pretty color

[JFife 14]

...a deck on a house we did, this is after the color cured out. I like light colors like these, some don't. Sorry I don't have a 'before', stripped off some store-bought crap, not sure what. Possibly sikkens, applied by HO.

[jquick77 14]

That is a nice looking color. I also like the lighter colors, but a lot of my customers are going dark. That looks like RS Nat Cedar? Hard to tell with the shade but the rails have that kind of redish look like the Nat Cedar.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Very pretty work Jon!

Beth :banana:

[JFife 14]

It is LightBrown......I'm not sure what type of wood the rails are, but they had a cedar look once stained. They may have been white cedar, I just don't know. The floor color is what I like. I do like really dark colors on light homes, or if the railing is painted.

[James 625]

Looks like Barry Bonds Urine......

[JFife 14]

Lol,:)

[seymore 90]

That is a nice looking deck Jon :cool:

[PressurePros 249]

Very nice Jon. About as close as you can get to a clear and still have some protection. Are you becoming Deck-Man?

[Guest John Sanford]

I have a question about surface coating sealers.

I was recently comparing some sealers and I noticed that some scrape off the surface easily compared to others. Are all surface coating sealers like this or do any of them penetrate enough to hide the scratches from pets and furniture?

[JFife 14]

Some penetrate enough to eliminate this problem, some form films that are tough enough to withstand most of the abuse (for a time). And some finishes, especially if they are not rated for deck use, are much softer and will scrape/gouge easily.

[Guest John Sanford]

Thank you Jon for answering my question but that doesnt make sense in this case. Wood Tux is a penetrating finish so it shouldn't have scraped off as easily as it did. I wonder if the wood was too wet when I applied it?

[PressurePros 249]

John, I am curious as to whole long you let the WT cure before you were able to scrape it off.

[Celeste 341]

I'm curious as to how much was put down for it to be scraped off???

Celeste

[JFife 14]

John,

Not familiar with the product, I'd say there is an application issue. Call manufacturer, that will be the simplest solution. Not a problem I'd expect of the product in mention.

[Guest John Sanford]

Let me explain my simple real world testing methods.

I use two sections of pine fencing since that is the most popular wood in the area, one vertical and one horizontal section.

I wet down both surfaces thoroughly (6 boards on each section), remove puddles and apply product with brush. Back brush the sealer to evenly spread across the surface and let it cure.

On each board I test for one thing: water repellent, scratch test, color test, drying time and general appearance at the following times.

Three Hours

One day

Once the finish has fully dried to touch I move the fences into my main yard with my dog and full sun most of the day.

Then I check the wood every day for a month using all the tests above.

Then monthly

After reading a couple threads on this board I think I will add some additional tests as well plus photos.

[PressurePros 249]

That would be great, John. Nothing better than real world results.

One more control factor you didn't mention. Are you cleaning the wood with EFC-38 or HD-80 and are you pH balancing afterwards?

[Russell Cissell 65]

John

Seems like you've got nice sound test parameters set up. Most importantly, you are testing on the wood that is most popular among your target audience.

I would expect Wood-Tux to perform very well under that conditions that you describe. This is the most extreme test you can put the product through. You are simulating the conditions created by a steady soaking downpour of rain. If the wood is puddling water, there is a good chance it is soaked. That's okay, it's what the product was created for.

Because this is the most extreme test it requires the most controlled application. This is how I would apply to insure the longest results.

If the wood is rough cut, I would get the surface free of puddles and at least wait long enough for the standing water between the wood's surface and the standing grain to dissipate. Ideally there should be no standing water on the surface. If the wood is smooth cut, as soon as the puddles are gone, you are good to go. When doing your test, imagine waiting about 10 to 15 minutes after the downpour before you get back to work.

I would apply one real quick light coat followed immediately with a second heavy coat. If you are spraying, just make a quick pass over three or four boards then go back with the heavy coat. You don't need any more than 30 seconds in between. I would then allow the wood to soak for a bit before back brushing.

When you back brush, you are not trying to spread to get an even finish, you are trying to remove the excess stain from the surface. If you are actually using a brush, use a dry brush. Many contractors like to use dry stain pads or even rags on smooth cut wood.

When you are finished applying the wood should look more damp than wet. There should not be any excess product on the surface.

After a few minutes if the wood was really wet, you might see puddles of water forming on the surface of the wood. It is best to brush out these puddles. In real world conditions, I recommend that contractors wait about 15 minutes after staining before they leave the job site. This will give enough time to determine if the deck is going to puddle water.

Under these conditions, even though the wood was soaked with water I would expect your test horizontal test samples to last 2 years in full sun. I would expect your vertical samples to last about 3. If the wood were only damp, say 20 - 30% moisture I would predict 3 and 4 years respectively.

The reason the stain is not curing correctly on your test samples is because it was over applied and there is a build up on the surface. When applied correctly, there would be no product above the surface of the wood to scratch off. The product is VERY high in resin and pigment solids. Under applying is the last of your worries.

Remember just 2-3 mills of product applied at the surface of the wood can dive 30 to 40 mils into the wood depending on the porosity of the wood. The key is how much of the good stuff you are getting into those top few mills. Does you no good what so ever to dive deep, unless you are also protecting at the surface. Wood-Tux has a lot of protection built in.

I hope this helps you understand the product better.

Best of Luck

[Guest John Sanford]

Well it appears that I set up my test properly but it's possible that I may have applied too much stain in some areas of the wood. Maybe that is why the sealer is scraping off so easily. I could understand it if in my application I used too much sealer and created a surface coating agent but, I would have thought that more stain would have gotten into the wood so scraping it would not have removed all of the stain.

Back to the drawing board I guess!

[PressurePros 249]

I don't like appplying WTW to saturated wood. Thats just me. I prefer to schedule to strip two decks one day and then go back and seal them the next day. This is just my opinion but it is too hard to predict how the wood will look when its overly wet. The product dives in much deeper than it normally does. You can get 12 boards out from the house and see the first three start to fade and then you have to start going backwards and walking over what you just completed. Perfect for me has ben moisture content between 15-25%