Good Stain for Nebraska Environment

[Guest HuskerFan]

I know that you Pros have your favorite stains. Most of you either prefer Paraffinic stains (Bakers Gray Away, Readyseal, WoodDefender), or Wood Tux (which I am still unsure of its ingredients).

I also know, that different stains behave differently in different regions. Hence, my question. What is a good stain for a DIY in the Eastern part of Nebraska? Whether here is typically humid in the summer (not as humid as the SouthEast I would imagine). My deck is in full-sun during the day and man does it get hot! We also get our fair share of Thunderstorms here but there is not as much rain as Washington/Oregon or perhaps even on the East coast.

The deck is 10 years old; had Olympic on it for the first 3 years with a recoat for the next 2 years. Stripped it down and used a product from Pittsburgh Paints (Ultra - I think it is called "Sun Spot" now) composed of Alkyd/Linseed oil. That is what is on it now. Whoever I order from, I will be talking to about proper preparation also (stripper/cleaner//brightener/neutralizer)

I get the impression that all of the above are maintenance friendly. I also get the impression that Wood Tux holds its color a little better (but I believe it is available only to contractors? bummer).

I'm not opposed to ordering on-line (do it all the time for my own PC Repair/Security business), but would like to be able to get something locally. I know enough to stay away from brands sold at the local hardware stores (Behr, CWF, Olympic, etc...)

Also, I will probably be brushing as I feel that helps the stain penetrate better. I'm not opposed to hard work.

Opinions?

I appreciate everyone's/anyone's help.

[seymore 90]

I can help you discuss the stripping process etc.If you would like just call me anytime.If you have any pics that would be very helpful?

I'm one of the few that uses the Gray Away so if you are interested in the Gray Away i would be able to help with any questions.I'm in Houston so our climate is not all that different maby you get a few more tornados that i do here :D

[JFife 14]

Call Shane, he is a God, do whatever he says:) Some companies will make you do the Elephant Walk before you can use their products, but Shane can sell to you I believe. If you have to buy locally, TWP is hands-down the best locally-purchased product, without a close second IMO. Never used their chems though, I am sure they are fine.

[Guest HuskerFan]

My deck (which I proudly built myself) is ~16'x25' including the built in bench/storage/flowerPot area. There aren't alot of rails since the deck sits close to the ground.

I've provided two closeups. One of them, you can see where a round 18" diameter holder for my Patio Umbrella sat and protected the wood from the elements. You can see that the original tint was a little orangish (which I didn't like) and how the rest of the wood has a slightly (but not significant) gray color to it and how the original stain has simply faded away. Again, the current stain (what is left of it) was a Pittsburgh Paints product;

ULTRA

Deck, Fence & Siding Stain

Semi-Transparent

Alkyd/Oil Forumula

716 Cedar Naturaltone

Uses linseed oil, and claims to have 2-way Waterproofing and Ultra UV Protection. My deck may have a slight film on it, but it doesn't appear too bad. I read that companies sometimes tweak their own cleaners for use with their own products so I am going to use the ULTRA Deck Cleaner. Ingredients are Sodium Hypochlorite, Surfactant, Sodium Hydroxide. I do not know in what ratios. I'll post another pic after it dries.

[Guest HuskerFan]

A couple more pics before cleaning. I will remove these pics later this week/month. I know webspace is at a premium.

Thank you all for the help. I'd like to return the favor. I am a computer god, (even if I can't spell "weather") especially when it comes to nasty spyware/virus'. If Anyone on this forum ever needs some quick advice or help, give me an email. Webmasters have my full permission to post this publicly.

[Guest HuskerFan]

:lgtear: Well, I cleaned half the deck with Pittsburgh Paints Ultra Deck Cleaner. I wasn't impressed. I don't know why I needed a respirator, eyegear, and protective clothing because this stuff refused to remove any gray areas, whether it be due to UV, mildew, or other. I'm going to let it dry and see if my wife can tell which half of the deck I cleaned! I applied the product with a pump-up sprayer, I only did half of the deck to keep within the time 5-10 minute time limit suggested (I probably did go about 15 minutes), and I kept it moist; I didn't let it dry out. Rinsed with a garden hose with a nozzle on it to provide a little more pressure. I'll post a pic when it dries.

bummed out. At this point I might be open to a bid from a local contractor in the Omaha area?

[seymore 90]

You can try calling Scott Millen

StainlessDeal Mobile Pressure Wash, Omaha NE 68114

Reach me anytime at: (402) 670-4214

or smillen87@aol.com

That deck didn't look like the floor had much color on it and it should have stripped off pretty easy

[seymore 90]

If you want to try some different chems that will work go to ...

www.restore-a-deck.com

The trick with stripping is dwell time the longer the better to let the chems work.

[Guest HuskerFan]

I agree that there really doesn't seem to me much stain left on there. I did the second half of the deck (about 250 sq. ft.) with more success. I left the cleaner on for about 30 minutes and spent over 1 hour hosing it off with a garden hose . It's cleaner than the first half of the deck, but still not as clean as it should be. The verticals still need work. I felt as if I could have scrubbed on the deck and verticals with more success. Is this wise?

I'll post a new pic tomorrow.

I'm thinking of ordering a contractor grade cleaner. What do you think? If I did, would the EFC-38 be enough or should I go for the HD-80? I want to do my fence later, which will be tougher. It hasn't been cleaned in a while. I'm thinking of ordering some HD-80 with some Hang Time (is that what it is called). I can dillute down the HD-80 to reclean the deck and use it full strength, if need be, for the fence later on.

[seymore 90]

The HD80 would make your job probally easier than the weaker EFC-38.You should be able to mix it at min strength and just let it dwell.

Don't forget you need to use the brightner/neutralizer after using Sodium Hydroxide strippers.Russ uses a citralic acid a mixture of oxalic and citric acid.

There are times when stripping wood you will need to use a multiple process depending on how much old stain is still hanging on.

[Littlefield 65]

Huskerfan,

Nice job building the deck. Obviously you've read a lot about the chemicals needed, just a little help for you do take care of this yourself.

In my opinion, anyone that can build a deck, should be able to clean and restain. Go with the EFC 38 to clean, it the strongest, safest version of a sodium percarbonate cleaner you'll probably find. Start early in the morning, soak the deck for a half hour or so, just keep wet, no need to waste chems.

Get, rent, or borrow a pressure washer of some kind, or get a good nylon bristle block brush with 1.5" or longer bristles to scrub with. I highly recommend the pressure washer. Check out a nozzle chart and get a tip to drop the pressure down to 500 psi.

rinse the deck, apply brightener, rinse again, let dry, buff the fuzzies, if you have any, and then stain with Readyseal.

[Littlefield 65]

HD 80 with hangtime will be way overkill in my opinion. Plus, the hangtime ain't cheap at all at $50/gallon.

[seymore 90]

HD 80 with hangtime will be way overkill in my opinion. Plus, the hangtime ain't cheap at all at $50/gallon.

Yikes $50 a gallon?? WOW!

Rich is actually right to use a weaker chem especially since your deck is mostly stripped already.You might just have to work on the rails a little harder.

[Guest HuskerFan]

Thanx guys. I'll order the EFC38 today and just let the deck hang for a while. It could probably use a break from poor stains, weather, and me. (-:

I think I'll go check out some general purpose pressure washers. I've always wanted one to clean the upper windows, house, truck, 2-year old after breakfast....

Still not sure which stain to go with. It'll probably come down to choice of colors between Gray Away, RS, and WD.

[Neil_Asheville 114]

HuskerFan. I see you are being well taken care of here by the right folks. I'll add that I don't believe you're getting sufficient psi's to the wood with your garden hose. Agitation with a stiff deck brush during dwell time can substitute for a pressure washer. I don't see where you've agitated. With more psi's i feel you'd have satisfactory results with the consumer grade chems you used.

Don't overlook LIttlefield's comment on referencing a nozzle chart when you do acquire a machine. You've obviously spent many hours learning from this board, so you've probably seen the posts on proper pressure when working with wood. A proper tip will get you in the 500psi to 800psi range. The tips that come with a bought or rented machine will not work for wood. The only nozzle chart I can recall at the moment is on Steve's site - http://www.rowlettpressure.com/

Let us know what machine you end up with and we'll point you to a vendor.

Can't wait to see the finished pics!

cheers,

/neil

[StainlessDeal 16]

Welcome to TGS! You've got mail.

[Guest HuskerFan]

These are the same two areas as my before cleaning pics above. You can see that the deck is a little cleaner, but still not up to par. The one with the circle was the second half of the deck I did letting the cleaner sit for 30 minutes. The other one was about 15 minutes. I'm trying to get a hold of Russel to order some ECF38 and brightener. I'll check in to the power/pressure washers also. I know you guys don't like the chain hardware stores such as Home Cheapo and Blowes; but I might still look there. Probably, I'll look at the Craftsman series at the Sears store just a mile from here.

[Guest HuskerFan]

When I stripped/cleaned the deck 3 years ago, I might have used bleach or Oxyclean. I do remember using a shop broom to help scrub the deck. I never used any brightener/neutralizer. Could poor preperation last time be leading to more difficulties this time?

[Littlefield 65]

Time heals all. Doubt the poor prep last time would do anything else but make things fail quicker.

Got oen of my pressure washers at Home Depot 4 years ago, still going strong. Mounted on my trailer now, used it all day today.

Call sunbrite for EFC 38,

866 5 supply

Call if you need help.

[Jarrod 22]

Husherfan, give me a call 248-961-0800 I have just what you need, and you can get it localy!

[Guest HuskerFan]

I saw that ES sells the EFC 38 by 2 pound jars. Just right for my size. The sunbrite on-line ordering only listed 10 pounds as its smallest size. I'll call them anyway and see what I can get.

Jarrod, is that avatar a pic of a renaissance festival? My wife and I get into those. Have a small one over in Council Bluffs Iowa that I will be going to this weekend. Been to the large ones in Minnesota and Kansas City. They're fun.

[Jarrod 22]

Yes it is! I was eating a huge turkey leg. Man, that was good!

[Guest HuskerFan]

Sorry guys, I got sidetracked. I'm building a backyard playset out of PT wood for my little girl. I'll probably clean and stain it at the same time. I'm still trying to get a hold of Russell to get some cleaning chems. I'll have to call him direct, I'm guessing he's having a hard time with his email right now.

cheers

[Guest HuskerFan]

I ordered a 5-gallon pail of ReadySeal Medium Red today. I'll try it on my Cedar deck and see how I like it. If it looks good, I'll use it on my Cedar fence and new PT playset. I had put the prep work on hold until I completed the playset. I'm back to figuring out how to clean this baby. I was going to order EFC-38, but might try to cut cost by using a bleach type cleaner. Opinions? I started a new thread in "Ask the Pros" regarding the use of bleach.

[Guest HuskerFan]

Well, I'm back to this project. The playset is all built. PlayNation sells something like the one I built for around $3000.00. I built it for about $700.

Anyway, I used an Oxygen Bleach (OxyBoost) to clean my deck. Not convinced it's any better than OxyClean that you can get cheaper at a local store, but it worked okay. I used 8oz/1gal and sprayed it on for 15-20 minutes. I then got on my hands and knees and scrubbed every board using lots of water. I could see the top layer (weathered wood, old stain, etc...) coming off. The wood now looks much better, but not like new. It's a little dark. I have area that looks very dark. Now I am wondering if it is mildew/algae and if I should use a liquid bleach solution on it next. But doing more research, the Oxygen Bleach takes care of mildew/algae also. So, do I just need a brightener/neutralizer to take care of the tannins now, or should I do a second cleaning with OxyBoost first. It is cedar wood by the way.

When I do apply the neutralizer (whether I do a second cleaning or not), what are my options? I don't want to handle the Oxalic stuff. Many say to get Citric Acid from a paint store. What about Vinegar/Lemon Juice? Would I dilute them down? Would it save me any cost?

It's been raining here for 3 days and I can't get you a pic of the dry result yet.

Thanx guys.