Clear western red cedar job

[RPetry 564]

Cedar can be a true PITA. But its a great looking wood.

Stripped this deck, along with a porch and front entrance, of a foul, failing Penofin applied by some painter last year. You can see the remaining lousy looking Penofin on the vertical T&G cedar on the deck. Poor customer, the entire house is stained with this stuff.

Brightened with citric acid, no sanding, and stained with 2 separate oilings of Ready Seal, natural cedar color.

[TNRoofCleaner 16]

Looks alot better than the samples I got from RS. Love teh color it says cedar all the way.

[RPetry 564]

Looks alot better than the samples I got from RS. Love teh color it says cedar all the way.

Pat,

To be honest, I think natural cedar on cedar is a bit too close to an orange color. It is stunning, but you have to like it.

Much prefer Ready Seal light brown on western red cedar, shown in the knotty cedar picture attached.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

You missed a spot! :lol:

Beth

[RPetry 564]

You missed a spot! :lol:

Beth

Beth,

There is only one "spot" that counts. Hah!

[bigchaz 157]

Rick are you guys applying stripper with a brush in that first picture?

[RPetry 564]

Charlie,

Yes. A heavy canvas tarp is set on the outside of the balustrade. Stripper is applied by a Shurflo pump and spray wand from the inside. The tarp is removed. Stripper is then applied to the outside spindles and fascia, and a fair amount gets on the deck floor, about 3 ft. in.

The tarp is then removed. Stripper is hand applied to the top rail.

Keeps bushes, plants, and flowers healthy.

[RPetry 564]

Sorry Charlie,

Hah! Wonder how many remember that tuna marketing campaign? I'm gettin' old...

The canvas tarp is completely removed after spraying stripper from the inside of the balustrade. You can see it laying on the floor to the right of Oscar. His real name is Mike but I give all my kiddles a nickname. Don't ask.

[bigchaz 157]

Hm I like that tarp idea. I see that you still have furniture on the deck surface...do you strip the railing and pressure wash before applying stripper to the floor?

Do you tarp the house as well to prevent stripping the siding or are you hand brushing there as well?

Sorry for all the questions, normally my method is fine but I nuked about 3 feet of grass around a deck last week because we were stripping a solid acrylic and the second that hot mix hits the grass it turns black. Took off the gutter paint too. We rinse vegetation with water every time but its pretty hard to stop a mix that strong. The customer was so happy about the deck she didnt mind the yard, but it looks like you might be on to something here

Edited July 28, 2009 by bigchaz

[RPetry 564]

Hm I like that tarp idea. I see that you still have furniture on the deck surface...do you strip the railing and pressure wash before applying stripper to the floor?

Yes. While PW the outside spindles, ~ 3 ft. of the deck floor gets stripped as well. At least on an easy strip job.

Do you tarp the house as well to prevent stripping the siding or are you hand brushing there as well?

No. With the right equipment, care, decent help, and training, there is no need for plastic or tarps on vertical wood not to be stripped. Masonite boards work well, with a 5 minute hand application or stripper next to the vertical wood.

Sorry for all the questions, normally my method is fine but I nuked about 3 feet of grass around a deck last week because we were stripping a solid acrylic and the second that hot mix hits the grass it turns black. Took off the gutter paint too. We rinse vegetation with water every time but its pretty hard to stop a mix that strong. The customer was so happy about the deck she didnt mind the yard, but it looks like you might be on to something here

Charlie,

We use basically the same method with tarps and staining. Well, maybe not. Small and large jobs get sprayed from the outside in without tarps. Mind you, we use Ready Seal, that does not "lap". Again, the first 3 ft. of the deck horizontal surface gets the "extra" RS stain. No problem. Small jobs get the inside balustrade done by hand.

Large, long balustrade jobs get the tarp. Chems are not the worst thing for plants, oil based stains are. The tarp gets stapled again to the outside of the balustrade and then you can spray away and back brush to your heart's content.

[bigchaz 157]

Rick, Ive been using canvas ever since I started spraying stain so I understand your procedure I just never thought to replicate that for the stripping portion of the job. Hell I've got half a dozen 15 footers sitting in the shed. Glad you posted that picture, I love the idea.

We don't tarp when spraying inward either, it just means more oil on the horizontals which is nice.

[Adrian 155]

Rick, Ive been using canvas ever since I started spraying stain so I understand your procedure I just never thought to replicate that for the stripping portion of the job. Hell I've got half a dozen 15 footers sitting in the shed. Glad you posted that picture, I love the idea.

We don't tarp when spraying inward either, it just means more oil on the horizontals which is nice.

yeah +1 here. I like that idea.

[RPetry 564]

... We don't tarp when spraying inward either, it just means more oil on the horizontals which is nice.

Yup. Too many waste time and money on plastic prepping. Its not needed, necessary, or a sign of good work. At least for simple decks.

All staining takes is a little common sense, experience with an HLVP sprayer, and some care in application. Anything else is just fluff for an at home customer, or gee wiz inexperience.

[PressurePros 248]

Again, different business model here. I'd rather spend the money on the plastic and market the dog and pony show of putting it up. One guy is sanding the other is putting up plastic then its fast spray which can get caught by even a small breeze. Its cool to hear the different ways we all do things.

[RPetry 564]

Ken,

Its not a different business model. Its common sense and the right equipment.

[PressurePros 248]

I'm kinda tired of arguing this week, Rick. I mean no disrespect to you but we do things differently.

[bigchaz 157]

Again, different business model here. I'd rather spend the money on the plastic and market the dog and pony show of putting it up. One guy is sanding the other is putting up plastic then its fast spray which can get caught by even a small breeze. Its cool to hear the different ways we all do things.

Guess for me it depends on the customer. Since i'm still on all the sites I can be flexible with this, might not work for most. If a customer is scared up and down about stain on their house and wanting everything covered, ill sell them on the fact that we put plastic up and tape and tarp everything. If that customer is home, Ill put up plastic. If the customer doesn't mention anything about masking, I just stain as usual and there is no stain on the house either way.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Yup. Too many waste time and money on plastic prepping. Its not needed, necessary, or a sign of good work. At least for simple decks.

All staining takes is a little common sense, experience with an HLVP sprayer, and some care in application. Anything else is just fluff for an at home customer, or gee wiz inexperience.

Masking is NEVER a waste of time. Customers appreciate it, ours expect it, and the time saved on clean up makes it worth it. One gust of wind is all it takes to have to spend an hour scrubbing off the side of a non-masked house. And that deck, will be the one you do in redwood, on very light vinyl!

Mask, mask, mask!

Beth :cup:

[plainpainter 217]

I was training my nephew on a big deck job - and because of equipment being repaired, I decided to teach him old school by brushing everything out. And let me tell you - it ain't hard to flick a brush accidently and deposit stain all over the siding even with a brush.

I probably wasted more time with a rag soaked with VM&P cleaning up after myself and my nephew - then had I just plastic tarped the whole side of the house and just when to town. Screw the HVLP - when you tarp everything you can go to 'town' with an airless.

Although in the right hands masonite boards do work well. I'd like to watch Scott Paul for a day and see how he stains so much.

And this is all goes back to different business models. If you are a 'craftsman' looking to make a day's pay - that's one thing, you can bring all your expertise to every job. If you are an entrepreneur {yet knows how to stain} and would rather be in the office and making house calls and booking jobs - you need a 'system' in place that is easily trainable to a new crew every year. It's easy to forget how hard staining is - ever watch a homeowner try this? They get more stain in places where it shouldn't be than the actual wood they are staining - and 90% of most guys/gals are no different. If putting tarps everywhere lends itself to a succesful business model in which you don't have to rely on having qualified technicians - then that's good business sense.

In interior painting - I can cut the meanest 'line' in the business - yet I have never found anyone that comes close to my skills. So if I could find a gizmo that yielded 85% of my results in the hands of an incompetent - you can bet I would adopt that for my business.

[RPetry 564]

I'm kinda tired of arguing this week, Rick. I mean no disrespect to you but we do things differently.

Ken,

No argument here. There are a bunch of different ways to skin a cat.

I am generally in the field most days either doing work, estimates, or training my help. I can keep an eye on operations and work quality.

I have just found over the years that masking with plastic is a waste of materials, time, and money.

Of course, even with an adjustable HLVP, we do get stain drops on siding, even when "cutting in" with a brush. Either a quick wipe with a paper towel, or if the stain has dried, Simple Green, scrub brush, and a paper towel make short work of clean up.

I just find our method of operation more efficient.

Masking is NEVER a waste of time. Customers appreciate it, ours expect it, and the time saved on clean up makes it worth it. One gust of wind is all it takes to have to spend an hour scrubbing off the side of a non-masked house. And that deck, will be the one you do in redwood, on very light vinyl!

Mask, mask, mask!

Beth :cup:

Beth,

I have never, in 9 years, ever had a customer ask me if we mask the house. Mind you, most of our business comes from referrals or the web site.

We do use plastic sheeting occasionally. Only for patios or stone underneath an overhanging deck.

We do not use airless sprayers. Only HVLP equipment designed to apply wood stains.