Black deck with no finish on it.

[Adrian 155]

I cleaned a customers house and RV on friday. Very good job considering that the whole house and RV were green due to mold and such. They are white again now like they should be. Sorry no pics this time.

The customer inquired about cleaning his 16x20 deck and about 15 ft of wood fence in his back yard. Well the deck was black, not green, and I have not seen this before.

I mean black. I was thinking that straight 6% or even stronger 12% may get it cleaned and he will restain the deck on his own. Am I on the right track or should I consider a deck cleaning solution. I will back off the psi on my unit to around 600-800 psi. I have cleaned decks this way before with much success. This one worries me though as I do not want to put alot into deck cleaning materials. I bid very low for him to clean it, since he is having me back to ultimately give me more money, which I really need. I want to do a good job and have plenty of 6% bleach that I can use straight or get some 12% from Pete at Sun Brite and cut down a bit.

I don't want to use a massive amount of psi to avoid damaging the wood. I just want to know if this will get the black off as I bid so low that a purchase of deck cleaning solution will decrease my profitability.

I will be cleaning it on Mon. or tues. if hurricane Dennis hasn't made it up this far by then.

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.

Adrian

[PressurePros 249]

Yeah, it should eat up the mold (and the lignin in the wood) I can understand your reluctance to spend more on proper deck cleaning chemicals, but underbidding is not a reason to half ass the job (IMO). This is not meant as any disrepect to you personally or to the guys whom swear by bleach as an effective wood cleaner. The problem is, you are new to deck restoration and you better get your dilution right or you are going to end up with an unnatural white toned and spotted deck that won't readily absorb sealer.

If you are going to use sodium hypochlorite, you should talk to Shane or Jim. They have been doing this a long time and can offer better advice on using bleach.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Adrian....

Do you know if at any time the homeowner has perhaps put Behr clear on there? We have seen severe mildew infestation like you described when Behr clear has been on the wood. If you have any doubts, or if the current owner bought it in that condition and doesn't know, then I would suggest stripping the wood or perhaps I should say using something that will clean but will strip if you have a clear on there. Pete from Sunbrite sells EFC-38, and if you don't want to strip it, then you might speak to him about the EFC-38. We have seen many, many decks like this, and what you don't want to have happen, is to get there and have a clear that has failed, but the owner didn't wash and sealed over the dirt. This is why in particular I suggest the EFC-38... it's a percarb, so will do what a "bleach" would do, in terms of killing mildew, but will remove any clear barrier you may have and not see. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Beth

[Adrian 155]

I will speak with Pete on mon am and get some efc-38 ( i trust your input). I don't think the homeowner really cares too much about it honestly, except that now he has a really beautiful house again and just wants the black off the deck. I really didn't mean to come off as sounding so cheap with the cleaning materials, it's just that I do have the bleach and thought maybe this would be an avenue to use. I explained to him that some furring could and might occur since the "black" seems so heavily caked in. The only previous info he could give me about the finish was that the deck was pressure treated wood ( which I think is the case with most decks and fences).

The deck does have a little bit of common green mold on it, but 75% of it is black.

Another concern is I don't know when he plans on staining it himself. So, when and after I clean it, there is no telling how long it will be exposed to the upcoming elements, i.e. rain and hurricane season. But I guess that is really none of my business.

I just want him to have them same joy he had after I cleaned his home and RV. That's really important to me. Plus potential referrals in his neighborhood. Plus keeping cost to a minimum of course. It should take less than a gallon of whatever cleaning material I use to cover the entire deck.

Thanks again for the help, you guys rock!!!!!

[JFife 14]

Something like this, don't even mess w/ percarb cleaner. Just use stripper in a weak solution if its an easy job, strengthen if it gets tough. Sounds like it could be Behr like Beth mentioned. Just bid a house Thursday with Behr Liquid Rawhide, and I've never seen anything this black before, and i suspect you may have the same thing.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Yeah, you could go with the EFC-38 at about 8-10 oz per gallon (12 if it is worse than I think), or something like HD-80 at about 4 oz per gallon, 6 if it's worse than I imagine.

When things fail ( we see it most with Behr clear, but have seen it in other products too) you get a uniformley black deck that just goes from bad to worse, and we have seen it hit as soon as about 3 months after the initial application. I always differentiate that from the light mildew growth you will get after a year or so in just your splash zone on your verticals. (that's just regular growth not product failure) Sometimes these are tougher strip jobs than they look to be. Do a test spot - if it doesn't clean too easily you probably have a failed sealer over dirt rather than a failed sealer that went on clean wood. Big difference...

Beth

[Pams Pressure & Clean 64]

Yup, yup, yup...what they said...

Straight bleach will ruin the deck, the clients' wallet, and your reputation..

To echo PP's statement, the combination of trying to go cheap in order to get a job, not having the experience with wood and bleach, and the present condition of the deck is a fast way to the poorhouse. It WILL come back to bite you..

[Cleveland Mobile 14]

I've run into a few decks that are black or turn black when you wash them due to the customer putting linseed oil on the wood

Andy

[big mike 14]

All of the black decks I've run into were due to failed Penofin. I believe A-plus (Tony) has posted some pics of this on another thread in the past. Try a search for Penofin and see what you come up with. At any case that deck should get stripped with Sodium Hydroxide. Do some test spots for strength and dwell time.

[Everett Abrams 501]

Jon Fife has the right answer, go right to the stripper at a diluted rate and brighten. Do not mess around as this will effectively remove everything from the surfaces and leave a more consistent result for which to stain or seal.

[CLASSICPW 14]

A black deck is my area is caused by a failed cheap clear sealer like Behr or Thompsons. I use efc-38 full strength, but there's been days when HD works better.