Hello, I have deck made of pressure treated lumber, and the previous
owner had applied solid stain on it. Since I like to see natural wood
grain, I intend to use semi-transparant stain of Olympus (guranteed to
last minimum 5 years).

I am thinking to first apply Paint Stripper, followed by Deck Cleaner,
and lastly the semi-transparent stain -- all Olympus products. Got a
few doubts hoping to get your feedback before I start my deck
restoration project.

1) Does pressure treated lumber has good grain ? Will the wood grain be
visible with the semi-transparent stain on ?

2) I heard that pressure treated lumber has some protecting coating on.
Will all the stripper and cleaner chemicals affect the coating and thus
the durability of the deck ?

3) I cannot reach the flip-side of the deck -- I mean the side of the
deck facing down the earth. Therefore I cannot re-stain that side. Will
this be any concern related to the wood durability after applying all
these chemicals?

Many Thanks!

wrote in message

1) Does pressure treated lumber has good grain ? Will the wood grain be
visible with the semi-transparent stain on ?

Sure, but I've never seen PT wood that I'd call "pretty" because of the
grain. It is usually SYP and looks similar to construction material.


2) I heard that pressure treated lumber has some protecting coating on.
Will all the stripper and cleaner chemicals affect the coating and thus
the durability of the deck ?

Not a coating but an infusion of chemicals. Sure you will remove some of
it.



3) I cannot reach the flip-side of the deck -- I mean the side of the
deck facing down the earth. Therefore I cannot re-stain that side. Will
this be any concern related to the wood durability after applying all
these chemicals?

No, it would probably look ugly with the drippings if you could see it, but
since you can't . . . .

Couple of suggestions. Wait a year or two and the stain will probably wear
or peel off saving hours of removal time. Most deck stains in sunlight will
last only a couple of year in spite of what the can says. You are taking on
a LOT of work.

If you truly want a good looking deck, replace the decking boards with epe,
mahogany, cypress, etc and coat it with Penofin oils. It will look much
richer, last longer, and be a thing of beauty. I built some furniture from
mahogany decking material. Look on my web page under woodworking to see it.
That wil be the surface on my deck in a couple of years when I get sick of
stainign the PT that is on it now. Not cheap, it will probably run you
$3.75 a square foot, but will last 50 years and look good along the way.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/