Furring & Wood type

[Gavin 14]

I was reading through some older posts on furring and Paul and mentioned that furring (at least one of the causes) is directly related to sun/uv exposure. I'm currently working on a home that has a covered front porch made of Cedar and an exposed rear deck made of Redwood. I've been using Gemini's Injectible SafeStrip (which works really well, by the way). Most of the decks I come across here in Colorado have pretty bad UV damage so stripping is usually a cinch. I stripped both the porch and the back deck a day apart from each other. The covered front porch furred REALLY bad and hardly gets any exposure. The back deck gets full exposure most of the day and really didn't furr at all except for a few spindles which were easily sanded. So that leads me to my question......Does Cedar furr worse than Redwood? I know it's softer and that may be the reason but curious to hear other opinions since I really don't work with Cedar at all. Could it be that the covered Cedar stayed "newer" longer? Thanks for your input!

Gavin

[svp07 14]

The information we all need to know is how much pressure did you clean with? Are you reducing your PSI at the tip?

[Gavin 14]

The pressure is not the issue. However, I did use less pressure than I normally use on Redwood. I always let the chemicals do the work, not the pressure. As I said, stripping here in Colorado is very easy. With excesive UV damage, in part caused from the high and dry altitude, high pressure is just not needed for stripping.

[svp07 14]

I cleaned a red wood deck that has full sun for about 7 hours with the chems sold here. I used the m5 x-jet which gives me 500 psi at the tip (the nozzle was also set to the fan pattern)...no furring.

[Gavin 14]

the porch is what furred.....it is Cedar not Redwood.

[reed 500]

Gavin,

Sometimes a stripper when mixed "hot", that is really strong, can release some of the surface fibers and no matter how little pressure is used, the cedar will fur up. I pretty much count on defurring the cedar I do here when I have to do a heavy strip, but I can get some furring even when using EFC38 or another percarb. Cedar can be really finicky on releasing surface fibers. Redwood being more tightly bound in the wood fibers will not fur as much. If you encounter a really old cedar deck get ready for the "furry peach" result. After you defur, you will see that the deck will look great.

Reed

[Gavin 14]

Thanks Reed. That's what I was looking for. I ordered those defurring pads from Beth & Rod so I'm hoping to make quick work of it. It's funny though, I know I'm not the only one stripping decks in this part of the country and encountering this problem but you can't find "defurring/defelting" pads anywhere. Not only can you not find them but most of my vendors (let's make that ALL of my vendors) have never even heard of them let alone sell them. I guess everyone else is sanding??? Thanks again Reed! You are the man!

Gavin

[JFife 14]

Gavin,

as an alternate to pads, try an Osborne Brush. You should be able to find some in your area. They cost about $60-80 each, but last really long (many decks). Work much better than pads, and more efficient. kinda heavy though. Do a web check, or call places in your area that sell log home care products (sashco is in Brighton, Weatherall in Castle Rock, and probably many more places).

[James 625]

Are you stripping a finish or removing weathered wood? I use a brush made for cleaning stone on my milwalky also will last many decks.

[Aplus 525]

I agree with Reed.

[reed 500]

Gavin, the only places I know that are selling the defurring pads are here and on another board. The cost is minimal compared to the result you will get after defurring. the homeowners will be pleased to be able to walk on their decks barefoot again and not worry about the wood. One hell of a great little tool to have in the arsenal.

reed

[Gavin 14]

Are you stripping a finish or removing weathered wood? I use a brush made for cleaning stone on my milwalky also will last many decks.

I'm stripping. Reed nailed it on the head about the strong chemical use. The porch is "L" shaped. On one side of the "L" stripped fairly easily. On the other side it was not the same case. I don't think it got any sun exposure at all so the original finish really "stuck". I ended up stripping that side twice and that's when the furring took place.

This leads me to another question: What do you guys do about "welcome mat" stained areas? Almost everyone has them and I'm finding it difficult to get them out to match the rest of the deck. All your input is very much appreciated! Thanks

Thanks Jon, I might give that a shot too.

Gavin

[herbie1 14]

Tell the customer that you will do your best to get this area to match as close as possible and then tell them not do place them out again.

Herb Hewlett

[paul-uk 500]

gavin....its like planters and the like thats left in the same place forever....put them back in the same place they were and explain to the customer once you have the job and you are about to clean the deck what the outcome will be..... and if they get any new pots to be sure to move them about the deck otherwise they will have the same problem next time.......this should eliminate any probs as you should be(by this stage of the sale)thier best freind or confidant.

cheers paul.

[Gavin 14]

Hi Paul,

Funny but most of my customers don't complain about the "matt shadow". I personally want to get rid of it if I can. Most of them say a mat is going right back there anyway so they don't care but I'd like to actually "restore" it if possible.....as a professional.

[reed 500]

Gav,

Most of the time you can't get the marks out. There will always be a little hint of where the mats, plants, grill gaurds, etc were.

Reed

[Gavin 14]

Thanks Reed,

That's one subject I really haven't seen talked about when it comes to resurfacing. Appreciate the input!

Gav

[paul-uk 500]

its good that things get brought back to everyones attentsion as someone will look at it from a different angle and might come up with a answer as guys from all different walks of life take up p\w and fresh input is always good.

cheers paul.

[Gavin 14]

Got the pads in and they work like a charm! Rod, thanks for the call back and the help. Reed, you once again saved my backside!

For the rest of you (Rod and Reed already know the story), I ended up defurring AFTER I sealed. Since I hadn't had a deck furr up that badly on me before I didn't realize how bad the defurring was (or atleast how evident it was) until after I sealed it. It was bad enough to where I wouldn't have been happy to leave it like that even if the fuzzies do come off naturally in 3 months or so. I was worried about the pads not taking anything off after I had sealed it and after I talked to Rod, he thought the same thing. Then Reed called and told me to give it a shot with the pads. Hooked up the Makita and went to town. The customer couldn't believe the differance and was extremely happy (even though they had not complained about the furring as I had forwarned them about it). The pad's texture is hard enough to get them off but not so hard it gouges the finish.

I am going to keep a very large supply of these things in my arsenal! Thanks Beth & Rod!

Gav

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Glad to know they worked after sealing. :groovy:

Glad we could help. We're here for you. :groovy3:

Beth & Rod

[Paul B. 523]

Most of our success in removing pot stains, grease stains and mat shadows come with the use of sodium hydroxide based stripper and pool shock.

We apply stripper, then pool shock. It may take several pool shock treatments and longer dwell time to get the job done. The big watchout is pool shock will lighten the area more than citric, citralic or oxalic acids (in my experience).

If this happens, you need to treat the entire deck with pool shock or feather it in (gets time consuming).

[CLASSICPW 14]

I've been getting more cedar than ever this year and I have to say, I despise it. Besides being bug repellant what's the deal? You spit on it and it furrs up. I've seen black stains from the nails or screws that wil never come off. I've seen chunks of wood missing because it is so soft. I love redwood, it a nice hard wood that looks great natural, but cedar, build me deck out of drywall first.