Are you sure the "Water Seal" you refer to is an oil based (requiring a petrochemical to clean the brushes and NOT soap and water)? Is it "transparent" and has no color listed or shown on the can? There is no need to "strip" or "sand" the Thompson's Oil based TRANSPARENT Water seal Product because the paraffin soaks into the wood and is not on the surface. It has no pigments in it that rest on top of the wood. Therefore there should be no "peeling" or "chipping" of the surface and no obvious wear other than wear to the wood itself, usually near stairs and door and very slight in most instances. If its the Thompson Oil Based Transparent product you used, there is no need to strip or sand. You may want to clean the surface (IF it is visibly in need of it) with something like diluted Clorox Exterior house cleaner to remove pollen, dust, dirt and any surface mildew (mildew spores are transported by the wind and there is always some on the surface, although it probably hasn't "stuck" to it. Its basically a spray or brush on job and rinse with a garden hose. Let it dry fully for at least a day (two is better). then you can apply your new oil based deck product. I suggest you wait at least one full year for the beading of water to stop and even two years is OK. My front deck got the Thompson's two years ago and I will stain it with an oil based stain this year. It requires minimal cleaning....I may just use a garden hose with a firemen's nozzle. The deck gets full sun all morning so mildew is very hard pressed to survive there. Best stain, IMO are oil based TWP. The main thing to watch for is to avoid "soap and water cleanup" because that is a water based, possibly latex deck product. You wouldn't think to put latex paint on your indoor hardwood. Latex wears like crap to foot traffic. A true stain soaks the color deep into the wood and is not a "paint pigment" that sits on top of the wood. The whole problem with deck preservation has been caused by the VOC controversy which tossed a lot of good products out of the market by legislation. The emphasis on water based products opened the door for a lot of "new" water products with "paint stains" which are not stains at all. Unfortunately, those products require stripping because they wear out fast, leaving some areas bare and have adhesion problems as they age. Stripping is more work than the refinishing. ALWAYS google the Material Safety Data Sheet of the product you are considering so you know exactly what it is. Be careful that most big box stores sales clerks are "selling" what the store has in stock. That is why they get paid. The best products used by Contractors are available through building supply vendors that cater to builders and carpenters and not the general public consumer. They do not refuse to sell to the general public, but "quality" is their life blood, not quantity of sales based on huge purchasing contracts supplying a nationwide chain. Wish you good luck. Don't be swayed by the claims of 6 year and 10 year lifespans. If its a water based paint pigment product, it will look like hell for half of those claimed "lifespans", Most people would prefer a true stain that can be reapplied easily without having to strip the deck. And. if you have to strip the deck, how do you strip the railings and balusters? I've done it....took a pressure washer and two days to complete. Then I started reading and wised up on the number of really crummy products that are available, being pushed by big box stores and consumer agencies that prioritize water based over oil because of an "environmental" bias. The idea behind using an initial Thompson's Oil Based Transparent on a new deck comes from a highly ethical, lifelong contractor/carpenter who needed a workable solution for customers who couldn't decide how they wanted there decks treated during an age of great confusion. The Thompson Transparent has an effective anti-fungal and gives good service up to two years. When you compare to other oil based products costing three times as much, many of them also recommend restaining after two years. BTW, oil based paraffin products do not support fungus.

He used Zep Deck and Fence cleaner. I guess we'll live with it - the Indians are coming tomorrow to build a tiki hut over a 15 x 20 ft portion of it (we're in S. Florida) and the worst of it looks like it will be under there - maybe I can hide it with a rug or something (plus it will be dark!) We'll wait, and use Restore-a-Deck and I'll be sure to come back here and review the products that will give a proper ph balance for next time - are they sodium percarbonate and a deck brightener with oxalate (I think I'm remembering the chemicals wrong)? How long do you think the finish will take to fade? Thanks SO much for the help! Carol

Hello ~ This past week I stained a brand new con-hart redwood deck with the Defy Extreme Pine Stain. The visual result were stunning. However, I am sad to report that 2 days after it was stained we had a light rain and a major issue developed. The water did indeed bead up perfectly on the deck, but as it evaporated it left leopard spots and water stains over a majority of the surface area of the deck. I called the manufacturer (SaverSystems) and to their credit they immediately called me back and requested photos, which I sent. Within an hour a 'chemist' called me back and said he felt the spotting was due to acid rain (I live in LA, so it could be plausible). However, not ALL of the deck spotted and stained - so the acid rain explanation doesn't quite solve everything. The chemist relayed to me to wash the entire surface of the deck with Dawn and water and that would remove the spotting and stains. It did remove some of the stains, lightened others and had minimal effect on some. I was disappointed. I am willing to admit in my haste and thinking it was fresh wood, that i that I did not use their cleaner and brighten before the staining process and indeed this could be part of the problem as they relayed if the PH of the wood is off it may not take the stain properly. As of now the deck is still spotted and stained to some degree and the only recourse I will have is to remove the stain via sanding or chemical and restain the entire surface.

I agree with the last comment--if you just had it put in, then there's probably not much to clean. Take a close-up look at the fence and see if you can see any large spots that need individual cleaning (such as bird droppings) and then hose it off. While you let it dry see if you can put a cover on it to prevent anything else from dirtying it. By the way, my husband and I are also looking to get a cedar fence put in pretty soon. Do you like the fence you had put in? We just want a second opinion before we put it in. http://www.citywidefence.com/seattle-types-of-fences/cedar-fences/