Prepping a cedar deck for stain

Going to be prepping a cedar deck for stain for a painting company that we frequently work with. What would be the process you guys using? Dont believe it has ever been stained. Generally for a normal wooden deck we would use a 12v pump and a 3% mix to eat away the algae. Any suggestions? The deck cost the home owner about $45,000 so want to be as safe as possible!

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Without pics anything anyone says is completely irrelevant. Every deck is different.

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@Racer is spot on with his comment so this is a further precautionary note since without pics these are general guidelines. I did 3 decks at the same house this week and every one of them was different based on covered or not, trees over them or not etc. You can screw up a cedar deck if you are not careful. If it is an older deck and they are doing anything but a solid, look up using sodium percarbonate and then an oxalic acid wash to neutralize the PH. If you don’t know how to mix them start with the search here and then go to Google and Youtube. If you are still not sure, by a prepackaged mix from someone reputable that will also talk you through it and test whatever you decide to use. The stain the painter is using also has an impact on how you prep the wood. Good luck, I am off the net for a couple of days starting tonight so I am afraid I can’t help but there are others here like @racer that can.

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