A few questions!

[M Pearlstein 14]

I am new to wood restoration and hope some of you might be able to answer some questions. I have done extensive reading - thanks to all for posting it is really helpful - to try an avoid the basic questions. If I missed any or if there is more info out there that you think would be useful to me than please email or post a link.

THE SCENARIO:

Instead of making a practice run on my first customers deck I decided to use my brain and get creative. I went poking around a few homes where I saw backyard construction going on and low and behold at the 3rd house I found an elevated deck that had just been torn down since the homeowner is replacing it with a ground level paver patio. The contractor had no problems at all with my taking as many of the floor boards as I wanted. Problem number one solved I now had an old deck that I could work on without worrying about initial mistakes.

Next, I plan on using higher end chems since my customer base is very high end - the PW division is an add on to an existing business - but did not have time to get them and was anxious to get started. So I stopped by a local paint store and picked up some Wolmans Stipper, Cabots brightener and a few Cabot stains. I also did not haul my PW trailer to the house so I pulled out a home machine I have had for years figuring that for sure would minimize the chance of using too much pressure. And finally, I used hand spray bottles - like the kind you find inthe grocery store - to apply the chems since I am still not 100% sure if I am using pump up sprayers and if so if I should go with the backpack style. This is what I am leaning towards but chime in here if you have suggestions.

QUESTIONS:

Sorry for the intorductory ramble but I felt it was important to set the stage.

1. Can you apply too much stripper?

-if so what happens?

-if not is does this become a balancing act between increased cost of chems versus increased labor times? By this I mean if more chems = less dwell time than presumably you could get done faster and save labor.

2. When done stripping how close to the natural wood color should the boards be? I used the underside (never stained) of a different board as a comaprison? (I just rechecked them since they are dryer now and they are pretty close but I figured I'd leave the question in)

3. If anyone has used the Wolmans stripper and other products like HD-80 can you give me a comaprison in terms of time and ease of use.

4. After stripping - since I was intentionally trying diff things - all the boards are not the exact same color. I imagine this could happen on a deck as well since even though you work in small sections diff. areas of the deck are in diff condition, etc... Is it critical to get all boards to a uniform look to get a consistent color to the finish?

My very basic and non scientific results showed that the best reuslts with a moderate coating was a 20-25 minute dwell time with a light brush just before rinsing. Comments on this are absolutely welcome.

Brightener:

1. After stripping am I suppossed to wait to brighten or do it immediately to neutralize the stripping agent?

2. What should I look for in terms of visual differance after applying the brightener?

Stain/sealing:

okay so I obviously have not gotten to this step yet. I figured if I did the above today (Thursday) I would be able to apply stain this weekend (prob Sunday).

I did buy a pump sprayer made for stain and will probably take this out this weekend. I was planning on buying an airless spray gun before I did the first job since my best guess is that this will give me the most even coat (assuming it is used properly) in the least amount of time.

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this one.

Again sorry for the long post and if any of this is answered in a thread or FAQ just point me in the right direction.

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP.

Mark

[PressurePros 248]

Hey Mark,

I'll answer the questions that stuck out to me. First off, a backpack sprayer is a good way to end up with second degree burns on your back and arse. For right now stick with a 3 gallon pump up with viton seals.

There isn't really a way to apply too much stripper, but you can make the contractor products too hot. Result: excessive furring

The only commercially available stripper worth a salt is the Cabot's Problem Solver™. At $22 per gallon, it's ridiculous to use it even if it does come with the brightener. Not only that it is a gel and you are lucky to get a 100 sq ft coverage rate per gallon. Homeowner products = Homeowner results.

Color after applying sodium hydroxide based strippers? It varies, I have had cedar turn almost black if I used a hot mix. If you use oxalic acid as a brightener you will literally see the wood turn colors before your eyes. In under two minutes the color change wil be dramatic. (This is where the homeowner comes outside, oooh's ahh's, and says, "Thats the color stain I want!")

If you have properly removed all the existing sealer, when you brighten/pH balance the wood will be as uniform as it is going to get. Variations in mill, growth cut etc will still be evident but that is what gives a wooden deck it's beauty and uniqueness IMO.

Be sure you rinse, rinse and rinse again. I run through my strip process all the way through the entire deck, then when I go back and rinse I find more oils have come to the surface and will wash away. You can apply brightener immediately follwing stripper while wood is still wet. One more quick rinse and its a wrap. I have an HVLP sprayer but I often find the prep work to be tedious. If the deck is small enough and the customer wants a top rate job (ie is willing to pay for it), I will bring out three or four guys and we hand rub the sealer into the surface. I am not an expert at spraying yet, I get the ominous cloud of doom and I watch nervously as it dissipates and floats towards the neighboring property. There are others here with much more experience that can clue you in on this one.

I landed that huge job and the stripping is booked for the week of the 16th. If you want to bring a rig down I will make it worth your while.

[M Pearlstein 14]

Ken-

Thanks for the info. I'll let you know about the 16th. Right now my rig needs the heating unit fixed so let me know if you want to use warm water and I;ll try to get it done. Going to do it anyway but having a date puts a line in the sand :)

Mark

[PressurePros 248]

Ken-

Thanks for the info. I'll let you know about the 16th. Right now my rig needs the heating unit fixed so let me know if you want to use warm water and I;ll try to get it done. Going to do it anyway but having a date puts a line in the sand :)

Mark

No heat needed, it's a wood restoration job.

[M Pearlstein 14]

So here are a few pics from today. Not nearly as sexy as a full deck but since a pic is worth a thousand words maybe it will inspire some comments. I am thinking about keeping samples of these unstained to show customers the difference between a straight wash with no chems, using only a brightener and a full strip and restain.

Here is the order of wood from top to bot

Brightener only

Strip and Brighten

This board shows 2 scenarios. Wash only - strip and brighten

Weathered - not touched........yet

[seymore 90]

stain half the cleaned board to show them that it's worth it to stain the deck :cool:

[M Pearlstein 14]

Seymour-

Yup I actually have several more planks that I stripped that I am going to make sample boards from. I plan on leaving some so as I get more stains I will make more samples. I am very big on having samples to show and leave people. Put a nice label on back with the finish and that way when they look at it they see my company.

[seymore 90]

Mark,

There ya go Mark that's the way to do it :cool:

What kind of stain you going to be using?

I find people get a better feel of the stain color looking at a pic more than samples.The samples never get to weather but still gives them a good idea color tone wise tho.

I'm working on making a cd of my pics and just hand them out or mail them to potential customers.

[Washaway 64]

I landed that huge job and the stripping is booked for the week of the 16th. If you want to bring a rig down I will make it worth your while.

If only I was closer to you, I'd be there in a heart beat.

It's a shame no one on the board is close enough for me to hang out with them. I'd love to get my hands dirty with some real woodies!

[M Pearlstein 14]

No heat needed, it's a wood restoration job.

I thought I read that warm water (not hot) was better than cold on decks. Is this incorrect?

[PressurePros 248]

There are times (especially this time of year) when using warmer water probably would have made life easier. The nights have still been 40-45 degrees and the chemicals are slow to activate in the morning. With that being said, the warmer the water the more likely you are to start raising grain. It's like anything else, there is a point of diminishing returns. Setting a burner for a 25 degree rise is probably fine this time of year, but it's not neccessary. The wear and tear on the machine and the cost of fuel oil make it even more prohibitive to using heat when doing a deck.

[eads 14]

If only I was closer to you, I'd be there in a heart beat.

It's a shame no one on the board is close enough for me to hang out with them. I'd love to get my hands dirty with some real woodies!

Are there any real woodies in the orlando area?

[eads 14]

Just bringing it back to the top.