Help with hard to strip deck

[Curb Appeal 14]

Hey all,

I went to do some test spots on a deck I have coming up. I have never seen a deck like this. There are drips and built-up puddles of sealer everywhere. The customer told me it was Thompson's and that the last person put it on with a large roller. She said that it was tacky and did not dry for months. This stuff is on THICK! After 2 years, it still beads water. If the homeowner is correct, I assume that it's Thompson's Water Seal.

Like I said, there are roller trails, puddles and drips all over the place. Some of the puddles are at least 1/8" thick. I tried to strip some test spots using F-18 but I had to mix it at 14oz. per gal for it to do anything. Even at that concentration, the thick spots didn't hardly budge with a 20 min dwell time. I should also say that I applied all of my mix tests to the same area, so that area really had over an hour of exposure to the stripper at varying concentration levels. I started at 3oz/gal and stopped at 14oz/gal because it got dark outside.

I really need to get this stuff off. Is there anything else (like HD80 maybe) that is stronger than F-18? Should I let it dwell longer?

I have until April 4th to find a solution to this. Please help me out guys...

[James 624]

What temp was it out side? strippers do not work well under 60 degrees. Tommy wax is a pain sometimes when over applied. Sometime I use heat to take a layer off then apply the stripper.

[Curb Appeal 14]

What temp was it out side? strippers do not work well under 60 degrees. Tommy wax is a pain sometimes when over applied. Sometime I use heat to take a layer off then apply the stripper.

Temp outside was mid 70's. My heat is down right now so that's not an option for me at present. Other suggestions?...

[Russell Cissell 65]

Joel

Feel free to give me a call. I am confident that HD-80 will remove that build up. Like all of our products, HD-80 has a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

[Curb Appeal 14]

Thanks Russell. I call you tomorrow...

[plainpainter 217]

Try adding Propylene Glycol antifreeze to your F-18 mix, if that won't remove it - I hardly doubt HD80 will either. Call Bob back.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

If it is acrylic, you will need something stronger. Try some BIX on it in a test spot.

Beth

[RPetry 564]

Joel,

It would be helpful if you could post some close up pictures of the problem areas.

I restored an old cedar deck two yrs. ago that had literal "globs" of hardened stain in areas. Looked like someone just poured stain out of the can.

Wound up stripping twice with NaOH and then using 12 defelting pads with a Makita 9227C to get the remainder removed.

[Curb Appeal 14]

Pics before...

These puddles and drips of sealer are all over the deck, especially under the rails.

[Curb Appeal 14]

Here are some pics from after 1 go at the strip. I used 8oz. (by weight) of HD80 and 13oz. (by volume) of Propylene Glycol per gallon per Russell's instructions. I let it dwell for 30 min.

As you can see, it took off most of the sealer. I did notice that as the stripper was working, some spots turned dark and the stripper came off without any effort at all. Other spots did not change color and that is what you see left on the wood. When trying scratch tests, I made an "X" in one area of the sealer that was not changing color. Almost immediately the lines of the "X" that I scratched turned a dark color and the sealer came right off when I rinsed. It was almost as if by breaking the surface of the sealer with the screwdriver, I allowed the stripper to penetrate down to the wood and dissolve the sealer. Does that make sense?

What do I need to do to remove the rest of the sealer? Should I apply the stripper a second or even a third time? Should I mix it stronger or let it dwell longer?

[Curb Appeal 14]

More pics...

And another question I have is:

This sealer is still repelling water on the vertical surfaces. It's still beading up and so is my stripper mix. How do I get the stripper to stay on the verticals when it beads up and flows right off of the wood?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Go back out with a stiff bristled deck brush, hit it again with the stripper, and try agitating the stripper (scrubbing) after a long dwell time. Then reapply the stripper. It sounds like if you can move that upper layer of goop, you can get to the wood to break the bond.

Beth

p.s. we use an alkaline foamer these days to help with cling.

[RPetry 564]

Joel,

Those pictures are scary! What is that stuff? Sure does not look like any exterior wood stain I have ever come across. Can anyone verify that some Thompson products look like this mess?

The coloring and texture almost look like an old, dried polyurethane.

When faced with something you cannot strip with NaOH, you may want to bring out the big guns. There are specialty strippers available that can remove near anything, but are very expensive and labor intensive to apply. I've used a product called BTN BFS-II, a Back to Nature stripper that works on near anything. Napier Environmental makes a similar product, do not recall the name.

Before purchasing in quantity, try and get a sample to test on that mess.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Mind you might want to do a test section first but the very best stripper combo I run across was called Aircraft stripper followed by lacquer thinner rinsing.

That is some major heat and will eat through and destroy many things such as vct... We use it to get years worth of catalyzed paint off warehouse floors of none other than Sherwin Williams.. :)

Try Jasco Epoxy remover first!!

[Curb Appeal 14]

Hi again all,

I finished this deck a couple of weeks ago. Here are some before pics...

[Curb Appeal 14]

and some more...

[Curb Appeal 14]

Now for the after pics...

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And the final pics...

[Curb Appeal 14]

Anyone want to know how I got all of that gunky Thompsons off of there?

I had some Stripper Cream from Eacochem left over from a job last winter and I tried that on it. I brushed it on the entire deck and left it on overnight. The next day I came back and rinsed ALL of the old sealer off, easy as pie! It was completely gone.

That Stripper Cream does fur up the wood a bit and I went through 10 defelting pads and a bunch of sandpaper. After it dried to 12%, I put 2 coats of Readyseal Light Brown on with an HVLP sprayer and felt deck pads.

Thanks for all of your help on this one. It looks great and the customer is happy. Here's what she wrote in her email to me today:

Hi Joel,

I wanted to let you know that my deck looks like new and my driveway and sidewalk look great. I have my geraniums in the planters and I am enjoying being outdoors again.

You went above and beyond on this project. I really didn't think that all of the old sealer and dirt and grime would come off but you proved me wrong. Your work and work ethic is outstanding. I will use you again and will recommend you and your company without hesitation.

Thank you,

Jettie S.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

What a huge difference! :)

Beth