..the covered area still always has more natural wood color/oils left and it taints the end color different. Is like with our amount of sun the decks get like driftwood color as if soaked in water till every last ounce of coloring is gone..different then silvery dead gray if ya know what I mean.. Is a very interesting topic aside from this thread I wish we could address properly. Was sorta tackeled in another thread about bbq areas on a deck but it ended up being situation of old finish still present. One fella told me they blend it with pads but in using different stains and all I don't really see it working on light stain jobs.

[Jarrod 22]

This is the perfect example of what happens to people that hire the lowest bidder.

My advice is to fire the hack and hire a pro and pay him what he is worth.

[John Orr 206]

Since Oly Max is the stain that I work with, and have for almost 6 years, I think I can help.

On 3 year old Oly Max, downstreaming (downstreaming sucks in the chemical after the pump, so no problem there) a good stripper (sodium hydroxide), rinsing with 6 or 700 psi, then applying a neutralizer (I use oxalic acid) will restore that deck to like-new condition. The area where the mat was should not look any different than the surrounding deck. Using this method, you should have virtually NO furring.

Having said all of that, I have to ask - are you sure that the deck was previously stained with Oly Max? I ask because, in my experience, it should look much better than it does. Olympic does guarantee this stain for 3 years not to gray. Still have your receipt?

[bigchaz 157]

I was wanting to say what Jarrod just did, but figured id wait before opening my mouth. Seriously fire that contractor and get another one. Its now been "stripped" what is it three times? What a joke. Any competent wood restoration pro would have that deck looking 10 times as good in only one trip.

Get a new contractor

[MMI Enterprises 289]

John, which you using?. The one I tested was the 7 year on new wood/brown label stuff. Not same as the sealer toner one hu?

[charlie 14]

Hello Lenpga2B

Where in Wi do you live? If you are not to far from Racine I would be happy to give you a bid on your deck.

Private Message if you want.

Charlie

[PressurePros 249]

If you decide to finish the job yourself, there are consumer friendly deck products, landscape friendly deck strippers and deck cleaning techniques given on my website.

[rholman 14]

is the contractor even using a stripper? It seems to me that he knows that it won't get any better because he is only using water. He is worried if he gets closer to the wood that it will chew up the wood. The chemical he is using should be doing the work(depending on dwell time)....not the pressure. If he was in-and-out in 20 minutes then that means NO DWELL TIME!! Fire the hack. He's either a rookie or just hasn't learned the right techniques. I would be willing to bet that he thinks the pressure does the work. Did he hype up the psi of his machine when he did his sales pitch?

OR he is using a real dilluted mix and then dilluting it even more when he downstreams. Sounds like he is clueless!

[MMI Enterprises 289]

I'd 3rd and 4th that motion... :)

[John Orr 206]

John, which you using?. The one I tested was the 7 year on new wood/brown label stuff. Not same as the sealer toner one hu?

Not the same. The Oly Max Cedar Tone (as well as the Honey Gold and Redwood) comes in a green can.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

John,

Ok you mean the wood toner titled 'waterproofing sealant'. The 5yr-dark brown label is the semi-trans 'deck, fence, siding stain' . Is alkyd emulsion base that is tintable to whatever ya want.

Can ya tell me is the cleanup with that green label easy or is it sticky mess?

The semi-trans is full of it with their easy water cleanup idea in my opinion.

I might have to concede and call it the toughest stuff out there though.