solid stain mess

[jnoden 15]

These people had their deck built last year. A large 2nd story deck that has vinyl railing but all the wood, steps and even underneath the deck has been coated with Cabot solid white water base. It is already pealing on the surface at a couple places and they really dont want that color. I told them that they can not go back to semi trans but that they could clean it well, remove all loose paint and spot prime followed by two coats of solid tan. Im thinking that maybe the deck wasnt properly prepped before painting it. I gave them a bid but I really dont want the job unless I can rent a paint sprayer for under neath the deck. I do feel bad for the people and they seem deperate to get it looking nice. They know they screwed up. I know most of us would walk away from this kind of job but who would take it? Any suggestions?

[PressurePros 249]

I take them. 2.5 times the price for a semi because we have to clean, scrape, prime and two coat. Requires three visits.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

If it is a paint, and if it is water based, you may be able to strip it. Do a test spot using your stripper of choice (SH based).

Beth

[Deck Guy 14]

You need to make it worth your while. I have failed to do as Ken suggests, and ended up working for peanuts. Test a spot before bidding.

The first deck I ever did was a similar job. I went to the newspaper to place my first ad, and the rep there asked for a bid. Of course I wanted her to think I knew everything, after all, I was Wolman Certified!

I think I got about $540, and spent the better part of three days. It was a white solid that was failing. I stripped and scraped and sanded, then went over it with a tan SW waterborne solid.

The HO told me last year that it still looked great (she's not my ad rep anymore). I've got pic's on my desktop, andI attachthem when I get a chance.

[Jarrod 22]

Light a match and bring some hot dogs.

[seymore 90]

Do a test with S/H like Rod said cause it can be stripped with a hot mix.With time and the right chems and multiple strips every stain can be stripped

If all else fails Methalyne Chloride will do the trick but i would hate to strip a stain overhead with that stuff!

see the MC in action on a paint i tested and i'll be stripping the house next week.

[Deck Guy 14]

Shane, you're a bigger man than I am. I would run away screaming from that one. Since I'm a part timer, I try to keep my jobs a little more basic, and no more than about six hours at a time on a jobsite.

I was going to post pics of my solid stain nightmare, but I can't seem to find them. I guess I deleted them at some point because they were just too painful to look at.

[jnoden 15]

I told the customer i would attempt stripping it if it werent that the entire under part of the deck also has the solid stain on it. The stain is in good shape underneath. The deck is 620 sq Ft just on the top plus 24 steps, a landing and all the wood under neath the deck. Im not ambitious enough to strip everything. She did give me the job today. She is deciding if she wants to change colors or jus fix the bad areas.

[Greg R 82]

We get alot of solids around here unfortunatetly and at one time I didn't even want to mess with them. Now we turn them all into two tones.

We strip everything we can from the floor during the cleaning process - then come back when we seal and use Makita 9227C's with 8" disc sanding paper to sand out the rest. It usually goes pretty quick. We also sand out the top railcap if the deck has one and do that in a semi trans. With these jobs however you'll usually have to use something with more pigment in it such as Cabot Decking Stains or TimberStain UV semi-trans (our choice typically). Then a solid acrylic on the rails. I would spray out the underside in a color to match the rails.

Pricing is crucial on these though - We charge around $4.75 per sq ft on the floor and $8 per linear foot on the rails plus product costs. IT's the only way you'll make enough money to justify it. The benefit though is you'll have a customer for life. We discount the future maintenance to something more reasonable since we're just recoating then.

Here's a pic of one we just completed that had a peeling solid all over it. Picture is from a camera phone and not the best but you get the idea.

[Greg R 82]

oops...

This was TimberStain UV Cedar tone and TimberStain UV Solid Acrylic on the rails

[Deck Guy 14]

Greg, That's a beautiful result. I guess once you develop a method and find the right materials, you can accomplish that. As for me, I'm still not willing to go there.

[Greg R 82]

Hey.... if you can stay busy doing clean & seals all year I wouldn't either but the opportunity is there for us and it's helps to keep the guys busy. Plus at these rates you can come out pretty good financially. That job was $1400 and has about 10 man hours into it.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

We get alot of solids around here unfortunatetly and at one time I didn't even want to mess with them. Now we turn them all into two tones.

We strip everything we can from the floor during the cleaning process - then come back when we seal and use Makita 9227C's with 8" disc sanding paper to sand out the rest. It usually goes pretty quick. We also sand out the top railcap if the deck has one and do that in a semi trans. With these jobs however you'll usually have to use something with more pigment in it such as Cabot Decking Stains or TimberStain UV semi-trans (our choice typically). Then a solid acrylic on the rails. I would spray out the underside in a color to match the rails.

Pricing is crucial on these though - We charge around $4.75 per sq ft on the floor and $8 per linear foot on the rails plus product costs. IT's the only way you'll make enough money to justify it. The benefit though is you'll have a customer for life. We discount the future maintenance to something more reasonable since we're just recoating then.

Here's a pic of one we just completed that had a peeling solid all over it. Picture is from a camera phone and not the best but you get the idea.

Greg,

That was solid stain you removed and not paint correct?

Just boosted S/H or you use some packaged specialty product?

[Greg R 82]

Yes this one had 2 coats of solid stain on it. One of which was an oil the other a latex so it was a real mess. We stripped most of it off chemically with a strong caustic then came back the second day and sanded out the floor with 2 guys on Makitas. I'll NEVER recoat with solid.... just dont want the headache of a repeat solid every 2 years :)