Another day of rain!

[DCOutdoors 14]

The situation: Sunny and warm in the morning, rain and thunderstorms every afternoon, and high humidity in both. What would be the best choice of stain when the wood hasvery little time to dry? As I am a bit anal about reputation, I would rather clean it now and go back in a couple of months to lightly reclean and stain! It locks in the customer and lets them know I want it done right.

To much rambling so back to the original question... Is there a quality stain or sealer that will work in a case like this?

Thanks in advance

David Crockett

[bigchaz 157]

No customer is going to be thrilled about waiting months. It cant rain every single day, you just have to be ready to work the second wood is dry. We use oil based stain like Armstrong Clark, as long as we stain dry wood it can take a rain within an hour and still be fine. So even if it rains overnight after we finish it is OK. Also can try running fans to dry the wood out quicker

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[DCOutdoors 14]

It cant rain every single day

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Ha-ha... check out the weather channel on your computer for Panama City Beach, FL... we haven't had a ful day of sun (except today - so far - they are calling for thunderstorms late this afternoon and tonight). Anyway, if I clean one morning and it rains that night, and we are warm (hot) and dry the next morning, do you think the wood (say pt wood) would be dry enough to stain by noon? This is hypothetical as I don't have a job yet but I would rather look dumb here!

Thanks - David

[seymore 90]

Welcome to the world of wood restoration!

What stain are you trying to use now?

[Jason Reider 25]

I use Ready Seal a good bit and have never had any issues if it rained later in the day.

[bigchaz 157]

Yea sometimes if it is hot enough the wood dries pretty quick. Some older PT will hold lots of moisture and take longer to dry. Get a moisture meter and you can check the moisture content of the wood. Ideally a day of drying time is best but in the summer when it was 100 degrees out, I honestly had decks practically dry enough to stain by the time we finished rolling up the pressure washing hoses!

[DCOutdoors 14]

I don't know if you heard; EnviroSpec gave a pressure washing system to a retired vet... well, I am that vet so am fairly new at all of this. While I have studied all of your comments for months, now that I actually am set up, I need to step out. I said all of that to say this: I am not commited to one stain over another though I intended to use Ready Seal. I was concerned about the moisture due to so much rain but it sounds like I can get away with it. While I haven't bought it yet, I know Lowes has a moisture meter for $50 and I intend to get one. I love wood when it is done right so it seems a natural way to go (I'll do about anything to get started though).

I appreciate all of your cpmments and will gladly listen to as much instruction and thoughts you would care to share.

Thanks - David

[DCOutdoors 14]

By the way... John at EnviroSpec wants to put 11 more out of work vets into business at no cost to them! I can vouch for the fact that there are no strings attached, no contracts, nothing. He just wants to help. So, if you happen to know any out of work vets that want to work... either let John at EnviroSpec or myself know (I can only pass it on). You would be doing that veteran a huge favor.

[seymore 90]

I don't know if you heard; EnviroSpec gave a pressure washing system to a retired vet... well, I am that vet so am fairly new at all of this. While I have studied all of your comments for months, now that I actually am set up, I need to step out. I said all of that to say this: I am not commited to one stain over another though I intended to use Ready Seal. I was concerned about the moisture due to so much rain but it sounds like I can get away with it. While I haven't bought it yet, I know Lowes has a moisture meter for $50 and I intend to get one. I love wood when it is done right so it seems a natural way to go (I'll do about anything to get started though).

I appreciate all of your cpmments and will gladly listen to as much instruction and thoughts you would care to share.

Thanks - David

I would say use a stain that you have good access to with a good track record for reliability. You need to talk to Adam AAPaint who is also from Fla.I think he's also dealing with the rain issues with wood restoration.

I would stay away from one day stains (stains you use same day you clean) I haven't heard of a good stain to use on wet wood. If the deck is old enough and gets 100% sun should be dry in 5-6 hours. If you want to be safe the moisture meter is the way to go.

I'm lucky here in Texas we very seldom have a real wet season it's usually pretty dry here for the most part.

[DCOutdoors 14]

I would say use a stain that you have good access to with a good track record for reliability. You need to talk to Adam AAPaint who is also from Fla.I think he's also dealing with the rain issues with wood restoration.

I would stay away from one day stains (stains you use same day you clean) I haven't heard of a good stain to use on wet wood. If the deck is old enough and gets 100% sun should be dry in 5-6 hours. If you want to be safe the moisture meter is the way to go.

I'm lucky here in Texas we very seldom have a real wet season it's usually pretty dry here for the most part.

Thanks. We have the standards: Cabot, TWP, Flood, Olympic, etc that you find in the big box stores. Then there's Sherman Williams, Benjimen Moore, and Porters. I have never heard of anyone who used Porters! Of course there's Thompsons but I've done enough reading to know better than that one! There may be others, I just don't remember.

Of those, is there a best or at least a not so bad choice?

[James 625]

What I have done is put down one lite coat of ready seal during rainy periods .This allows no more moisture to get in and the moisture in the wood to escape. Then go back when you can to finish. I have done some other crazy things that go against all wood logic that have worked.

[AAPaint 14]

The only thing I know to do is wait it out. Here in FL you can get away with one good full day of hot sun to dry out the wood, especially on vertical surfaces. If you're doing something in the shade where it stays moist, I would double check with a moisture meter to make sure you are good to go.

This year has been the worst for rain though. It's put us back on a lot of work, meaning you don't get paid for a while, so hopefully you are doing other stuff while you wait. Usually FL has 300 days a year of sunny weather (Jax does anyway), but we've had record rainfalls, record floods, and all kinds of stuff this year. We broke 100 year flood levels in some areas, so it's been tough, but it's finally drying out now. The good thing is, although we lost a lot of summer to rain, we can stain all year round here.