oceanjunkie 14 Report post Posted May 4, 2011 I did a bunch of research here and elsewhere before staining our newly built cedar deck, so first thanks for all the contributors to the site for the helpful info. Now onto my issue.... I'm located in Long Island, NY. We had the deck built in Feb. It finally warmed up around here so I sprayed down the deck with water, then oxiclean (3 scoops into 3 gallons of water), let it sit for about 10 min, and then scrubbed the deck down with a stiff nylon deck brush. When I was scrubbing there was definitely some wood pulp coming up, which I assumed was normal for new wood. I let the deck dry for 4 days. When it was totally dry I noticed that there was furring between some of the grains....I assumed this was normal too so I left it there. I put down 2 coats of ReadySeal light brown (1hr between coats). It looked pretty awesome but there were some splotches throughout the whole thing. It's been 3 days and the splotches are still there. I tried scraping at one with my fingernail and I am able to scrape up some gooey material (pulp + stain???) and the underlying wood is light colored compared to the surrounding wood. Overall the deck looks pretty good so I'm not worried about the aesthetics, instead I'm more concerned about people getting this gooey stain on the bottoms of their shoes and tracking it around the house. It doesn't feel tacky to the touch, but if it is scraped at it comes up. If I leave it alone will it eventually dry out or is it something I need to address? And if I need to address it, what course of action should I take? And lastly, did I make an obvious error that caused this to happen in the first place? Thanks in advance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James 625 Report post Posted May 4, 2011 (edited) On new cedar less than 6 months old i would not use a pre-carb cleaner and do not. It raises the grain and scrubbing it will raise the grain more. 6 month old cedar will not take 2 coats of Ready Seal . It will take one coat. The wood has to be a year old before it can take two. On new cedar like yours a bleach solution works much better to kill the mildew and just a rinse with a garden hose as not to affect the surface of the wood because removing this surface will allow less oil to penetrate. Fixing your problem- Ready Seal doesn't get sticky but you over applied the product . After a couple of rain storms the oil on top should wash away or you can wipe it down with mineral spirits. Note- you didn't read any of my post for cedar! lol Edited May 4, 2011 by James 1 Doug Black reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oceanjunkie 14 Report post Posted May 4, 2011 Thanks for the reply James. There is an overwhelming amount of information out there on the best way to prep and stain a deck (most of it conflicting). I may not have seen your posts on new cedar during my searches, or maybe I did but they were followed by people saying not to use bleach. Oh well. At least it sounds like this issue should take care of itself for now...... I'll try and get it right next year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James 625 Report post Posted May 4, 2011 But , those people are wrong and I am the Ready Seal Guru....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oceanjunkie 14 Report post Posted May 4, 2011 haha. Noted. Thanks again. I may try to clean up some of the worse areas with mineral spirits this weekend and then just let mother nature take care of the rest. So next year when I go to reapply what do you suggest? Prep with bleach or percarb? Scrub or just rinse? 1 or 2 coats of ReadySeal? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
big mike 14 Report post Posted May 6, 2011 But , those people are wrong and I am the Ready Seal Guru....... Yeah, you're a Guru alright. If you can get hold of an Osborne brush and a Makita, you can fix that. Jim is right. New cedar will only take one coat, and sometimes not real well. I like to use clear for the first year coat, then follow with cedar color for maintenance. You can't hide the furring, and some will wear away and some won't. It will need to be fixed eventually, and will require physical agitation of some sort. Next year here's what WE would do: Wash the deck lightly with a dilute bleach mixture (for specifics do some research). Let dry and remove that furring (again, research) Apply 1 coat for maintenance. We usually only do 2 coats on newly stripped and neutralized decks to drive the color as deep as possible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oceanjunkie 14 Report post Posted May 6, 2011 Awesome. Thanks again guys. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
