first deck

[Chappy 138]

this is my first deck. did the cleaning while on vacation in the NC Mountains. belongs to my dad. was able to clean and brighten it. but the rain kept me from sealing it. it had some type of stain from home depot on it. about 3 years old. took 3 hd80 treatments to get it off. then brightened with a Wollman product.

[Chappy 138]

Finall stopped raining long enough for dad to stain it. used cabot semi transparent- cedar. 2.5 gallons. he said it was very easy to use. brushed the whole thing.

I still take credit for the deck.

[svp07 14]

I also did my first "real" deck this past week. Not impressed with how it turned out. There was the Flood CWF seal/stain on it. I took the suggestion of using the HD-80; I also tried the EFC-38 but it did nothing. The stripper did take it off...most of it; I only stripped it once. There are areas where it looked like there were dripps, heavy coats, or a double coat applied. These I think they will have to be sanded out. After letting the stripper dwell, I washed with a #12 tip at 25 degrees; puts my machine at 500 psi leaving the pump. The deck was cedar rails and I think PT decking; the sealer came off in a pasty film. Unfortunatly I have ended up with a ridiculous amount of furring, more on the PT than the Cedar. Is this due to the previous type of sealer/stain on it? The decking has a high amount of knots and these have already started to gray....should I apply some more citralic? Any thoughts as to why there is so much furring; HD-80 mixed at 7 oz. per gallon?

[Medic442 14]

I am no expert and am just wondering... would a longer dwell time have worked better rather than three applications of stripper or would the longer dwell time have damaged the wood?

My deck looks about the same or worse. Just wonder what to do with mine.

[seymore 90]

Yes longer dwell time and keeping it wet will work better in most cases.Depending on what stain is on it you just have to take it off in layers sometimes.

I only use 100 % hydrox/soap and Oxalic,bleach for the mildew. I also mostly work on PT decking and I hardly ever get furring only on occasion.

I also never change the preasure on my machine just never staying one place to long and not to low to the wood.

[seymore 90]

Jon

That cabots semi look pretty solid looking does it still look like that or did it lighten up?

[andye629 14]

hey, i use cwf almost on a daily basis and never see drips. i use an airless sprayer and when cwf is applied it soaks into the wood. when u wash it it does have a pasty film to it. i'm wondering if they put 2 different products over each other without stripping off the 1st product. that might be why you are finding drips. as far as the burring that is caused from using to much pressure when cleaning. try contacting Bob at pressure tek and try some of his soap or stripper becouse i know that works well and you wont need as much pressure when cleaning. his stripper is the best i've seen.

[svp07 14]

the deck was stripped with HD-80 and i thought 300-400 psi was low enough?

The home owner applied the stain and the extra coats or drips are where inside corners under the rails. I dont think they brushed it out enough. The deck is red and white cedar.