I have a wooden deck that may be 30 years old.

It was somehow treated in the past, but I do not know how.

It is in good physical shape, but begins to show signs of green moss
growing on it.

I would like to treat it myself, power wash, apply some wood
preservative, and then stain it.

Would you like to suggest a good preservative and stain. Thanks

| Would you like to suggest a good preservative and stain.

You didn't mention what kind of wood it is. PT? Fir?
I gather that it's bare wood. There are not a lot of
choices these days. Water-base deck stain is junk.
It will just wear away in one season.

Oil base stains no longer come in solid colors, though
you can get semi-solid. But most colors don't look so
great with only partial opacity over wood, especially old
wood.

If you like the wood look you
might try the Benjamin Moore transluscent alkyd
stains. They have several colors (mahogany flame,
teak, cedar, etc) that are a copy of the Cabot's
Australian Timber Oil stains, which are now off the
market. The can says to only use one coat. I use
two coats. It may take a few days to dry but you
get a nice, thick coat with a gloss that will last awhile.
And the colors are nice.

All of the currently available oil stains seem to have
the same problem with drying. They've fudged on the
driers in order to meet the EPA regulations. So then they
have to tell customers to only use one coat. But few
things look good with one coat. I've considered trying
japan drier to speed up the cure, but haven't yet tried
it, so I don't know how it would work.

Beyond that, it's mostly experimentation. I've used
a combination of good exterior gloss oil paint with linseed
oil and thinner in the past. It makes for a watery liquid
that soaks in and provides solid color with a bit of gloss.
Holds up well. Linseed oil is what people used to use to
protect outdoor wood and it's still used for wood gutters.
The only down side of that approach is that you don't get
any leveling to smooth out the surface. It looks solid
like paint, but since it's more like a glaze it doesn't build
up to smooth out little cracks and roughness.

On Sat, 20 Jun 2015 21:13:59 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote:


| Would you like to suggest a good preservative and stain.

You didn't mention what kind of wood it is. PT? Fir?
I gather that it's bare wood. There are not a lot of
choices these days. Water-base deck stain is junk.
It will just wear away in one season.

Oil base stains no longer come in solid colors, though
you can get semi-solid. But most colors don't look so
great with only partial opacity over wood, especially old
wood.

If you like the wood look you
might try the Benjamin Moore transluscent alkyd
stains. They have several colors (mahogany flame,
teak, cedar, etc) that are a copy of the Cabot's
Australian Timber Oil stains, which are now off the
market. The can says to only use one coat. I use
two coats. It may take a few days to dry but you
get a nice, thick coat with a gloss that will last awhile.
And the colors are nice.

All of the currently available oil stains seem to have
the same problem with drying. They've fudged on the
driers in order to meet the EPA regulations. So then they
have to tell customers to only use one coat. But few
things look good with one coat. I've considered trying
japan drier to speed up the cure, but haven't yet tried
it, so I don't know how it would work.

Beyond that, it's mostly experimentation. I've used
a combination of good exterior gloss oil paint with linseed
oil and thinner in the past. It makes for a watery liquid
that soaks in and provides solid color with a bit of gloss.
Holds up well. Linseed oil is what people used to use to
protect outdoor wood and it's still used for wood gutters.
The only down side of that approach is that you don't get
any leveling to smooth out the surface. It looks solid
like paint, but since it's more like a glaze it doesn't build
up to smooth out little cracks and roughness.

I'm in the middle of applying rez "deck revitalizer" on my 19 year old
pressure treated southern yellow pine deck. For 19 years it has been
"naked" and was developing some cracks and minor deterioration. I used
their filler on the wider cracks and to fill in where wood had rotted,
then applied one coat with a roller. Didn't fill the fine cracks, so I
went at them with a brush - will be applying a second coat with the
roller in a day or so, after it has fully dried (we are expecting rain
tommorrow - so that will have to dry too) The stuff has a real
"anti-skid" finish - like coarse sand.

| I'm in the middle of applying rez "deck revitalizer" on my 19 year old
| pressure treated southern yellow pine deck. For 19 years it has been
| "naked" and was developing some cracks and minor deterioration. I used
| their filler on the wider cracks and to fill in where wood had rotted,
| then applied one coat with a roller. Didn't fill the fine cracks, so I
| went at them with a brush - will be applying a second coat with the
| roller in a day or so, after it has fully dried (we are expecting rain
| tommorrow - so that will have to dry too) The stuff has a real
| "anti-skid" finish - like coarse sand.

I've been curious about that kind of product. Sherwin
Williams has something similar. Fairly new. They claim
it's extra tough due to special hight-tech, crosslinked
polymers. (Then again, that's basically the definition
of a paint film.) Unfortunately, they don't have samples
and their description sounds like a special coating for
high wear areas like boat docks. Your description
sounds similar. I'm not sure I'd want an "anti-skid"
texture on a deck. It sounds "utilitarian" rather than
attractive. What do you think of it, in terms of "elegance",
assuming you care about that aspect?
I'm curious how long it will last, since it sounds like a
thick coating on top of the wood. There's really no way
to know about that with such a new product.

I came across some interesting info:

---------------------------------------------------------
Rock salt will damage the coating and is
not recommended. Metal shovels will damage
the coating. We recommend the use of
plastic shovels only.

Q: Can I use Revitalize on all four sides of my deck boards?

YES. REVITALIZE® is a breathable coating and
can be used to coat all sides of decking boards.

[That implies it may not last well against moisture, just
as normal acrylic paint doesn't.]

Q: How does Revitalize compare to porch and floor paint?

REVITALIZE® is intended to improve the appearance
of aged wood and concrete surfaces like patios and retaining
walls, structurally sound old, gray weathered decks, stairs,
docks, posts, railings, and more -- as an alternative to
replacement. It will fill small cracks up to ¼-inch in depth.
REVITALIZE® can also be applied to new wood or to
30-day-cured new concrete when a non-slip, textured
surface is desired. REVITALIZE® lays down a finely-textured
surface.


http://menards.pittsburghpaints.com/...facer-faq.aspx

--------------------------------------------------------------------

It sounds like these products are a good option
to improve the look of an old, weathered deck,
which is what it sounds like you have. But maybe
not the best choice as a basic deck finish.

The marketing material at the SW store for
their product was not so honest. They describe
their product almost identically, but present it
as something like an industrial coating rather
than a high tech bandage for old wood.

"Ignoramus29879" wrote in message
...

I have a wooden deck that may be 30 years old.
It was somehow treated in the past, but I do not know how.

It is in good physical shape, but begins to show signs of green moss
growing on it.

I would like to treat it myself, power wash, apply some wood
preservative, and then stain it.

If the only visible problem after 30 years is moss, you probably
do not need to apply "preservative." (But your local climate is
important, cf. humidity etc., and we do not know where you live.)

It seems unnecessary to use a pressure washer on a 30 y.o. deck.
Hand scrubbing would clean the deck and remove moss. You
can make your own cleaning mixture from
1/3 cup TSP (83 cc.)
2/3 cup liquid detergent
1 qt. bleach
Water (2 or 3 gallons).
(Wear gloves when scrubbing because of the bleach and TSP.)
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

On 06/21/2015 01:32 AM, Ignoramus29879 wrote:
I have a wooden deck that may be 30 years old.

It was somehow treated in the past, but I do not know how.

It is in good physical shape, but begins to show signs of green moss
growing on it.

I would like to treat it myself, power wash, apply some wood
preservative, and then stain it.

Would you like to suggest a good preservative and stain. Thanks


Thompson's Transparent Water Seal - Oil based.
Spray it on yearly with a garden sprayer.

I have a wooden deck that may be 30 years old.
It was somehow treated in the past, but I do not know how.
It is in good physical shape, but begins to show signs of green moss
growing on it.
I would like to treat it myself, power wash, apply some wood
preservative, and then stain it.
Would you like to suggest a good preservative and stain. Thanks

I would not recommend power washing a wood deck. It's too easy to damage
the deck surface and you'll force water into the wood fibers. You would
need to wait at least a week or two for the deck to dry out if you use
that method. It will also raise the wood grain and leave a "fuzzy"
texture on the deck.

A safer and simpler option is to simply get a brush and soapy water and
scrub down the deck by hand. Add a little bleach if you wish to kill the
moss and stains. You can also find cleaners specifically made for wood
decks at any home center.

If the deck still looks bad after basic cleaning, they do make "renewal"
deck cleaners that will bleach the wood a bit to even everything out in
preparation for stain.

If your deck is made of cedar, redwood, or other natural wood, it would
be a good time to give everything a light sanding to remove surface
scratches and other blemishes. It's a LOT of work, but makes a big
difference. DO NOT try sanding pressure treated lumber though, you'll
just create a lot of toxic dust.

Once your deck is clean and dry, apply a good penetrating oil stain. I've
had good results with both Cabot (sold at Lowes) and Sikkens (sold at
Home Depot) deck stains.

DO NOT use any kind of finish that forms a film on the deck surface. Over
time the film will break down, crack, and look terrible. I used Behr deck
stain once, huge mistake. I had good results with their siding stain, but
the deck stain went on streaky and uneven and just looked terrible. I
completely sanded it off and applied Sikkens stain, much better results.
I've also heard a lot of bad reports for Thompsons water seal, so I
wouldn't recommend that either.

Good luck!

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

On Sun, 21 Jun 2015 08:19:03 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote:

| I'm in the middle of applying rez "deck revitalizer" on my 19 year old
| pressure treated southern yellow pine deck. For 19 years it has been
| "naked" and was developing some cracks and minor deterioration. I used
| their filler on the wider cracks and to fill in where wood had rotted,
| then applied one coat with a roller. Didn't fill the fine cracks, so I
| went at them with a brush - will be applying a second coat with the
| roller in a day or so, after it has fully dried (we are expecting rain
| tommorrow - so that will have to dry too) The stuff has a real
| "anti-skid" finish - like coarse sand.

I've been curious about that kind of product. Sherwin
Williams has something similar. Fairly new. They claim
it's extra tough due to special hight-tech, crosslinked
polymers. (Then again, that's basically the definition
of a paint film.) Unfortunately, they don't have samples
and their description sounds like a special coating for
high wear areas like boat docks. Your description
sounds similar. I'm not sure I'd want an "anti-skid"
texture on a deck. It sounds "utilitarian" rather than
attractive. What do you think of it, in terms of "elegance",
assuming you care about that aspect?
I'm curious how long it will last, since it sounds like a
thick coating on top of the wood. There's really no way
to know about that with such a new product.

Well, this stuff is not nearly as hoary as the Rustoleum Restore
product, or the Olympic product. On my well weathered SYP deck, the
texture of the grain still shows through, and applying it with a
normal 3/8" or 10mm tile acrylic roller, it went on pretty thin
compared to those other products applied with their special "loop"
roller. It does have a rather agressive course sand type finish,

I bought an 11.7 liter container (that is 3 US gallons) and I would
say I used about 2 gallons of that on a 12X12 deck with railing on 2
sides. There are 4 4x4 posts, 24 feet of 2X6 , 24 feet of 2X4, and 24
feet of 5/4X6 in the railing,(all covered on both sides and one edge,
more or less) as well as 36 feet of 2X10 covered on one side.
(perimeter framing)

It took less material than I expected - with 2 coats on pretty well
everything - the main deck surface 2 rolled coats plus over half with
an extra brushed coat to fill narrow cracks. Wider cracks were filled
first with their crack filler product.

We will see how it stans up over the summer and next winter. Sure hope
it sticks better than the rustoleum product everyone is posting horror
stories about on you-tube!!!!!!!

Interesting info. Thanks.

On Sun, 21 Jun 2015 09:31:20 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote:

I came across some interesting info:

---------------------------------------------------------
Rock salt will damage the coating and is
not recommended. Metal shovels will damage
the coating. We recommend the use of
plastic shovels only.

Q: Can I use Revitalize on all four sides of my deck boards?

YES. REVITALIZE® is a breathable coating and
can be used to coat all sides of decking boards.

[That implies it may not last well against moisture, just
as normal acrylic paint doesn't.]

Normal acrylic doesn't stand up against moisture??? Could have fooled
me!! I've had a lot better luch with premium acrylic latex paints than
I ever had with oil paints where moisture is an issue. Letting vapour
out means it never has to blister from moisture.

Q: How does Revitalize compare to porch and floor paint?

REVITALIZE® is intended to improve the appearance
of aged wood and concrete surfaces like patios and retaining
walls, structurally sound old, gray weathered decks, stairs,
docks, posts, railings, and more -- as an alternative to
replacement. It will fill small cracks up to ¼-inch in depth.
REVITALIZE® can also be applied to new wood or to
30-day-cured new concrete when a non-slip, textured
surface is desired. REVITALIZE® lays down a finely-textured
surface.


http://menards.pittsburghpaints.com/...facer-faq.aspx

--------------------------------------------------------------------


It sounds like Ptitsburgh and REZ are pretty much the same product
(both use the "revitalize" trademark)
It sounds like these products are a good option
to improve the look of an old, weathered deck,
which is what it sounds like you have. But maybe
not the best choice as a basic deck finish.

Don't think I'd use it on a fresh deck, but there has been NOTHING on
my deck for 19 years. On my front (cedar) porch I had used a stain,
but it didn't stick and looked awfull within 2 years, so I sanded it
off and left it bare for over 10 years before I replaced it with Trex.
Other than 2 or 3 soft spots, it still looked very presentable when I
tore it out to put in the trex.

This is in Central Ontario where we get all extremes of weather from
-40 to +95F, varying from extremely high humidity to months of virtual
drought - so conditions are tough for an exposed wooden deck.

The marketing material at the SW store for
their product was not so honest. They describe
their product almost identically, but present it
as something like an industrial coating rather
than a high tech bandage for old wood.

Mabee it is both???

On Sun, 21 Jun 2015 09:43:12 -0400, "Don Phillipson"
wrote:

"Ignoramus29879" wrote in message
...

I have a wooden deck that may be 30 years old.
It was somehow treated in the past, but I do not know how.

It is in good physical shape, but begins to show signs of green moss
growing on it.

I would like to treat it myself, power wash, apply some wood
preservative, and then stain it.

If the only visible problem after 30 years is moss, you probably
do not need to apply "preservative." (But your local climate is
important, cf. humidity etc., and we do not know where you live.)

It seems unnecessary to use a pressure washer on a 30 y.o. deck.
Hand scrubbing would clean the deck and remove moss. You
can make your own cleaning mixture from
1/3 cup TSP (83 cc.)
2/3 cup liquid detergent
1 qt. bleach
Water (2 or 3 gallons).
(Wear gloves when scrubbing because of the bleach and TSP.)
That's all we did for 19 years on our SYP deck - except we rinsed it
off with a pressure washer after scrubbing it. We used a lot less
bleach though -about half.

On Sun, 21 Jun 2015 14:46:03 +0100, Wa1t 0akley
wrote:

On 06/21/2015 01:32 AM, Ignoramus29879 wrote:
I have a wooden deck that may be 30 years old.

It was somehow treated in the past, but I do not know how.

It is in good physical shape, but begins to show signs of green moss
growing on it.

I would like to treat it myself, power wash, apply some wood
preservative, and then stain it.

Would you like to suggest a good preservative and stain. Thanks


Thompson's Transparent Water Seal - Oil based.
Spray it on yearly with a garden sprayer.
The old stuff worked pretty good. The new stuff??? Whizzing on the
deck would do almost as much good.

On Sun, 21 Jun 2015 15:49:03 +0000 (UTC), HerHusband
wrote:

I have a wooden deck that may be 30 years old.
It was somehow treated in the past, but I do not know how.
It is in good physical shape, but begins to show signs of green moss
growing on it.
I would like to treat it myself, power wash, apply some wood
preservative, and then stain it.
Would you like to suggest a good preservative and stain. Thanks

I would not recommend power washing a wood deck. It's too easy to damage
the deck surface and you'll force water into the wood fibers. You would
need to wait at least a week or two for the deck to dry out if you use
that method. It will also raise the wood grain and leave a "fuzzy"
texture on the deck.

We found just using the bleach left a fuzzy mess, which the pressure
washer removed. The bleach attacks the lignin in the wood surface,
releasing some of the cellulose fibers. The deck isn't smooth after
cleaning this way - it has a pronounced grain texture. (an
accellerated weathering) - I'm counting on that helping make the
revitalize product stick tightly to the deck!!

A safer and simpler option is to simply get a brush and soapy water and
scrub down the deck by hand. Add a little bleach if you wish to kill the
moss and stains. You can also find cleaners specifically made for wood
decks at any home center.

If the deck still looks bad after basic cleaning, they do make "renewal"
deck cleaners that will bleach the wood a bit to even everything out in
preparation for stain.

If your deck is made of cedar, redwood, or other natural wood, it would
be a good time to give everything a light sanding to remove surface
scratches and other blemishes. It's a LOT of work, but makes a big
difference. DO NOT try sanding pressure treated lumber though, you'll
just create a lot of toxic dust.

Once your deck is clean and dry, apply a good penetrating oil stain. I've
had good results with both Cabot (sold at Lowes) and Sikkens (sold at
Home Depot) deck stains.

DO NOT use any kind of finish that forms a film on the deck surface. Over
time the film will break down, crack, and look terrible. I used Behr deck
stain once, huge mistake. I had good results with their siding stain, but
the deck stain went on streaky and uneven and just looked terrible. I
completely sanded it off and applied Sikkens stain, much better results.
I've also heard a lot of bad reports for Thompsons water seal, so I
wouldn't recommend that either.

Good luck!

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

Mayayana posted for all of us...



YES. REVITALIZE® is a breathable coating and
can be used to coat all sides of decking boards.


Don't they have six sides (the end) like a door?

--
Tekkie *Please post a follow-up*

"Ignoramus29879" wrote in message
...

I have a wooden deck that may be 30 years old.

It was somehow treated in the past, but I do not know how.

It is in good physical shape, but begins to show signs of green moss
growing on it.

I would like to treat it myself, power wash, apply some wood
preservative, and then stain it.

Would you like to suggest a good preservative and stain. Thanks

Dick or deck?