[Pchicago]

I posted this in the Carpentry forum before I found this subforum..sorry to the administrators that be...

Im working on an old deck..woods in decent shape and the old stain looks to be completely worn away at this point...the wood (2x6 PT pine) absorbs water readily.

I need to clean it and then stain it

Found this deck cleaning product (link below) and did some reading on it, supposed to be excellent and proper - it's 2 part with a part 1 being a cleaner and part 2 being brightener/ph restoring component.

http://bestdeckcleaners.com/restore-a-deck-combo-kits/

Also, found this site which might be useful to some..it's a product review site that seems to have actual unbiased reviews....you never know but most of what I read was about right based on my experience with the products they actually have reviewed..

http://www.deckstainhelp.com/category/deck-product-reviews/deck-stain-reviews/

Im hoping some of you guys who do a lot of decks can chime in and suggest some other options / products that you have experience and confidence in..just want to cover my bases.

Im looking for a stain that'll give me good results with a reasonable maintenance/reapplication scheme..Im extremely leery of opaque/solid stains but the people here want a neutral gray color of some sort./on darker side but not too dark..


Also..this deck sits on the Eastern Shore of Lake Michigan and gets hammered with all types of weather..it's reasonably shaded so that's some plus..


Thanks

 

[carzie]

The key is to get it clean and get rid of the old finish and "dead" grey material to a pinkish fresh looking wood before you try to coat it, also it must be dry. Sikkens makes a good solid stain for decks if that's the direction they want to go. No matter what you use if their climate is any thing like here then you're looking at 3 years max for a maintenance coat.

 

[Pchicago]

Thanks Carzie, got all that Re prepping and let dry..Just hoping for some product recommends on the cleaner.

The two part "Restore a Deck" seems to get decent write ups..just want to know what else is out there that's good and won't trash the fibers of the wood..It's not pretty wood or anything..fairly knotty PT, I've seen better for sure.

I don't like solid stains for durability and maintenance so Im going at the very most, semi solid/transparent.

I'm wondering if there is an oil that will darken heavily but with some gray pigment, enough to make the finish read as gray but not to much pigment as to be a solid..or even a semi transparent.

There's a side deck up here that was stained, i think, last year (could be the year before, not sure), that is already starting to fail and I've seen it all to often where solids start to fail pretty fast..proper prep or not..look like hell and then are a lot of work to refinish.

Im probably stuck with semi transparent. Im just not crazy about the solid modern stains I've seen or used as far as durability.

Looking for clues on diffeent ideas and products.

 

[carzie]

Sikkens also makes a semi, it's called SRD, a 1 coat deal but not sure if it comes in grey. I did a new PT deck with it 4 years ago and it still looks good. I've used cleaners and brighteners before but it escapes me the brand. I'm sure if you went into a local SW store they could help you.