Hail Damage on Ready Seal?????

[Tim Smith 14]

For all you wood experts & whoever else has an opinion.....

I seal a deck about a year ago with ready seal (cedar deck). Looked great when finish and looked great a year later. Then we had a hail storm. The hail didn't damage the wood at all, but left spots on the flat surfaces. You can see circles (light spots) all over the floor, steps, and top of rails - where the hail sit on the deck.

My questions:

Anybody ever had this happen?

Whats in the hail that will basically strip the sealant?

How would you fix it?

[SLHC 14]

Is this your deck,if so i would call insurance and have them pay for it.

Not exactly sure what could have happened without seeing some pictures.Are there dents in the wood?

Worst case scenario,clean,maybe sand and re-coat.

Johny

[seymore 90]

For all you wood experts & whoever else has an opinion.....

I seal a deck about a year ago with ready seal (cedar deck). Looked great when finish and looked great a year later. Then we had a hail storm. The hail didn't damage the wood at all, but left spots on the flat surfaces. You can see circles (light spots) all over the floor, steps, and top of rails - where the hail sit on the deck.

My questions:

Anybody ever had this happen?

Whats in the hail that will basically strip the sealant?

How would you fix it?

Tim,here is another thread on another site that involved hail damage

http://www.deckcare.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1880&highlight=hail+damage

[big mike 14]

Tim,

I worked with alot of hail stuff at the end of last year. I'm not certain what causes the spotting, but I do have a couple of theories on the subject. First, Reed is correct that sanding doesn't take care of the dents, it will always show as dark spots when stained. Crushed fibers are definately the culprit there. The spots I believe you are referring to happen after smaller hail (pea sized) lay on the wood and cause a freeze spot. This hail is to small to cause physical damage from falling. I've removed these with stripping and refinishing, and you never knew the spots were ever there. I've also encountered spotting on cement from hail. I'm thinking that the deck spots and the cement spots are cause by pollutants in the air as the hail is forming. When it falls, it sits in one spot for a long while until it melts. These pollutants screw up the fininsh. Think acid rain ice cubes. Scary huh? Of course this is just a thoery, but I'd bet that if someone was to collect some hail, and have it analyzed, there'd be some interesing stuff in there. I've started telling customers the that it will look spotty after I'm done refinishing, and they usually are OK with that. (Insurance is paying the bill).

[reed 500]

For all you wood experts & whoever else has an opinion.....

I seal a deck about a year ago with ready seal (cedar deck). Looked great when finish and looked great a year later. Then we had a hail storm. The hail didn't damage the wood at all, but left spots on the flat surfaces. You can see circles (light spots) all over the floor, steps, and top of rails - where the hail sit on the deck.

My questions:

Anybody ever had this happen?

Whats in the hail that will basically strip the sealant?

How would you fix it?

Tim, We just had another hail storm about 3 weeks ago up here in St. Peters. I have exactly what you are describing on my own deck. As long as the hail doesn't compress the wood, thus leaving indentations, you can do a clean and seal and you will be good to go.

reed

[James 624]

I think it has more to do with temp.. The Temp of the wood before hail failing and melting. With the combinations of force, speed and ice(hail) and temp. The nondrying oils can form spots.

Tell your customer it's artisic and planned !!

[Able Hands 14]

To remove the dents, try using an iron with a damp cloth. The steam produced from this in a such a concetrated area will often raise the dent.