Powerhouse for cleaning wood

[RCBill 14]

Recently, I cleaned a deck with Powerhouse and a good amout of SH and it did a nice job. There was dirt, algea, and mildew on the deck.

I wanted to post the Powerhouse ingredients but they are not easily available to me now. It does include Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Metasilicate, and a couple other chems.

This seems like a pretty good universal wood cleaner to me. Is there a downside that I am not aware of?

[Pete Marentay 14]

Thanks for being a customer, and thanks for your faith in this product.

PowerHouse is a caustic butyl-based cleaner designed for high sudsing. That's what makes it so useful as a housewash (so even the nosy lady accross the street can see the suds on the house).

On wood, this high-sudsing means a whole lot of extra rinsing however. That translates into taking longer to get the job done properly. If you don't get all of the cleaner out of the wood, you could affect the performance and durability of any sealer you apply.

The butyl in PowerHouse will melt oil stains like a deck sealer, which is why you are getting the action you like. The extra SH you added 'breaks' the oil. You are actually getting a double effect.

Your protection in the event of a problem with a cleaner (product liability insurance coverage) may be inn question when you change the formula or use it in ways not recommended by the manufacturer, however.

Contractors are always looking for better ways to do things, so I am not surprised to see that you tried this. Keep us all informed if you have continued success or if you see that rinsing the wood becomes a problem.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Thanks Pete! :sunshine:

Beth

[RCBill 14]

I also thank you Pete. I was washing suds for quite a while. Thankfully the client did not want a stain. Dodged that bullet.

I am trying to get a mix with enough SH to kill the mildew and algea, get the dirt up, AND break down an old undetected sealer that may be there to cause problems. I've washed with EFC-38 in the past to mixed results. A second pass with a SH solution got the organics the -38 did not get. Can the -38 handle 3%?

I've read Rod's "everything gets striped with -80" approach. Do I have that correct Rod? I still get nightmares about cleaning my cedar fence with -80 and a good amount of pressure. Talk about tough lessons! Wore out an Osbourne. You haven't lived until you've sanded 360' of shadow box. But, I gotta get to a never fails solution.

Rod, I see on page 19 in Cleaner Times, that you recommend the wood certification.....

My wife sends her gratitude to you all. I'm out of the house every day now.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Hi Bill,

I'll make sure to mention this post to Rod when he gets into the office. :)

Beth :cup: :groovy3: :dancing:

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Rod, I see on page 19 in Cleaner Times, that you recommend the wood certification.....

It has helped us in achieving a baseline knowledge on wood restoration which has saved us a great deal of time and money. The fact that we have taken our obligations in business to this extent also impresses customers that we have some basis of education supporting our knowledge and service. This is very important to many of our high end clients who don't want to just let anyone onto their property.

This may come from a previous experience or word of mouth from someone who warned them to get someone who knows what they are doing.

Rod!~

[RCBill 14]

Well, some times you just gotta put up or shut up. Hope to see other wanna be woodies in October.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Bill,

It's worth taking in my opinion. Take notes, ask questions and network.

Beth