New Pressure Treated Wood

[tigerzak 14]

I have a new deck to stain. The deck was installed about 3 weeks ago. I have 2 questions.

1) How long should I wait before I seal the deck?

2) Do I need to strip the deck first to remove any oils or wax that may be on the wood from the factory?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Clean it good, neutralize, and seal or stain it...Modern consensus points to not letting wood weather very long as it can experience dimensional changes.

Do a water sprinkle test to ensure it absorbs...

You can also go straight to Wolman's site, since they the inventor of pressure treated wood, and see what they say...They may list a time for the pt..

ps--- well it hard to find info I seen before over there on Wolman but have a read of the 'user tips' insert on the following product:

http://www.wolman.com/pdf/datasheets/P_3_54.pdf

[bigchaz 157]

Splash test to see if water beads up. If not go ahead clean neutralize and stain

No need to wait unless you want to start cracking and graying.

[seymore 90]

New ACQ PT wood does not take stain real good.I've seen new PT wood that takes atleast 6 months-1 yr to cure depending on exposure to the sun.It's also needs to go thru wet/dry cycles to cure and dry out.

[tigerzak 14]

What if it does bead up? Would I need to strip?

Thanks

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Stripping will not do any good in my opinion, since the pressure treatment is in the wood, not on the wood. Over time, with subsequent cleanings and weathering cycles, more of the treatment that is in the wood will leach out. Depending on the treatment, this may be seen as a green patina like you see on weathered copper.

Give the deck a light percarbonate wash, lightly neutralize it, and seal it. Sooner is better. Do not let it age. I suggest Wood tux. We did this very thing on our own deck a few years ago when it was built. Looked great, held up, and protected the wood. Shane is correct. You may need to perform maintenance sooner the first time on the floor, but after that you should fall into a regular maintenance pattern.

Beth

[Scott Paul 164]

New ACQ PT wood does not take stain real good.I've seen new PT wood that takes atleast 6 months-1 yr to cure depending on exposure to the sun.It's also needs to go thru wet/dry cycles to cure and dry out.

Shane is correct. ACQ PTP wood when stained/sealed the first time will not last as long as the second time. Doesn't matter what product you use. We tell customers to expect 12-18 months on new (stained) ACQ and twice as long the second time arround.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

What if it does bead up? Would I need to strip?

Thanks

Generally speaking if wood beads it could want either clean or strip. In case of new wood though just clean with the percarb, as BnR says, is sufficient. Throw some tsp and surfactant in there if it don't cut it.

Having both the percarb and stripper handy for in the moment decision making is always a good thing too.. 'walk softly and but carry a big stick'

Don't stain unless it don't bead.. :)

[James 624]

Do a lite bleach cleaning and rinse. Precarbs darken the wood to much and make you brighten. Do it the BDA way! Bleach Dweller's Association......

[seymore 90]

Oxalic will get off the waxy coating and i usually bleach out the greenish color in some PT pine.BleAch/soap never leave home with out it for new wood :cool:

[seymore 90]

Do a lite bleach cleaning and rinse. Precarbs darken the wood to much and make you brighten. Do it the BDA way! Bleach Dweller's Association......

Spooky we both posted at the same time Jim :eek:

[James 624]

The Bleach Boy's sing again!

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Birds of a feather....

[seymore 90]

Yep great minds think a like huh :lglolly: :lgwave:

[tigerzak 14]

Thanks to everyone who responded. I am going to try the light bleach and neutralize. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Thanks again

Tiger

[seymore 90]

Thanks to everyone who responded. I am going to try the light bleach and neutralize. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Thanks again

Tiger

I don't always use a brightner after using bleach i just wait and see how the wood looks after cleaning. You have to watch out acid and bleach together put off bad fumes!

[tigerzak 14]

I was under the understanding that it is necessary to use and oxcilic acid after bleach to neutralize the effects of the bleach.

I'm confused now!!!

[bigchaz 157]

noooooo

oxalic is used to neutralize caustics such as sodium hydroxide. Dont mix oxalic and bleach. Bleach doesnt need to be neutralized, but the oxalic can help brighten the wood if it is still looking rough. Also if you use a stripper and then use bleach to kill the mold you still have to use oxalic at the end to neutralize the caustic

[Scott Paul 164]

Bleach is not good for wood. Here is an article from a Glenn Haege Column:

"Unfortunately all deck cleaners are not created equal. The cheaper deck cleaner/brighteners usually include some form of chlorine (household) bleach as their brightening agent. Quite often the ingredient list does not say bleach, it uses the chemical term, sodium hypochlorite. Using a product with this ingredient on your deck can be a problem.

Years ago, I used to recommend cleaning and brightening decks with a solution of TSP and household bleach in water. I stopped doing this when I learned how hard the bleach was on the wood. The bleach took away the gray and killed the mold spores, but at the same time it mangled the wood fibers and left a residue which keeps stains and sealers from penetrating the wood properly.

I first learned of this phenomenon when the owners of Bio-Wash Products, showed me photographs of microscopic blowups of cedar decking taken by an independent Canadian chemical testing company. The magnification was 43X.

The first slide was of weathered cedar. You could see how a combination of dirt, mold and dead wood cells had turned the surface black/gray. This jumbled, blackened surface was not only unattractive, the cell structure was so clogged that not even penetrating stains could be absorbed by the wood properly.

The second slide showed how a bleach based cleaner lightened the wood but destroyed the lignin, the natural glue that bonds wood fibers together. When the wood fibers were no longer bonded, they became a loose mass to which stains and sealers could not adhere properly.

This is the reason why so many hard-working homeowners only get a single season out of their deck stains and sealers. They do all the work, but the cheap cleaner/brightener used makes it impossible for the stain or sealer to stick. The stain walks or weathers off in just a few months.

The final slide showed weathered cedar brightened with Bio-Wash WoodWash restorer. The citric acid used in the cleaner gets rid of the dead wood fibers but does not effect the natural bonding agent in the wood."

[James 624]

Scott , I'm tired of answering the bleach propaganda machine. I guess you missed the long debate. I will only say I have cedar, PT, Mahog, Ipe' decks 10 years old with bleach being the only cleaner and no wood loss ever and look at Shanes work! Once people learn how to use bleach there's no turning back.

There are more problems associated with using Precarbs and Noah. I can show you photo's of bleach used correctly. Any chemical not used correctly will have an effect on the lignin. Any chem not rinsed correctly will have an effect on the sealer. Any company selling cleaning chem's put down the use of bleach.

[Scott Paul 164]

Scott , I'm tired of answering the bleach propaganda machine. I guess you missed the long debate. I will only say I have cedar, PT, Mahog, Ipe' decks 10 years old with bleach being the only cleaner and no wood loss ever and look at Shanes work! Once people learn how to use bleach there's no turning back.

There are more problems associated with using Precarbs and Noah. I can show you photo's of bleach used correctly. Any chemical not used correctly will have an effect on the lignin. Any chem not rinsed correctly will have an effect on the sealer. Any company selling cleaning chem's put down the use of bleach.

Yes I missed the long debate and I'm sure it doesn't want to be started again. I was just posting a legitimate reply to why you could have problems with bleach. Sorry if you were offended.

[YVPW 20]

Bleach is a high alkaline also and needs to be neutralized like any other alkaline soap. Although you can get away with not doing it on penetrating stains. Log home finishes are a different story though. If you're doing maintenance washes then no neutralizing is needed cause the bleach hasn't soaked into the wood. 90% of the time I use an extra step after stripping to hit the wood with bleach. The stripper doesn't get rid of the mildew in the wood, and percarb is a sorry cleaner of real tough mildew and dirt IMO. I've used EFC-38 at 8oz.'s a gallon and still wouldn't touch a baked on mildewed deck.

[seymore 90]

Well i have no problems with using bleach and the Gray Away so I couldn't answer for other stains.

Let's revive the Bleach thread....:lglolly:

[RPetry 564]

Let's revive the Bleach thread....

Ahhh, The Great Bleach Debate. What a classic. That was the best thread on TGS in the 5 yrs. I've been a member.

As I recall, there was ample evidence presented that sodium hydroxide is much more destructive of wood lignin compared to sodium hypochlorite.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

yeah...if you say so rick ;)

Beth :cup:

[James 624]

Scott, I wasn't offended !It's an issue that I've been defending for a long time. It's an issue that has been Skewed. Instead of learning how to benifit from it's use (bleach). The negative is alway's brought up with the worse case scenerios. From people who do not use it or do not know how to use it or from companies who sell precarbs. Propaganda......