staining a deck in Canada
 

I have a 5 year old cedar deck. Ontario, Canada.
I originally used Sikens stain (clear) for the deck because it brought out
the beauty of the wood. I know that it is easily damaged by sunlight and I
thought I realised the maintenance involved , but I have had to powerwash
the walking area and completely restain every year. Last year the local
supplier of Sikkens went bankrupt and I made the mistake of using Behr's
stain instead of Sikkens. The peeling was even worse.

This year I went back to Sikkens. I powerwashed off the old stain:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gbmiller/washing.jpg
Then I put on a coat of Sikkens Cetol SRD 072 Butternut.
I'm very pleased with the result:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gbmiller/finished.jpg
But how do I ensure that it will stay that way? I can't believe the
deterioration in the last year alone. Should I lightly powerwash regularly?
with some sort of detergent? Should I put on a second coat? If so, when? I
begin to get the impression that I need to powerwash down to the wood each
year because I'm somehow not applying the stain peoperly in the first place.
Any advice would be appreciated.

staining a deck in Canada
 

Well, I'm not sure that I'm doing it right but I have a 5 - 6 year old deck
in Regina. I too used Sikkens. I made sure that when the deck was new I
followed the instructions to a "T". I sanded all surfaces to get rid of
mill glaze, applied 2 coats of Cetol and then built the deck. If I
understand the maintenance instructions you don't have to powerwash all the
old/existing finish off, just the loose stuff and where it has peeled away
to allow the underlying wood to discolour. Then just let the deck dry for 3
clear days and reapply the Cetol. I've only had to do this about every
third year. So far seems to be OK.

"George" wrote in message
...
I have a 5 year old cedar deck. Ontario, Canada.
I originally used Sikens stain (clear) for the deck because it brought out
the beauty of the wood. I know that it is easily damaged by sunlight and I
thought I realised the maintenance involved , but I have had to powerwash
the walking area and completely restain every year. Last year the local
supplier of Sikkens went bankrupt and I made the mistake of using Behr's
stain instead of Sikkens. The peeling was even worse.

This year I went back to Sikkens. I powerwashed off the old stain:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gbmiller/washing.jpg
Then I put on a coat of Sikkens Cetol SRD 072 Butternut.
I'm very pleased with the result:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gbmiller/finished.jpg
But how do I ensure that it will stay that way? I can't believe the
deterioration in the last year alone. Should I lightly powerwash
regularly? with some sort of detergent? Should I put on a second coat? If
so, when? I begin to get the impression that I need to powerwash down to
the wood each year because I'm somehow not applying the stain peoperly in
the first place. Any advice would be appreciated.

staining a deck in Canada
 

Don't be too aggressive with the power washer. It will slowly etch out
the softwood in between each growth ring leaving you with a very rough
surface.

staining a deck in Canada
 

"George" wrote in message
...
I have a 5 year old cedar deck. Ontario, Canada.
I originally used Sikens stain (clear) for the deck because it brought out
the beauty of the wood. I know that it is easily damaged by sunlight and I
thought I realised the maintenance involved , but I have had to powerwash
the walking area and completely restain every year.

snip

Beautiful!!