Behr disaster on cedar deck

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

This deck is still young, only a few years old. The problem is, the homeowner hired a contractor to care for it, and had them put Behr on the deck. After the deck turned black and splotchy, both a prior contractor and the owner tried to blast the deck with high pressure to remove the Behr. Needless to say, this deck is severely gouged, lots of raised grain as well as splintering and cracking that looks more advanced than it should. We are stipping this deck, then we will be sanding the deck to bring the boards back to smooth in order to correct the damage done with high pressure. Then we will be sealing it.

Beth

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

And a couple of the wash shots...

Beth

[johnson 14]

Beth

I assume that you used HD80, did you need to add boost?

Looks like it melted that Behr real good. Sometimes I have trouble getting

it all off the rails in one shot.

Gary

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

We did use HD-80 and citralic on this deck. We never need Boost against a Behr deck. Behr removes easily with HD-80.

Beth

[PressurePros 249]

Same here on the removing Behr. I rarely have to go above 8 oz per gallon and that is when the sealer is relatively fresh. Any homeowner glancing at this thread.. Don't use any products from the big box stores, they all stink.

Beth/Rod, fantastic job. I can envision that deck all restored. The homeowner is lucky to have you on site.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Gary,

Keep applying in a methodical manner until you see the color change to dark or black.

The scratch test is another technique to determine the strippers progress that we use.

What was disturbing about this particular deck is that the wood was so badly beaten up by the person who pressure washed it that most of the spindles looked like they had a rake run through them the gouges were so deep.

Rod~

[Pams Pressure & Clean 64]

Good work..

Are the spindles worth saving or are you going to replace them?

[Barry M 73]

Looks awesome guys, what are you sealing it with?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

The owner only elected the stripping, sanding, and sealing. Maybe on the next go round he'll do the spindals. This time it was not in the budget. Shame...

Beth :cup:

[Aplus 525]

It always amazes me when someone tears up a deck that bad. It's not like you can't see what's going on......

And gee, do all homeowner grade p/w come only with a 0 tip?

[seymore 90]

Very Nice job Beth& Rod :cool: I know that's one happy homeowner huh!! :D

That has the looks of a deck that was sealed and not cleaned and washed properly.I think that's the main cause of a deck turning dark or blotchy.Well it didn't help that they used such a top quality stain in the first place huh..:rolleyes:

Tony you are not kidding about that 0 tip!I'll have to dig up a pic i took of this handrail you would swear this homeowner was trying to write his name on it!

[tropical wave 22]

Looks good Beth n Rod..... Not to hijack here, but to respond to Tony and Shane, we got called to fix this homeowner attempt at PW'ing his deck..... didnt get the job since he told me that he already cleaned the deck and only needed it stained....yikes...... needless to say I bid it thru the roof !!

[Aplus 525]

If he wanted it recoated with solid, I would have done it, afterall his money was on the table. Just make sure to note on the estimate there is no guarantee on homeowner washed deck.

[PressurePros 249]

Mike, what are ya trying to say? That isn't clean? I'm not sure if the guy used a machine or a putty knife though.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Michael,

No problem! :)

Cool picture.

Beth

[tropical wave 22]

He told me he already powerwashed his deck, thats what I found when we got there.....he did a bang up job cleaning it, dont ya think? There are other pics where it looks like he used a grinder on it....poor wood.

The deck would have been happier getting set on fire....

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Here are the shots of the rest of the job. The first batch is after sanding.

Beth

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

And here it is sealed.....

Beth

[Degraffreed 21]

Beth, Why ATO and not WTWWHG?

[Degraffreed 21]

Also Beth, In the earlier post in reference to "types of stains used"

You mentioned CAbots brand and you also stated that you like the problems solver primer.Do you use the primer for prep work before applying thier solid stains? I saw a video in the local ACE store and it was demonstrating the Cabots line of products. Just curious to why you would have to use a primer?

[Celeste 341]

What a beautiful job! Excellent work guys :)

Celeste

[Degraffreed 21]

Why can I not get onto the wood chat this evening?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Chat module is a little buggy from the upgrade.

[tropical wave 22]

Looks really sharp......outstanding job guys!!!

How much sanding did it take, the whole thing?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Yep.... one full day to sand that sucker....

Customer wanted a light color to highlight the cedar.

Personally we thought the deck turned out great. He loved it sanded. We applied the sealer and he says it is too light, and seems to want a build up of the finish...which is not what this is supposed to be. He's not being real pleasant. I'll leave it at that. He actually said he expected it to be perfect. To me this says he will never, ever, be happy.

Beth

p.s. Jaycam - We use the Cabot's problem solver primer as directed before using the Cabot's solid stains. Why ATO? Client had three options, and went with this one.

[JFife 14]

Beth/rod,

Looks great as always. Sorry about the customer. I've been entertaining the idea of creating an organization for the LH industry that would basically be the "opposite" of the BBB. There are few enough people that do the work and do it right, and it would be nice to be able to have a database of bad customers, because they are plenty.

When you say sanded, do you mean buffed or actually orbital sanded??

Another thing, on the first finished pic of the floor, the knot area has the dreaded "light" look in some spots. Does it still appear that way once dried, or does it go away?? You know as well as I the solution is the second coat, but then that changes the whole theory behind maintenance services. Thouhts??