So I bought this house about 2.5 years ago. The first summer I was in
it, the red oak deck was fading a bit and clearly needed some stain.
The owner had left the oil based stain used previously in the garage,
so I used that to apply a new coat (after using deck cleaner and
allowing drying time).

The next year, it was already starting to peel and flake off. I
didn't get a chance to address it last summer, and now it looks
absolutely awful. Because of the large amount of peeling going on, I
assume I need to start from scratch here. Some suggestions I've
gotten are to use stain stripper (specifically Cabot's oil based stain
stripper) followed by the wood brightener product. I would then start
from scratch with whatever stain I want.

Realistically, I tested it, and it didn't exactly strip all the stain
off. In fact, I tried it on a portion of the wood that was in fairly
good shape, and I really can't see a difference in the area where the
stripper was used. It possibly looks a little lighter, but clearly
still stained. And this makes sense to me, because I don't see how
the stripper could strip off anything other than the top layer without
actually stripping off the wood itself. Is this really what a strain
stripper is meant to do?

Assuming I am on the right path, does it still make sense to use the
deck stripper and follow it up by a coat of the same (or darker) oil
based stain? My concern is that the spots that retained more stain
will end up being darker than those that did not. The only other
solution I can think of would be to sand it down, but that will be
quite a challenge with all the vertical slats on the handrail, not to
mention the fact that all the screws would then be sticking up a bit.

Any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated!

-Jeff

Ack, that's red cedar, not red oak.

And the products are Flood CWF - there was one can of oil based cedar
tone stain in there, which is what I refinished with last year. There
was also a can of clear coat, also flood CWF.

On May 1, 12:03*am, jeff37 wrote:
Ack, that's red cedar, not red oak.

And the products are Flood CWF - there was one can of oil based cedar
tone stain in there, which is what I refinished with last year. *There
was also a can of clear coat, also flood CWF.

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.

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.

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

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
Hahha, nice one. Sounds like your advice is about right though. I am
just going to try a few things.

But - to make it clear I am by no means trying to make this thing look
like new. I'm just trying to make it look like this isn't a crack
house. The deck looks terrible right now. Only way to fix it is to
strip all that stuff off according to the manufacturer. They are
suggesting I just strip it as many times as it takes. So, that should
be fun.

Thanks,
Jeff

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.

On May 3, 12:20*am, Boden wrote:
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.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


If it were me, I'd look into getting it professionally sandblasted. It
will cost a bit, but it's fast and zero effort on your part.

Sounds like the existing stain must be solid since it's peeling? If
you go with one that is semi-transparent, etc that will eliminate the
problem, provided the wood is nice enough that you can do so.