Newbie advice on deck

[bosully76 14]

Hi folks,

-The other day I stripped, cleaned and brightened a 600' sf. deck. The deck was dirty and the customer said that she had last sealed the wood with Thompsons. At this time I don't believe it was Thompsons, I would say it was possibly behr.

-I used "Rip It" from sunbrite to strip the deck and it appeared to work well. After cleaning the wood I applied the brightener that is used with 'Rip It''. The wood was dark in some parts and I was not completely sattisfied with the deck. It was getting late so I had to leave it the way it was.

-The next day I went to the house when it was dry and it looked good. The deck appeared to be clean and it was lightened from the britener.

-Today it was raining and the customer came home from vacation and called me saying that the wood did not look good. I looked again while the deck was wet and the wood was very dark and I did not think it looked good. I told the customer I would like to see it dry.

-I just looked at the deck again when it dried and it looks clean and bright. I plan on sealing the deck with Ready Seal. However, I am very uncomfortable with the looks of the deck when wet.

-I am sorry I have no pictures but any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian O'Sullivan

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Brian,

Do you have a photo you can post? What you are seeing could be several things, and I'm sure we all want to steer you the proper direction.

You could have:

• uneven cleaning- residual mildew or algae
  
• uneven neutralization, causing a splotchy, dark or dirty look in places
  
• remnant dirt/mildew in the substrate beneath remaining sealer
  
• old wood that needs sanding due to heavy traffic areas
  
• spots from spills, grease, pet stains, candle wax
  

I have seen many things over the years that look "clean" when dry but show dirty when wet - and yes sealed. You may be right about the Behr, but if just about any box store clear is put on over dirty wood, you will see this. The problem is, you pull the microbial growth further into the substrate and put a barrier over it.

Beth

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

p.s. DOH! I just noticed you said you didn't have photos.... (boy did I miss that!) You could rewash and neutralize it...

Beth

[bosully76 14]

Thanks Beth,

When wet it looks dirty. I must not have got all the prior sealer off. I will re-strip, clean and neutralize tomorrow.

Brian

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Is it by chance redwood?..tends to look pretty dark when wet...If it looks good dry then yer good to go.

[bosully76 14]

After doing a search I am pretty sure that this was a behr silicone sealer which I understand can be a tough strip. This is a big deck. Does this behr usually take multiple strips? Again sorry for no pictures.

Brian

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

It can, and if you didn't know that was what you were stripping to begin with, then I can see that happening.

One thing the client needs to know is that it will NOT be perfect. It will get better with subsequent cleanings. Strip it again, neutralize it thoroughly, then prep it and seal it. You will have fuzzies, knock them off before you seal.

Beth