We did this one last week. It was a grimy mess with lots of trees and years of neglect. It was so bad I couldn’t tell there was old stain on it until I cleaned it enough to see water beading up on the sunken it part. It turned out great though. Happy customer, this is Wood Defender’s 200 Series Fence and Deck Stain, not to be confused with their Fence stain. This was about 800 sq ft and it took about 3-3.5 gal of stain. It is a transparent stain called Leatherwood.
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Looks great!
Do you mind sharing your process? I’ve been scouring the forum for deck cleaning best practices, and I really like your work.
There is a thread called Deck 101 started by @Racer and added to by numerous people on here including @MDA1775. read that.
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Love your work. Did they replace that board on the walkway after you stained, or was it brand spanking new? If it was a replacement board before staining, what are you doing to even the color out some (I know it will look different no matter what you do). I read to strip it when new, but I never tried it yet, supposedly evens it out some.
Yeah, I’ve scoured that thread from top to bottom. Still have unanswered questions regarding things like application methods and dilution of different chemicals, but Ive been watch Everett Abram’s videos and I think his ability to communicate his process very thoroughly is helping me fill in the gaps.
I do appreciate the pointer, though. Thank you!
What are you using to apply the stain?
On this deck it had so much accumulated filth that I started with a low pressure wash just to get back to close to the wood. I followed that with sodium percarbonate (8 oz to the gal) because I was trying to keep furring to a minimum. I used a combination of multiple applications of percarbonate and brushing until I got it where I wanted it. Then as I was about to apply the ox rinse I noticed a few areas were beading up, that told me I had cleaned down to the surface but at the surface was some old sealer (current home owners have only been in the house a year) and it was not going to take stain. So I broke out the sodium hydroxide and broke it down to the bare wood and rinsed again and then applied oxalic to brighten etc. Yes, it was a PITA but the results were worth it. I applied the stain with my 12v system (2.2gpm, it’s really a little too much for staining a deck) and used a roller so prevent puddling. As to the light wood in the repairs, I bought PT deck boards and kept them inside for 6 weeks before doing the repairs. All repairs we done prior to cleaning so the new wood got broken down as much as it was going to be. I also sanded the deck with an orbital sander and 60 grit. So how do you do all this and still make any money, you charge $3535.00 and have 15-17 hrs in the job. That was not my original bid. They called me to do the deck, I up sold flat work. I always sell repair work by the piece, in this case each repair was $30.00, there were 13 of them. If I’m doing fences for example and they need a bunch of pickets reattached, the first X number are free, after that it’s .50 per board. I’m sharing this because you/we need to sell our services and expertise but when you do make sure you do it right. I promise I did not intend to hand sand and strip the deck with two different chems but that’s what it took to do it right. The customer was happy and so am I.
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Your using a floor sander correct? or are you talking about spot hitting with a random orbital? Deck in pic looks very large for a 5-7" random orbital.
Do you ever offer any routing? Those benches would pop with a nice roundover bit before staining.
I actually used an orbital sander on this one and no I don’t do routing. People have a hard enough time making decisions as it is. I can just see doing little samples…
I’d love to say that I came up with the idea on my own, but I was talking to everett and he said that they do it. I asked him, how in the god’s name do they pick between the 700 router bit designs? he said they only offer a couple. I talked to him about the 3d printing/engraving of wood, people love tchotchkes/Chachkies
They can keep loving them in NJ. Lol
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Is that a transparent or semi-transparent stain?
That’s a transparent, finely ground oxide pigments. Great for new wood or wood that can be brought back to the way that deck cleaned up. Old wood that has seen it’s better days I always use semi on. It has a lot more pigment, it also lasts longer.
I didn’t realize transparent could change the color of the wood that much let alone change it at all!?!?
Spray with a 12v and back roll to prevent puddling. I’ve used my Graco too but got penetrating oil 12v works fine.
