New Cedar Deck Staining Problem Advice?
 

Last summer I had a new large (850 Sq Ft) deck built using White Cedar
lumber. Its beautiful wood but I did not want it to weather and gray.

After much research I treated it with Sikkens Cetol® SRD stain. I
waited about a month and also after 4 dry days then applied the first
coat of this product. After drying the look was great.

About a month later and again after waiting for 3-4 consecutive dry
days I applied a 2nd coat of the same product. Again I was very
pleased with the overall look. Great!

Being located in New England (Central CT) there were quite a number of
snow storms resulting in standing snow on the deck for weeks/months at
a time.

Now that spring is here, the snow melted and warm days ahead I noticed
that there are now quite a number of areas of peeling of the stain.
It appears that both coats have peeled exposing the bare cedar.

First of all, has anyone experienced this and what might have caused
it? More importantly I am seeking advice as to how to repair/treat
these areas to both blend well and hopefully prevent the same thing
from occuring next winter.

Please share your deck sealing/staining tips and guidance?

Thanks a million.

B

"Bob_M" wrote in message
...
Last summer I had a new large (850 Sq Ft) deck built using White Cedar
lumber. Its beautiful wood but I did not want it to weather and gray.

After much research I treated it with Sikkens Cetol® SRD stain. I
waited about a month and also after 4 dry days then applied the first
coat of this product. After drying the look was great.

About a month later and again after waiting for 3-4 consecutive dry
days I applied a 2nd coat of the same product. Again I was very
pleased with the overall look. Great!

Being located in New England (Central CT) there were quite a number of
snow storms resulting in standing snow on the deck for weeks/months at
a time.

Now that spring is here, the snow melted and warm days ahead I noticed
that there are now quite a number of areas of peeling of the stain.
It appears that both coats have peeled exposing the bare cedar.

First of all, has anyone experienced this and what might have caused
it? More importantly I am seeking advice as to how to repair/treat
these areas to both blend well and hopefully prevent the same thing
from occuring next winter.

Please share your deck sealing/staining tips and guidance?


I'm not familiar with SRD, but I've used the Sikkens DEK base/topcoat system
on my cedar porch. It looks great but I've also experienced some flaking
after the winter snows melt. Couple thoughts: moisture is the culprit here,
Sikkens recommends coating the undersides of the deck boards, too - this
wasn't a practical option for me so there is some moisture that's able to
enter from underneath. Also, every little break in the finish - screw holes,
scrapes from furniture, splits as the wood ages, etc. are water entryways
and will probably cause peeling.

So every other spring I take a scraper and RO sander to scrape and feather
out the peeling spots. Reapply my DEK base to the bare areas and recoat the
whole shebang with topcoat (name of which escapes me right now). It really
looks beautiful, but it's an awful lot of work. In retrospect, I probably
would've avoided a film forming finish.

Obviously you'll want to consult the good folks at Sikkens to get their take
on the situation. Good luck.

"Jim R" nope, wrote in message
I'm not familiar with SRD, but I've used the Sikkens DEK base/topcoat
system
on my cedar porch. It looks great but I've also experienced some flaking
after the winter snows melt. Couple thoughts: moisture is the culprit
here,
Sikkens recommends coating the undersides of the deck boards, too - this
wasn't a practical option for me so there is some moisture that's able to
enter from underneath. Also, every little break in the finish - screw
holes,
scrapes from furniture, splits as the wood ages, etc. are water entryways
and will probably cause peeling.

I've had the same problem with a Cabot stain. It is in great shape on all
the vertical portion, but the decking went to hell after one season and it
is coated on the bottom also. The original PT wood is not all that smooth.
I figure water is getting in their and a couple of freeze/thaw cycles are
causing it to flake off. One a tiny gap starts, the rest follows quickly.
Ed