rain on a newly stained deck

[Jeffrey Abrams 14]

A few weeks ago we applied Cabot's timber oil on a deck that was cleaned and neutralized. Unfortunately it rained 3 hours later. Do to the rain and high humidity the deck never dried properly. We then stripped the deck twice to remove the new finish and neutralized the wood.When dry we sanded and did a water test. The water did not penetrate. Here lies the problem. What do we do to open the pores of the wood to allow the new finish to penetrate?

[seymore 90]

What kind of wood is it??

Why did you strip the new finish because it was not drying?

I know a light bleaching will open up those pores.

[PressurePros 248]

The rain should not really have had a bearing on drying time. Is it possible you over applied the product? I have had it rain one hour after laying down aussie oil with no ill effects and water beading up like a champ.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

never dried properly

I have seen Aussie Oil get tacky and sticky and take a long time to dry when over applied. Once you apply it, take a clean cloth and wipe the excess in the areas where it is sitting on top of the wood, or you can end up with tacky puddles. Requires a little more finesse to apply this stuff.

If applying this to a hardwood like ipe or teak, you can use acetone to open up the wood a little more, and apply directly afterwards.

Beth

[Jeffrey Abrams 14]

Seymore, the wood is pressure treated and about 10-14 years old. It iver a week old and the wood was still not dry. We stripped it because after it dried it was blotty wear the stain did not penetrate. Would you use a light mixture(3/1) of bleach to open the pores? Also, someone mentioned an acetone treatment? I do not know what that is, do you?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Jeff,

Hit it with either EFC-38 at 8 oz to the gallon, or HD-80 at 2 oz to the gallon, do a light wash, neutralize, then go back and apply a light coat. Bleach will not fix this problem. If you have any product that doesn't absorb, wipe it off. You will not need the acetone, you are applying to PT lumber. If it had been Ipe or Teak, yes...not PT.

We work with Aussie Oil a fair bit. Call us if you need further help.

Beth

[Everett Abrams 501]

This problem is happening all over and one of the Cabot reps stated that NJ and NY were the worst because of the reformulation. The problem is that with the changes to the solvent and the solids content that it is not the same product as before. It is harder to get the product into the wood in this climate. There have been two problems that add to this. The first is that you can not stain or seal by air temperature. You need to go by surface temperature. It can be 85 degrees outside but if the deck is in the sun the surface temperature could be 100 degrees, certainly over 85 degrees. The other is humidity. Humidity causes moisture issues as well. In these cases it could be 85 or 90 degrees but if it is as humid as it has been in the northeast the wood can "sweat" in the humidity. This moisture is in the wood cells. What these two issues will cause is flash drying, which means that the product will dry to close to the surface and not get into the wood. This leaves the sticky spots and the blotchiness that you are all referring to. From experience I have stripped the deck and brightened it and allowed it to sit for a bit and wait for cooler temperatures, this doesn't seem to apply now. What I have seen from the new timber oil is that while the surface stuff comes off there is still residual product in the wood that when reapplied it seems to compound the blotchy effect. This new formulation is certainly not as forgiving and seems to not tolerate the climate as the old product. Cabot suggests that after stripping it off to allow it to age for 6-8 weeks and redo the deck. I am aware of at least three decks with the same problems. I guess this is more reason to use a parafinic oil based product?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Everett,

Thank you for sharing this. It's wonderful and helpful information. Have noticed on Ipe it is a little touchier than it used to be, but we are not using it as much on the softwoods as on the hardwoods. Have seen it flash dry as well. Not fun. What is this likely to do to our "season" where this product is concerned? In your opinion, does this shorten the season (for this product) due to these factors?

Question, since all products had to lower VOC's, are you aware of any formula changes and how they effected some of the other oils? I know TWP has re-released in a new lower VOC, we applied it once and it went on pretty well.

Beth

[PressurePros 248]

I definitely have noticed many unpleasantries working with the new Cabot's formulation. I unfortunately was in the middle of doing a three tier project for a homeowner using Aussie Oil (a gazebo, a small deck outside a side entrance and an 1800 sf monster main deck) I used the new formulation on the main deck (all were Cedar) and the difference in color, spread rate, and color uniformity are noticeably different.