Deck cleaned and sealed

[TNRoofCleaner 16]

Here is a deck we finished today. Nothing spectacular except for the change from old to new. We also cleaned the roof and gutters on this home.

[Adrian 155]

Looks great Pat. What did you stain it with?

[bigchaz 157]

Looks great man, what stain?

[PressurePros 249]

I think that is just cleaned, yes? That is the tone I look for after washing.. not too bleached out. Nice job.

[TNRoofCleaner 16]

I used Bakers Super Cedar. I forgot to take the pics after the cleaning. This was very old wood that had not been sealed at all, ever. Probably 12+ years old. That crud was about 1/16" thick on top of the boards. I had to wash it first so the precarb could get to the wood.

Homeowner was so happy with the way it looked clean she went out and got paint and sprayed the patio furniture this weekend so it would not look bad against the new deck look.

Ken I think it is just the way the sun was hitting the wood.

The best part is she is putting out some of my cards at the bank she works in. She has been bragging to them about how clean the roof was and now she can show them the deck. I am emailing her the before and afters.

[RPetry 564]

Nice job Pat, that Baker's color looks real good on PT. Got my first mahogany job from my bank exec. when opening up a business account many years ago.

[PressurePros 249]

Oh okay, now that I am looking at it again.. sorry about that. Now I am going to critique you a bit. You have lap lines under your rails. If you do your rails first, you have to mask the floor. Did you use one coat or two on the horizontals?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Oh okay, now that I am looking at it again.. sorry about that. Now I am going to critique you a bit. You have lap lines under your rails. If you do your rails first, you have to mask the floor. Did you use one coat or two on the horizontals?

No you don't...who told you that, the railing fairy? (just don't be sloppy and lazy) Looks more like cutting in lines to me. Don't cut in when you do your rails.

Feather out the drips if any.

Beth :cup:

[PressurePros 249]

Beth, with Baker's you have to apply heavy. It is impossible to not drip as it has very low viscosity. It also tends to flash dry on a hot deck. I've eliminated the issue by doing the deck floors first but we use to just throw down a tarp. Most guys will do rails and then just brush out underneath (or cut them in). That's okay if you are not in direct sun or are very fast.

Edited August 25, 2009 by PressurePros

[TNRoofCleaner 16]

Actually that stain was still wet from spraying the outside of the railings. It was taken less than 5 minutes after I sprayed the outside of the railings. 2 coats on the horizontals. I will have to be sure and check on that Friday to see how it looks.

[plainpainter 217]

Beth tarping underneath railings or not is a function of how long the floors will go before getting stained. If you are going to brush railings and hours will go by before staining the floors - you have to tarp. I taught my nephew how to brush - we used 5 and 6 inch staining brushes - and if I didn't tarp, there would be tons of drops everywhere.

Now if I ever get my airless back - that's a different story. As long as all the sides of the home are tarped and I have my tarp covering one side of my railings - I can spray miles of railings without having to tarp the floor - as it won't be long before I spray out the floors.

I learned last year - after using a locally produced stain - that if you stain all the railings and let overspray hit the floorboards - you've done half your job of staining floors - so that leveraged time. And just a quick light spray in the middle areas. And the floor boards were good to go with a second more saturating coat for a more even finish.

[RPetry 564]

Beth, with Baker's you have to apply heavy. It is impossible to not drip as it has very low viscosity. It also tends to flash dry on a hot deck. I've eliminated the issue by doing the deck floors first but we use to just throw down a tarp. Most guys will do rails and then just brush out underneath (or cut them in). That's okay if you are not in direct sun or are very fast.

Ken,

We have never used Baker's, but isn't it a paraffin oil based stain, without any linseed? If so, how does it "flash"? And even if it does "flash" for the moment, doesn't it just even out after a few hours? Does it "lap" like traditional linseed oil stains?

Kind of curious, if so, compared to other paraffin oil stains.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

You sooooo do not have to tarp the floors. We don't. It's a matter of technique. I have sealed many a deck and never tarped a floor, unless the floor was not being done at all.

Beth

[PressurePros 249]

Beth you can stain a rail system, with nothing to catch drips or runoff and not get any on the floor? Put me on the list to buy that manual as soon as you get it to print!

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Never said you wouldn't get some on the floor, just not enough to make it worth tarping. And if you deal with it ...it is not an issue. Blend baby, blend... No offense.... ;)

Beth

[TNRoofCleaner 16]

Now I am going to critique you a bit.

Critiqueing can do nothing but force me to get better by pointing out the flaws. That's how you learn.

Thanks.

[plainpainter 217]

Beth - you use an airless, correct? You don't need to tarp when using an airless. But if you are sloshing on stain with 6 inch brushes and getting tons of stain on the deck - you better use tarping. Again - I don't think you hand brush all your railings, I had to do that because my airless was in the shop - A.C. on a hot day just dribbles everywhere.

[JFife 14]

Beth - you use an airless, correct? You don't need to tarp when using an airless. But if you are sloshing on stain with 6 inch brushes and getting tons of stain on the deck - you better use tarping. Again - I don't think you hand brush all your railings, I had to do that because my airless was in the shop - A.C. on a hot day just dribbles everywhere.

I'm with BNR, we never mask floors. Spraying with airless. I've always said, brushing is by far the sloppiest way to stain IMO. Those giant drops don't blend easily. If brushing, I'd def use a dropcloth under the rails.

TN: I saw the brush-in line as well....in the future with Bakers/TWP, if you get an area like that, just scrub it down with some thinner/spirits. If you ever get shiny spots, scrub across them, or scuff-walk across them. Anything that will rub that surface sheen off.

[TNRoofCleaner 16]

Thanks for the tip. I will see on Friday if it is still there because that was the last thing I sprayed the outside of the rails and then pulled the tarp and took the picture.

[lesterj2 14]

thats a real nice job you did there...

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Beth - you use an airless, correct? You don't need to tarp when using an airless. But if you are sloshing on stain with 6 inch brushes and getting tons of stain on the deck - you better use tarping. Again - I don't think you hand brush all your railings, I had to do that because my airless was in the shop - A.C. on a hot day just dribbles everywhere.

We spray and back brush. Spray on, work in, the brush person is right behind the spray person, not an issue.

Beth :cup:

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

thats a real nice job you did there...

Welcome to TGS, please go to your My Controls and add your signature...

Beth

[plainpainter 217]

We spray and back brush. Spray on, work in, the brush person is right behind the spray person, not an issue.

Beth :cup:

I totally agree - I am just saying if you get caught like me with your pants down, a.k.a. no sprayer available, and you have to resort to brushing - I line the underside of the railings with cardboard. That's how my nephew and I have been doing things - he's on one side of the railing, I am on the other and we're both attacking it with 6" stain brushes. Not the most efficient way of doing things - but I'd definitely not put a tarp under if doing this technique.

Again - every time I sprayed - the overspray actually always helped get the ball rolling with getting stain on the deck. Two years ago I learned this while putting down a very thinned product California's Storm stain - I ended up overspraying the entire decking from when I was spraying the outsides of the railings with overspray getting all over the decking {small 12x12 deck}

This actually helped with saturation - as it settled and made for a better final appearance with the second coat sprayed on the decking.

[PressurePros 249]

Its definitely about technique, I agree. We saturate rails to the point of dripping along with rapid backbrushing. Baker's is a very quick and deep penetrating sealer. My rule of thumb is not to skim on sealer.. give the wood as much oil as it can take. Ultimately, the rails could be two coated to avoid that dripping. That is more time consuming and has negligible visible results versus the one heavy coat (on rails). I knew I was wasting stain early on with this technique by letting a tarp catch the extra. This is why I changed technique to staining the floor first. Flash drying and pigment concentrating is eliminated so we no longer tarp. The stain that hits the floor is then brushed out to even the coating on the floor that will not be hit when the floor is given its final finish via 18" brush.

[RPetry 564]

... My rule of thumb is not to skim on sealer.. give the wood as much oil as it can take. ...

+10. The wood tells you what it needs. Many jobs need a lot.

[plainpainter 217]

I've been on some decks that could have used 3 coats of stain, even A.C. semisolid. But there is a point where I stop - customer pays for two coats, that is what they get. I'll slosh on two really heavy coats to drench wood, if I have to. But it stops at 2 coats.