Cant get all stain off what are options?

[a68cudas 14]

Well been working on this deck and i tested with hot batch of hd-80 and seem to strip good in the cpl places i tried. I have applied hd-80 hot batches 3 batches with dwell times of 1 hour apiece and i cant seem to get all stain off flatwork. The spindles are another story i cant hardly get any to budge??? I kept areas wet once applied through whole process. Alot of the stain is embeded in the wood grain? What are my options now for this deck? The stain must have been oil based as my test spots showed where stain was emulsifying within 15 min or so in the areas i tested the areas tesed were where the stain looked like it was on pretty well... what can i do now?

Edited May 13, 2009 by a68cudas

[charlie 14]

Sand, sand, and sand.

[a68cudas 14]

are you saying sand to smooth out stain that didn' t come out, and reapply with solid? Sand with orbital? belt sander? can floor sander be used on decks? i know i used one for house flooring before? How do you guys charge for sanding when a job turns out like this by the hour or set price for entire job? Reason i ask is ive never had any really major sanding projects till now? Thanks

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

How strong did you mix the HD-80?

What product are you stripping?

How long did you leave the HD-80 alone to work (dwell) before beginning the wash?

Beth

[a68cudas 14]

How strong did you mix the HD-80?

What product are you stripping?

How long did you leave the HD-80 alone to work (dwell) before beginning the wash?

Beth

made the HD-80 at 8 oz per gallon. was told product was olympic but owner not sure. Left HD-80 on for a little over an hour dwell time each time 3 times keeping it wet while dwelling. I meant 8 oz per gallon miss typed and put 6 which was incorrect

Edited May 14, 2009 by a68cudas
wrong number i posted

[RPetry 564]

Dave,

Looking at the intact stain on the lattice in your photos, it does not have the look of an oil stain. 6 oz. a gal. of HD-80, applied 3 times with a hour of dwell, should have stripped an oil stain three times over.

There is something foul on that wood. I think you just bought into a solid stain job.

[PressurePros 248]

That looks like the dye (yes dye, not pigment) of Behr's hybrid oil/acrylic. You won't get it out. You'll have to go with a darker color if that's what it is.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Boost the HD-80 with ACR Products 633-ADD. Call Tom & Barbara at 610-253-8005 to get some. It will take it.

Beth

[bigchaz 157]

That looks like the dye (yes dye, not pigment) of Behr's hybrid oil/acrylic. You won't get it out. You'll have to go with a darker color if that's what it is.

Behrs the first thing that came to my mind as well

I'd say make sure you get it off the floor. Strip it again heavy mix (8-10oz if you can dissolve it), spray on, use a stiff brush to agitate it, keep it wet with more stripper, keep agitating it with the brush, pressure wash, and sand sand sand when it dries.

Forget the rails its a waste of time. Try and convince the customer on a two-tone and go with white rails. Wash them to get any dirt and mold off, sand/scrape any loose stain on the rails and put on two coats of a solid color white stain.

Thats a big deck to be stripping a solid on too...good luck man

[patriot pressure washing 14]

Id say try the hd-80 process once more, if its availabe try hotwater also, and if they want a oil base semi transparent, paint the rails white and sand like crazy on the floor then try and go with a darker color TWP or ready seal. The only other thing you can do is stop stripping now and just go with a solid all the way around, which sucks but ive had the problem a few times and the customer is useally very pleased with the white rail route.

mike

[John Orr 206]

Believe it or not, lately, I have had excellent results stripping Behr and CWF with either company's deck stripper. I prefer the Flood (CWF) product better as it can be applied with a pump-up. Spray every square inch and let it dry. Just before pw, lightly wet the area.

[a68cudas 14]

Thanks for all the replies. I might try one more app of hd-80 boosting it with something and see if i can get the rest off the main deck. the rails are a done deal that stuff what ever it is is adhered way to well on them so for rail and spindle its gonna have to be some acrylic solid going over those. If i can get rest off main deck then try go with solid oil on. im gonna get a sample or two of cabots and see how it will cover over pigmented areas if not then sand more prime bare boards and solid acrlic over all of it... really dont have to much of choice here...

[plainpainter 217]

I know how to get that crap off - but I won't tell you - you might be a fool enough to try it and get hurt. You can't strip solid oil based stains with these semi-transparent stain strippers. Even if that crap could come off with a 'boosted' HD80 formula like Beth is suggesting - we're talking $3/sq.ft. absolute minimum, and I don't mean just the footprint of the deck - at least double the footprint to get a feel for total square footage.

[a68cudas 14]

Hey i never had to do sanding as bad as on this deck. and im not sure what to charge for sanding the heavier areas. can you guys share what you charge for sanding so i dont low ball myself on what to charge to sand... thanks other question is all i have are a couple of old orbital sanders should i get something else to sand with? any help greatly appreciated

[patriot pressure washing 14]

Go to lowes and get a belt sander, they have pretty good ones for like 65 bucks and it will pay itself off beleive me. get a like some heavy coarse sand paper and go over the bad spots then get some finishing sand paper for the sander and go over it for a final time, it shouldnt take you but a couple hours if you go that route. you should be fine putting the solid over what is already there just go with as dark as color as the customer can stand. thats all i can tell ya, just price out the sanding based on how long it takes you, but like i said it shouldnt take long.

mike

[PressurePros 248]

I don't agree with going the belt sander route on a floor, especially for a person new to restoration (no disrespect intended, Mike). I also disagree with needing to use a finishing paper. Anything above 60 grit (numerically) is too fine. 60 grit paper will leave exterior wood very smooth. For that floor, head to a tool rental place and grab one of those square vibrating sanders. Pick up 20 something grit paper and a 1" sponge. This is mild and you won't tear up the floor. It'll take you maybe 20-30 minutes to do the whole thing. Get under the rails the best you can with a random orbital.

The dye color could and probably will still remain as a pink haze if it is the product I think it is.

[PressurePros 248]

Here is a pic of a deck that had a thick layer of that crap on there. Two strip applications of boosted HD-80, sanded and buffed with an Osborne. I don't know if this picture will do it justice, I cropped and zoomed in on the privacy fence. You can see how it still has pink in many places.

[bigchaz 157]

I think if you're gonna go through the work to strip the floor again and sand off the solid, I would try and go with a semi-trans of semi-solid at the least. If you're just gonna do another solid on top I wouldn't waste time sanding it down except to remove anything thats loose

I prefer orbital sanders with a 40 grit paper, no finish sanding. Belt sander will work good, but its much easier to leave marks, and those sandpaper drums are way more expensive.

[RPetry 564]

Here is a pic of a deck that had a thick layer of that crap on there. Two strip applications of boosted HD-80, sanded and buffed with an Osborne. I don't know if this picture will do it justice, I cropped and zoomed in on the privacy fence. You can see how it still has pink in many places.

Ken,

Nice job on that stripping. Behr's new innovation is now leaving us with pink wood? Still see some mildew infested wood that they paid something like 180 million to settle.

... The stain must have been oil based as my test spots showed where stain was emulsifying within 15 min or so in the areas i tested the areas tesed were where the stain looked like it was on pretty well... what can i do now?

Dave,

If it is an oil, it should strip with the right additives. If you are going to tackle something similar again, hook up with Tom at ACR Products, Scott at the Sealer Store, or Tracy at Sunbrite. These distributors have NaOH additives that can really help on tough strips.

These pics are of a little western red cedar deck we stripped last week. Some solid oil, applied by a handyman 10 months ago. Stripped once with a 20 min. dwell and did some spot sanding for an hour. The stripper additives made it a relative breeze.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Here is a pic of a deck that had a thick layer of that crap on there. Two strip applications of boosted HD-80, sanded and buffed with an Osborne. I don't know if this picture will do it justice, I cropped and zoomed in on the privacy fence. You can see how it still has pink in many places.

It's vertical wood - always the tougher strip....

Beth

[John Orr 206]

Seriously, try the Flood stripper first. It claims to even strip solid stains. I used it just the other day to strip 99% of an almost solid mustard-colored Behr crud. It actually peeled off, with chips flying everywhere. The customer was about to replace the deck as they had been hating it for almost 4 years. I had cleaned it once before of green/black, but never thought I could strip it successfully. I now can - including the verticles.

Edited May 15, 2009 by John Orr

[a68cudas 14]

Thank you all for your help. Talked to owner today and told him how much it would cost to sand down bad spots and prime bare wood to prep for a solid of cabots and then he gives me the sad song and dance about how for that much money he could have new deck built which i know is B/S and then he remembers what was put on it Olympic acrylic/ latex solid stain color copper henna. So now im just gonna hit some bad spots with sanding, and reapply that same nasty acrylic latex that was on there before in same ugly reddish color. I prefer cabots but this works for me as it will deff match up with whats on there.

[Greg Rentschler 14]

We use the Makita's with the 8" backer disc and hook and loop 80 grit for sanding. They work well but it puts you on your hands and knees is the ounly rough part. I've never had good results out of drum sanders other similar models when it comes to solids. The best thing you can do is to strip as much off as possible then sand as little as possible :)

We do alot of these but strip them with either boosted Stripper or Restoration paint remover. More and more I'm even thinking of glass blasting these babies... probably the easiest way.