Joe wrote:

On May 1, 8:17 am, jeff37 wrote:

I dought its a red oak deck likely PT pine. Cabots oil is good,
failure of stain is often not following instructions, like it gets to
cold at night-50 , or was damp, or moldy. Bleach Kills mold cheaply.

Right...I said it was red cedar in the very response you quoted...

I know there are a handful of reasons it may have failed, but right
now I'm just trying to figure out how to fix it.


Cruise your local pro paint stores, lumber yards the library (Consumer
REports) and home centers and ask a whole bunch of questions. Distill
all the answers and keep trying all the remedies offered. One might
work some day, but hopefully in a few years the appearance of the deck
will no longer be a major concern and you can let it age gracefully
until it is time to replace it with something more durable. Accept the
fact that if you insist on a new looking deck it will be as high
priced in terms of materials and labor as having Paris Hilton for a
trophy wife.Good luck.

Joe
I'm faced with a similar problem. My deck is also vertical grain red
cedar and was originally stained using a clear Cabot Stain. Then the
hug-a-trees came into their own and our government forced the original
stain off the market. Replacement finishes are not honest
"replacements." The new finish formulations don't adhere well when
placed over the places where the original finish persists.

The only remedy I can see is to remove all of the existing finish and
begin anew with currently available finishes. Cabot, Flood or Benjamin
Moore make acceptable products but I strongly urge calling and talking
with a coatings chemist at the company you choose to buy from...not a
salesman. I've done it and found it to be worthwhile. I expect that
the stripping will take several years since I have over 1000 sq ft to do
so I am now looking for how to do this easily. I have not had good
success hiring contractors to do this so far. Their approach is to use
a pressure washer, which is the wrong answer.