what happened?

[Chappy 138]

This is from a deck I just finished. I cleaned and brightened, waited till it was bone dry,(no rain, little dew for a week.) Sealed with DeckScapes oil based toner-redwood. Sprayed and back brushed everything. Looked great when done. This picture was taken several days later. No rain but heavy dew in mornings. Its obviously where water sat and dried. It looks horrible. will this go away?

[James 624]

No- Try some nuetral soap and a brush and hose it off. Or some mineral spirits. The problem was it didn't cure and the due came.

[Chappy 138]

Will it come back?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

I would try Jim's suggestion, then come back to check it after it dries.

Beth

[seymore 90]

That veggie oil in that Deckscapes is probally not the best oil base stain for humid Florida.You could have a pretty bad mildew problem.

[Aplus 525]

My guess is that most likely, you will need to strip and restain. I've done the wiping with mineral spirits before with a little success, but your problem looks more severe.

[Celeste 341]

HOLD UP ON STRIPPING!!!!!!!!!!

We had the same experience this past summer....same product, same color, same nasty chicken pox looking stuff everywhere. We had the Sherwin Williams rep come out....they said the product failed!!!!!!!

Next step, after you pick up replacement stain (yes, the same stuff you used) and some more mildewcide to put down. We washed the deck with (ACK!) bleach, let dwell a few minutes, scrubbed with a brush where it was tough (the woman had let this go on for 3 months before she called us back). We sprayed the mildewcide on and left. After the standard drying time, one coat of stain was applied (to which we added some more mildew additive).

Bottom line is that I think that Deckscapes had some bad mildewcide and there is a failure problem. The Sherwin Williams rep also told us that the deck was going to be prone because of the trees & water behind the house (the reason for all the mildewcide).

Sorry this got so wordy - if you have any questions, give us a call but YOU DON"T NEED TO STRIP THE DECK!

Celeste

See other thread with this issue:

http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2390

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

:cool: Mildewcide....gee....saw that listed in a post somewhere....hmmm.... ;)

Beth :groovy3:

[RyanH 14]

Neutral soap (or neutrasoap as many companies name it) is available at any janitorial supply place. Acrylic sealant manufacturers recommend using this to mop floors instead of other detergents (neutral pH).

[Chappy 138]

I'll have to wait till it warms up again, Down to the 60's today. actually had to put on a long sleeve shirt for a night job last night.

Sorry, but I just cant help digging at you northerners. it'll be 80 again next week. (yuk)

Any way Ill try the soap, then mineral spirits, then call sherwin williams if that fails.

thanks for the advice. Celeste, I may call you for more details, do you mind?

[James 624]

also try a precarb wash before stripping if other stuff fails------

make a bunch of little buckets and do a sample of each

[Celeste 341]

Jon - feel free to call.....did you get your stuff from Sherwin Williams? If so, take more pics, drag the guy out there and show him before you try to clean it off. It's just on top of the stain anyway so it will wash off. They'll blame the trees, a creek, anything they can, but mildew is mildew and that stuff is supposed to have mildewcide in it - period. It also looks better in your customer's eyes if you bring the product people out there...keep yourself looking like the professional that you are and that it was the product not you.

[Chappy 138]

I went out saturday and tried a couple things. One area I brushed with a neutral soap and rinsed off. Another area I used a efc 38 and rinsed. a third area I wiped with mineral spirits. EFC 38 worked the best. the miniral spirits did nothing. I went back this morning to look. both areas-neutral soap and efc38- look perfect when dry. the efc38 area looked like some of the stain had been stripped off. I will be going back and cleaning the whole deck with soap and I think problem will be solved.

If you look closely at the pictures. only the edges of each spot are dark. Leads me to think that it was just a problem with curing in time. probably the water lifted some stain and deposited it at edges of puddles? Any way, the home owner is cool. She was out of town the whole time, just got back the day I showed up to try to evaluate what the problem was. She understands that stuff happens and I havnt given her the bill yet. wont till its corrected.

Another problem is runs on the verticals. Some areas dripped that I did not notice and rub in. Ill be working out the runs and will have to re stain those areas.

Thanks guys, Ill post pics when all done.

[Chappy 138]

heres what happened with this deck.

I ended up putting it off for a couple of weeks due to the holidays and the weather. I went to check on it again and guess what? no spots! The stain cured itself out. Only two problems to deal with. The areass where I let it run on the verticles. also the area where I had cleaned it with efc38 was lighter than the rest of the deck. So I lightly sanded the runs, cleaned the entire deck with a light mix of efc 38 and went over with a light coat of stain.

It turned out great! however if I had let it alone while it cured for a couple of weeks I would have saved a lot of time.

Any way, alls well that ends well. She paid me and gave me more work to do.