I stripped Cabot's SPF!!!!!

[plainpainter 217]

AAARRRRGGGGGG!!!!!! Holy mother of God - note to self, Sherwin Williams 'Oil' based decking stain and Cabot's SPF are going to be charged at a much higher premium next year!!!! That SPF crap is brutal to strip!!! And after stripping it - I am convinced that Sherwin's oil based deckscapes must have acrylic in it as well.

With a pump up sprayer I mixed up two gallons of F-18 mixed 12oz/gallon - pretty hot mix, right? Wrong - after 3 sequential applications over an hour and half on a very moist overcast day yesterday - didn't even touch it!

Thankfully I ordered a 5'er of butyl from the chemistry store a month ago and had it on hand with some HD-80. Mixed HD-80 at full strength and amended it with butyl and extra NP-9 surfactant. Applied it once - started seeing results after 20 minutes and then re-applied a second time - and that's when it really started to lift. Still the stain was never truly emulsified - it just lifted off the wood and was a goobery mess as I was rinsing it off.

Homeowner had tried to strip and brighten themselves with the store bought stripper and couldn't get it off. 5 separate applications of stripper - and the most soapy mess of a rinse off that would just never completely rinse - the applications of F-18 that went directly into the wood I think is to blame? What an F'ing nightmare - but at least it's off. You aren't a true deck restoration specialist until you have tackled SPF. That stain is a nightmare!

It is some really tough stuff! But the way it fails - you can't maintain it at all. If they could find a way for this stuff to fail 'evenly' - this would be a great stain

[PressurePros 248]

The surfactant in HD-80 is perfect. Adding NP-9 and factoring what F-18 has in it, its not surprising you spent a long time rinsing.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Live and learn....at least you got it off.

Beth

[plainpainter 217]

Live and learn....at least you got it off.

Beth

But just barely!

[James 624]

The Temp's this time of year in New England are not conducive to stripping. If it's a difficult strip it will be more problematic .

[plainpainter 217]

Yeah - it's my last deck of the year - only have gutter work from here on out.

[acegot 14]

Just did this last week, Here is how I strip SPF, its called SANDING.

[acegot 14]

Here are finished pics. Still drying. Armstrong - Clark Cedar toner, Redwood toner w/ Rustic Brown semi (4-1-1)

Edited November 5, 2009 by acegot
typo

[RPetry 564]

Lyle,

That sanded redwood is just gorgeous. I love the look of western red cedar, but redwood is even better. Wish we had more than a handful of redwood jobs here in NJ.

Nice work.

[acegot 14]

Thanks Rick, I love our Redwood!

[Chappy 138]

you didnt do the pergola?

[acegot 14]

you didnt do the pergola?

They might have ponied up the money, but there wasnt much time, A neighbor (whose deck I did) referred them on Thurs. re-worked my schedule to start on Tues. & have 3 hrs repair on other end of deck by spa, sanded, washed, dried & sealed to have ready to use Sat. afternoon for a Halloween party! Luckily it was in the upper 70's so the stain dried quickly.

[plainpainter 217]

I finished up this deck yesterday and found out some interesting tidbits from this lady. The guys who did her deck were former employees of cabot stains and had this whole deck restoration business based on their products - they went out of business, and one guy is working for a dry cleaner. The lady tells me she wants to kill the guy. They applied two coats of SPF to this deck, the latter being a 'maintenance' job. A.C. clark cedar toner looks so sweet on this deck now.

[acegot 14]

Interesting Daniel, it's amazing those guys would choose that Cabot's product. The REAL WORLD taught those guys a lesson on deck restoration.

[Richard 17]

I used the SPF 48 ,once, a few years ago.

What a NIGHTMARE. I had to strip it off the next spring. Sand,sand and more sanding.

[acegot 14]

You know what SPF stands for? Severe - Product - Failure !

[plainpainter 217]

SPF I think stands for job security. They must do all that lab 'aging' and it must favor SPF like gang busters. I guess you can't infer everything from the lab.

[acegot 14]

Have another SPF to sand this spring.

Just did this last week, Here is how I strip SPF, its called SANDING.

[bigchaz 157]

I'll tell you what either Dan has a much better formula than me or a lot more patience...haha I called him about an SPF job we ran into this summer tried everything I had but still ended up having to walk away. Props to Dan i think the only one to get that garbage off chemically

[acegot 14]

I think the only way to strip is with strong HD 80 with np-9 & butyl added or potassium hydroxide. With the right equipment, sanding on flats can be pretty fast.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Deck stripping can be a real challenge. When done well it is very rewarding. Done poorly and it is a disaster and can eat all of your profit in a heartbeat.

Beth

[Chappy 138]

cabots Problem Solver works very well on SPF. Is good when a company recognizes a problem of its own making then makes a buck by inventing a solver.

[Doug Black 18]

cabots Problem Solver works very well on SPF. Is good when a company recognizes a problem of its own making then makes a buck by inventing a solver.

As a stripper? Is this the same product?: http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=19029001

It looks more like a general cleaner.

This says it is a cleaner? http://paint-and-supplies.hardwarestore.com/50-270-general-cleaners/cabot-problem-solver-wood-cleaner-284794.aspx

[bigchaz 157]

Doug, the problem solver name is the overarching product name and they have a wood cleaner, stripper and brightener in that set. The cleaner is basically bleach, nothing special just a huge markup.

[bigchaz 157]

Deck stripping can be a real challenge. When done well it is very rewarding. Done poorly and it is a disaster and can eat all of your profit in a heartbeat.

Beth

Theres deck stripping and then theres SPF....I'll strip decks all day long....SPF jobs need a gas can and a lighter

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

We stripped a HUGE deck... the last one of the season.... it was coated in an acrylic (BRIGHT RED) and very, very well intact. We got it off. The new owners were thrilled, since they were not very attached to that color when they bought the house.

Beth