Possible problem

[Bailey Property Service 14]

I have a customer that is redoing a ground level screen porch. All the screens and framing were removed so I decided to strip the wood inside while they were down.

Floor is Douglas Fir. It had at least three layers of Sikkens SRD on it. Lets just say it wasn't fun.

I did a test spot with full strength HD-80. Over an hour dwell and the last layer still wouldn't completely come off. I could tell this wood was going to fur badly.

Boosted the stripper and all but pieces here and there came off. The floor looked like a 70's shag rug but it was stripped.

I went back today to Defur. When I sanded any spots where the stain remained they came out a lot lighter than the wood the stripper contacted.

Is this normal and am i going to see those spots after I seal? Im just wondering if Im going to have to do a lot of sanding to get it more uniform.

Any input appreciated. Oh yeah I did neutralize.

Thanks.

Lee

P.S. What would you seal it with.

Edited August 9, 2012 by Bailey Property Service

[AAPaint 14]

You may not have had a strong enough mix or dwell time on your brightener to completely lighten the areas that were stripped. Sometimes you have to mix it a little stronger and/or let it dwell longer to brighten properly. Especially if your stripper was extra strong. If it's blotchy now, it will be blotchy after you stain using a semi-trans.

[bigchaz 157]

Did you sand the entire deck or just spot sand?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Adam is on the right track with his questions.

Sikkens, when stripping, we found that if you brush it during the applications process (soft bristle truck wash type-yellow), it helps to remove layers instead of waiting for the stripper to penetrate.

It goes much faster this way and gets more even results.

[John T 744]

3 layers of Sikkens sounds like a real pain to strip. We had to sand a few decks over the years with Sikkens stain on them. We also had to use a defelting pad as well because of the furring we got on a few of these. I hate Sikkens stain.

[Bailey Property Service 14]

I did sand the whole deck. The deck is uniform except for where the were small pieces of Sikkens that did not come off. When I sanded the spots that had the sealer still there came out much lighter than the rest.It looked like new wood.

When I neutralized I used 8oz to the gallon of Citralic. Was this not strong enough? I thought that was full strength.

[Bailey Property Service 14]

Me too. Unfortunately there are lots of decks here with it on them.

[Bailey Property Service 14]

Now that I think about it I'm not sure the bottom layers were not urethane. Home owner said he remembered putting two coats of SRD on.

[bigchaz 157]

See if you can get a picture up of the spots. Normally spots underneath stain are the darker ones where it wasn't fully neutralized but you have the opposite problem. I would rebrighten to be safe though now that all the wood is clear.

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[NAPWO 21]

What grit sandpaper did you use? A fine grit could have closed up the pores some providing a slightly different look. It is recommended to use 80 grit when sanding.

[Bailey Property Service 14]

60 grit

[Bailey Property Service 14]

Charlie that worked. Thanks.

Lee