Caught in the Rain

[PatrickM 14]

I got taken by surprise by a shower yesterday while applying a second coat of Ready Seal to a deck. The first coat had 24 hours to dry but the 2nd was still wet when the rains came. What can I expect to find when I go back tomorrow? This is the first time my weather forecasting skills have let me down.

Patrick

[Deck Guy 14]

You might not have any problems. I have gotten caught before with another oil-based product and had no problems, other than getting drenched while cleaning up. I believe Ready Seal says officially that you will have no problems after 15 minutes of drying time.

[Tracy Handl 108]

Patrick,

You won't have any problem with Ready Seals finish. However, you could end up with a little spotting if the rain left water droplets on the surface and the oil hadn't had a chance to soak in. When the droplet evaporates, oil floating on the droplet can leave a ring becuase the water tension will have that oil to the outside of the drop and once the drop is gone the oil gets left on the wood cuasing and extra layer of oil in that area, which can show. If that happens, take a flat pad and put a light application on, evening out the concentration of oil on that surface. The only other thing I can think of for this situation is the rain could wash off the non-absorbed oil causing two possibilities. 1) a mess below the deck if concrete or anything else was below. 2) No oil had a chance to soak in and thus a re-aplication may be neccessary. If there was any amount of time between when you applied and when the rain started, like stated above, you probably have nothing to worry about. Ready Seal is very forgiving and I haven't had a deck yet that I couldn't fix ANY problem associated with the job. Let me know if I can be of any other help with your RS use or power washing needs.

[Guest John Sanford]

Question, why did you wait a day between coats in the first place? I always apply two quick coats wet on wet.

[PatrickM 14]

Thanks for your replies. I've always found Ready Seal to be very forgiving and am optomistic that I won't find any thing too shocking.

John - 2 reasons for waiting a day between coats. First of all the wood is in terrible condition. It's my understanding that the longer drying time between coats helps with badly weathered wood. Second these folks are putting the house on the market this weekend so they are in a big hurry. I'm squeezing them into an already busy schedule at the end of the day.

Patrick

[jquick77 14]

I had it rain a couple of weeks ago on 2nd coat of ready seal. I had the water droplet issue. It was only in a few spots on the floor, but I did have to go back 2 days later and put on another coat. It pretty much did the trick, but if you look close, you can still kind of see them. It was a family members small deck, so I am hoping they will completly fade with time.

[Deck Guy 14]

Question, why did you wait a day between coats in the first place? I always apply two quick coats wet on wet.

I also do the wet-on-wet, but I understand that the finish appears "deeper" if you can wait longer between coats. I think you can even wait a week if you like.

[CLASSICPW 14]

I applied an oil based and it poured down rain right when I finished, I mean thunderstorm. I went back the next day, scared to death, it looked fantastic!

[Don M. 14]

What is "wet on wet"? Are you guys putting down a coat of stain and then immediatley walking on it and putting down another?

[seymore 90]

What is "wet on wet"? Are you guys putting down a coat of stain and then immediatley walking on it and putting down another?

It's like if you spray a 30x30 or even bigger area and then by time you are done you could go back and spray your second coat.Well it would also have to depend if the wood is new or old as to how fast the stain soaks in.

You don't walk on your first coat of stain after you spray it?

I do all the time and just pad my prints to blend them in.

[Guest John Sanford]

If you don't walk on how would are you going to get the teensy weansy tiny spot that you missed in the middle? Just kidding, we walk on wet ready seal all the time and have never had a problem.

[RPetry 564]

Don't try this on hardwoods. A few months ago had a 2 tone RS job on some type of Asian hardwood. Thunderstorm blew in about 30 minutes after applying stain. Came back the next morning and spent 3 hours, a quart of Simple Green, and a roll of HD blue towels cleaning up. Nightmare.

RS is a weird stain. Finished an old cedar job a week or so ago. Rained about 5 hours after the second application on the horizontals, but that was no problem. Knew I had overapplied on the protected floor of the gazebo, and nightime temps were in the mid 40's to mid 50's. Stopped back two days after applying and sure enough, lots of oil sitting on the surface of the cedar floor.

Wiped up the excess with an old white bath towel. What was strange is that the towel looked clean. The pigment had stayed in the wood. I guess it was just the paraffinic oil left on the surface from the cedar contracting due to the cold temps.

[Don M. 14]

It's like if you spray a 30x30 or even bigger area and then by time you are done you could go back and spray your second coat.Well it would also have to depend if the wood is new or old as to how fast the stain soaks in.

You don't walk on your first coat of stain after you spray it?

I do all the time and just pad my prints to blend them in.

Shane, I guess you learn something new everyday.

I never have walked on it right away. I have always came back the next day and applied a second coat.

[Jack Kramer 15]

I don’t understand why anyone using Ready Seal would not put on 2 coats on a single trip. I have never had a problem doing this.

Several years ago we were sealing a new (3 months old) pressure treated pine deck when a big black cloud came over the roof on the house. The deck was just completed 2 minutes before the skies opened up. The rain was very heave. That night the home owner called me explaining his deck looked like a leopard.

I called a fellow PW who has been using RS for years and he advised me mix RS and paint thinner 50 / 50 and reapply to the deck. He also advised me the deck would not look any better for several hours. After applying as advised the deck didn’t look any better then when I arrived.

That night the home owner called me to thank me for fixing his deck. I did stop back several days later just to make sure everything looked good .