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Porches & Decks

Pressure treated wood deck finish issues

homeownersue Homeownersue

16 years ago

Hello. I have a pressure treated wood deck that I had refinished about 2 1/2 years ago. The GC who did the work pressure washed the deck, steps, railings, and lattice trim and then stained with a Duron deck product.Prior to this, the deck was very neglected (sellers threw a coat of Thompsons water seal over dirty, faded out deck). The vertical surface stain has held up nicely, as I would expect. Most of horizontal surfaces have faded somewhat (also to be expected). Within six months, there appeared some blotches that can best be described as "washed out" areas with irregular borders -- it just looks like someone sanded the color off in places (I'd post a photo but no digital camera, sorry). When I feel the surface in these areas with my fingers, I don't get that rough, scaly sort of feeling (nor is there that appearance) that I've been told indicates that the wood was "over - power-washed." And I was very clear in my instructions to the contractor that I wanted him to go easy with the power washing. However, it may be that he didn't, or perhaps stained too soon--I understand it is best to let the wood dry out properly after power wash. And the fellow also power washed my vinyl siding and left some light colored marks on two sides of the house (not visible close up, only when you step back) that someone told me means he didn't power wash correctly (that's a question for another forum, I know). The deck also very quickly lost its waterproofing capability from the sealing. I know I should have addressed this immedately but have had other things going on in life and home; also, this is not pretty but it is a deck and still standing up fine! Someone else suggests the answer is to have the deck surfaces sanded and then restained/resealed. Is there anything else to try? There is also quite a bit of moss on it, but I know how to deal with that. Any chance I could just clean the deck and then "spot treat" the washed out areas with fresh stain, or is my friend who favors sanding right? Any other answers? I'm not crazy about the idea of re-power washing--I understand that is not supposed to be done a lot. Many thanks for any ideas.

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Comments (2)

john_hyatt
16 years ago
Presure Treated yellow pine is a bad choice for decking.

Using a power washer is a bad idea all together on any kind of decking x100 with pt or cedar, unless you have been trained by the Ken.

www.restore-a-deck, Ken's store, has some stuff that will take your project back to nutural.

Seeing ashow you have made so many mistakes with this decking and your not real crazy about doing anything else you have to ask your self>>> Do I feel luckyYou got moss,you got grain flip from the major power wash,you got several coats of really bad finish,you have old pt decking,you got splits and cracks that are normal with pt material.

Choice # 1... do it right with the rad system,dry,sand where needed, put on several coats quality out door finish being sure not even to look at anything with tompsoms on the lable.

Choice # 2..buy what you got and paint the whole thing after a bleach wash and commet to painting every few years,you being so busy and all this might be your best bet. John
homeownersue Homeownersue
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the feedback, John. I want to be sure I understand --sounds like option 2 is (realistically) what I can accomplish. When you say "buy what you got" I guess you mean go the touch up route after I have washed the moss and dirt off of the deck. Am I right? That is something that I think I could handle for myself. And I have been warned off Thompsons by others, so no worries there. Thanks! It's "just me" and this house so I need manageable shortcuts where possible.
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Hi there. I pressure wash in the Southeast and I use Ready Seal stain. It's really really easy to work with because it doesn't require me to keep a "wet-edge" so I don't get lap marks. I've used a brush, a roller, a pump-up sprayer and/or flat pads to apply it. It's a penetrating stain so it's not like a paint...this sucks into the wood. I use it on my decks and I've been impressed with the longevity of the product. I have family in Wisconsin and we put it on a deck that is next to a 5th wheel travel trailer that is on some hunting land. This area gets a good bit of snow and certainly lots of frigid temps. It was done 3 years ago and is still holding up really well. Ready Seal has UV protection with the darker colors have more protection than the light colors. It's petroleum-based so it resists mold and mildew that you can get from other type of products that are made from something like linseed oil. Consider the long-term upkeep of any product. I have a lot of customers who choose something like an acrylic coating which is tough to remove. Tough to remove equals more money spent by the customer. And although I like to make more money, some of these products are just a bear to remove. My personal opinions....stay away from Behr, Cabot and Sikkens. Armstrong Clark is good. Their color palette is more orangey. Ready Seal has more browns, gold and reds. Color is always a personal opinion. And TEST PATCH TEST PATCH TEST PATCH!!! Nothing worse than going full speed ahead and realizing that you don't like the color! Good luck!
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