what do i do about stains????

[stoppie101 20]

i washed my first deck yesterday. i though it went very well. the deck was in bad shape, tons of moss, mildew, dirt and graying. i used deck cleaner from olympic. the first pass got most of the junk off, but i ended up cleaning it twice. i went back today to check it out, and it looks like a new deck except for a few problem areas. the deck had a small step that was sitting on it for the hot tub, so i removed it and cleaned it off to the side. where the step was is a definate color difference from the rest of the deck. i'm not too concerned about it cause the step is going back. but there was also some flower puts that had done the same thing. is there anything that i can do to even out the color difference. would this be a good time to use a britener? i have a few days to work on it before i seal it cause it wont be over 50 until later in the week. any thoughts?

and sorry about the novel

[Brian Keating 14]

stoppie101,

The brighter will help a little but flower pot stains are very difficult to remove. I would use an oxalic or citric acid brightener to remove a little more of the stain. Also, it is a good idea to always follow your stripper or cleaner with a brightener/neutralizer to balance the pH level of the wood. The cleaners usually cause the pH to be elevated to between 12-14 and the neutralizer will help bring it back to a neutral pH level of around 6-8. Most brighteners have a pH of 1-2.

[stoppie101 20]

thanks for the advice. do you recomend applying the brightner right after the cleaner or do you come back?

[Guest rfitz]

You must apply the neutralizers immediately after stripping, other wise, the strippers keep working, especially if it rains after you leave, plus why make the extra trip back,? you already have all your equipment there... also, make sure the deck is wet before applying neutralizers, oxalic acid etc... It only takes me approx. 30-45 minutes to spray britener on a 1000 sq ft deck, and thats if it is 2nd story, which most decks I do are... I use pure oxalic acid at a ratio of 8-10 ounces per gallon of warm water approx. 120 degrees

Hope this helps...

[Aplus 525]

Flower pot stains are tough. I always tell the customer that we will do the best we can, to reduce visual evidence of the stain.

A brightener is necessary after stripping or washing. I don't think a typical brightening will remove most flower pot stains. Even increasing the brightener is not going to remove some stains.

Use an orbital sander with a defelting pad, and lightly feather out the stain to try make it less noticeable.

At this time, if you can't get all the stain evidence out, at least you've discussed it in advance with your customer, and they know what to expect. If you do get it all out, then great, you're a hero, but if not, hey it sometimes happens. Just put the pot back in the same spot, but at least elevate it on lifts, so you don't keep contributing to the bad spot.

[stoppie101 20]

thanks for the advice!

p.s. i rode tons of wheelies today!