Just thought I would share my most recent project. I would like feedback on my techniques if anyone has anything to add. This raised platform was coated with what I believe was Behr Deck over finish that was badly deteriorated. There were also areas where boards were completely junk. We replaced 7-8 deck boards with new pressure treated 5/4 x 6” boards and then got the majority of the loose paint off before I started the cleaning process.
For this project, I used Sodium Hydroxide from pressure Tec (F18) at a ratio of 8 ounces per gallon of water in a 5 gallon bucket with a little surfactant. The wood remained wet throughout the duration of the project after initially pre-wetting the sections I was cleaning. After pre wetting the area, I brushed Hydroxide evenly across the surfaces and let dwell 10-15 minutes while misting occasionally to keep wet. After a 10- minute dwell, I scrubbed the area again with a soft brush and continued to let dwell for another 10 minutes or so. The hydroxide lifted the remaining finish nicely. I then utilized a fan tip and pressure washed each board evenly. The stripping process worked great.
After cleaned, I used my X jet to apply oxalic acid at 8 ounces per gallon pulled 2-1 through the X jet. After application and a 5-10 minute dwell, I performed a low pressure rinse of the oxalic acid.
These are my results. I was pretty happy with how everything turned out and thought I would share my process.
Does anyone have recommendations or different strategies for a similar project they may have done?
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Looks great! How did you get the majority of the deck-over off? Did you sand and scrape? Also, did it take a long time to apply the stripper with a brush? Id probably go the spray-on route to apply, either a pump sprayer or 12v, but I do not have much experience with wood decks. I would have ran far, far away from that project but you knocked it out of the park. How long did it take from beginning to end?
Well done. Download Layout by Instagram and get rid of Pic Collage for your B&A’s. No watermark on the pics and can upload directly to Instagram and Facebook and Twitter.
Definitely not deck over. End result looks great though.
Now go finish the rest of the fence. Ha
I scraped all the loose material, lightly sanded and then stripped what was left with the hydroxide. I had roughly 3 -4 hours in the actual washing time. That also included the fence portion.
I do have a dedicated softwash system, but I just felt in more control by brushing it on one section at a time so it didn’t get ahead of me or dry. I didn’t want to let the hydroxide sit too long without washing it off. I brushed it on, let sit, scrubbed and then rinsed one section at a time. I applied Oxalic on everything at the end and kept it wet for a few minutes and rinsed after 5-10 minutes.
This was my second deck project. I learned everything through research on this site. It is an awesome resource!
Thank you
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haha… I offered to clean the whole fence. It is enormous. He said he may have me do it all eventually, but didn’t want the cost of the entire fence restoration at this time.
Okay, I will look into that. Thank you
How do you identify Deck over with certainty? The client mentioned it was a Behr finish that he used. I just assumed that it would be.
Devkover is an elastomeric coating. It is like an 1/8th thick and has a lot of texture to it.
If it is a water based film forming stain it sits on the surface like paint. But if it is somewhat pliable and can be peeled off in little strips usually.
Paint is paint. It is usually stiff and comes off in chips.
yeah that stuff def was not deck over. That is good to know. Seems like it should be easy to identify now. Thanks for sharing!
