Need to strip my decks - advice please!!!

[mas3372 14]

Hey,

Last spring I was a fool. I sealed my pt deck with cabots semi transparent cedar and my front porch deck with cabots solid cedar - both oil based. I used the cabots before I learned of the better quality stuff out there and this year I hate it.

To be honest, I am ashamed that as a professional in this business, I have a Lowes brand at my own home.

I want to strip it and then seal with ready seal.

I have on hand F-18 max and straight Oxalic.

Any advice on stripping cabots and brighting. I would like this to come out great for a portfolio job as wel.

Any and all help it greatly appriciated.

PS. One more thing- GO SOX!!!

[seymore 90]

Greg you sure know your ShizNit! :cool:

[RPetry 564]

Thread got away from me, spent yesterday in NYC.

Ken asks:

Rick, what did you think about Russell's post re: salts formed when neutralising and the importance of rinsing after applying acid?

I am sure Russell's chemistry is on the money and applies to ESI as well as other stain products. In practice, that said, it does not appear to apply to Ready Seal or possibly other paraffinic oil products.

I established my prep procedures on the basis of other, older, more experienced contractors that have used RS for 10+ years in the field. Their experience has been not to rinse the neutralizer/brightener off the wood when using RS for the finish stain. Probably does not make a difference on older PT, but for cedar, mahogany, ipe' and other dense woods, leaving the wood acidic may promote better stain penetration.

Mike asked:

...do you feel as though citralic is superior to oxalic,or just your preference?

No. Superior is a "loaded" word. I have never used "citralic", a blend of oxalic and citric, only straight, pure citric acid. On the one hand, oxalic seems to be "superior" as a brightening agent, as it works quicker at identical concentrations, is cheaper in cost, and in my small test, more aggressive, at least on ipe'. On the other hand, citric is "superior" in that it is not poisonous to people, plants, and animals. Citric is also "superior" as its use compared to oxalic can be an effective sales tool. As we do not rinse after application when using Ready Seal stains, it is also "superior" for my business as its use saves time. Not sure if we would use the same labor saving "blow and go" neutralizing method if using straight oxalic acid.

[yazbird8 17]

Rick,

Speaking of brighteners on woods, I have a strip and seal on a fairly large Redwood deck coming up...I did a test strip and citrolic brightening on a run of board on the customers deck....It looked beautiful....My question is, Do you think Readyseal light brown will look good on it? I also understand that it may end up darkening the wood too much because of the tannins in the wood...

Stephen Andrews

Power Washing

Home & Property

Care & Maintenance

[RPetry 564]

Yaz,

Don't know, never tried light brown on redwood. I do know that RS med. red looks great on redwood. There is a picture somewhere here on TGS of an old redwood deck we stained 2 yrs. ago with RS med. red., redwood only formula.

Definitely test a small spot with regular paraffinic RS first. On old growth redwood, the tannins in the wood can turn the finish black, like in seconds after application. If so, the RS redwood only formula (which I think is linseed oil based) must be used.

It is my understanding that this is somewhat unusual. As newer redwood is mostly plantation grown and harvested from younger trees, regular RS is fine for use.

[PressurePros 249]

Rick, I think you may have missed the post. In short what Russell was saying is that salts are formed when you neutralize and that these salts can cause premature stain failure and should be rinsed away. I also have advocated not rinsing and have not had issues. But then again, whom is to say unless you do side by side tests of risning/not rinsing then staining the same deck as well as doing that with every single product.

We hijacked the hell out of this thread.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Stephen,

The story goes that only the redwood out in the East shows issues and needs redwood only formula. They can't and don't even sell it to us out West. With that said, my new redwood test board has turned black on all the RS sections...more so on the rough side and but with Natural Cedar and light brown turning the least. Mighta coulda shoulda prepared the board chemically in some fashion or let it age but that just wouldn't fit into my business plan...

Now for your redwood customer it perhaps different in that it older wood and doesn't have all the stuff leaching out. I would think ultamately it is more important that you get the customers take on what color tone they prefure and whether they want a finish/topped look to it...

Personally I am not gonna push the RS light brown on redwood, I think it looks bad for showing redwood for being redwood....At this point I can't push any RS on any redwood.

Cedar wood is another story and see it working out well on it.

Cabot Aussie Timber Oil, Penofin, WTW working well on my redwood board. When considering which looks best on smooth side it is about a toss up.

When considering which looks best on rough side I give it to Penofin(smells).

When considering which is thought to last longest I got to go WTW.

Omax or Cabot Spf not bad either if ya like that sorta thing...my two cents.

[mas3372 14]

Rick, Thanks for the insight on Ox vs. Citric. Great info.

Thanks to everyone else as well. I wish I new what some of you were talking about as far as all the technical woody stuff. More stuff to learn I guess.

Wood is not my strenght yet, but something I want to get into. There is a good market in my area for high end work that I would like to bite into.

I think I may hold off to do my decks until the MI round table. I am hoping to make it so I can learn a bit first.

Thanks again.

[RPetry 564]

Been a while since had time for TGS but have to reply to some misinformation posted on this thread.

Ken, you stated in this thread:

I have heard Ready Seal has added resins. Maybe the RS crowd can jump in with info on that. Technically, by legal definition, RS should cure to be called a sealer. (ie use the name "seal" in the product name) If they added resins then it is more similar to Wood Rich.

Of course Ready Seal has resins. Not "added" resins, just the resins it has always had for more that a decade. If it did not have resins the pigments would be stuck down at the bottom of the pail. Ever use Ready Seal? Jeeze, ya' don't even have to stir the stain. Shake the 5'er a few times, cut the top for your inlet and outlet hoses on the HLVP, and away you go.

What allows the iron oxide pigment to remain fully dispersed and in suspension throughout the stain in the container without stirring? If I've got my simple stain chemistry right, it is the resins in the stain. My guess is that virtually every stain for exterior wood on the market contains a good dose of resins in its composition.

[mas3372 14]

Ready seal be can reapplied as needed with no strip, just a wash. How about wtw, do you need to strip it before you reapply in a few years.

[James 625]

Mike ,feel free to call me 2035580968 cell. I'll set u up.....