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I'm reasonably handy, even to building my own decks, but when it came to staining them this time I screwed up. I went to a big box store, examined the options, and decided to go with Olympic cedar deck stain and the Olympic cleaner.
This deck was really dirty, so I used a TSP soak and scrub, then a spray of diluted household bleach to kill any current mold. Both were followed with copious rinses. The following day, I used the "no scrub" deck cleaner according to instructions. It did make a small but significant improvement. Again, I followed instructions, rinsed with lots of water and let things dry. On a scale of 1 to ten, my deck surface prep was at least an 8, probably 9.
Then, I look at the gallon of stain. I figure "shake the kishkas out of it before opening" and did so for about ten minutes. Then I said to myself, "Self, you need to make DOUBLE sure the pigment is mixed in." Out came the stirring stick. After another ten minutes, OK, I'm ready to do this.
First attempt - old garden sprayer. Tried to clean it out and found the pump had a split in it. No easy application. OK, plan B, try a roller and handle. IF I had continued with that, the gallon that is supposed to cover at least 240 square feet would have covered 75 square feet tops. The wood was just sucking it in.
Plan C, 4" brush and latex gloves, get on hands and knees. Brush, brush, brush, brush...hmmm, don't see any stain, but it is covering. In doing my 12' by 12' deck (144 square feet) I estimate that I might have a pint left over. I continue doing the deck in roughly 4' x 4' squares.
On the last 4' x 4' square, all of a sudden "Hi, I'm your pigment! I'm here to look like yellow rust paint on your last section of deck!" W T F ????? Has somebody decided to play practical jokes with deck stain?
I finish the section, then try to go over the other 8 sections with a light brush so that the c*r*a*p looks at least evenly applied. I get a more or less acceptable effect except the stain looks NOTHING like cedar. It looks like the Titanic had liver disease in the bilge and threw up on my deck.
The good thing?? The stuff I got on me came of easily with shampoo. I can't WAIT to see how this works in a good rain...
I'll admit it. I screwed up. I trusted that a $35/gal product would be better than something I could make at home with mineral spirits and a candle or two, and maybe some shoe polish. The other gallon is going back. With luck, the clerk will duck and not get hurt.
You seem to mix up "need" and "want".
I "want" photos of boards of directors saying "To heck with our customers, make it cheaper, shrink the packaging, increase the ad budget so no one will notice." I don't "need" them.
I "want" photos of our politicians caught in the act of selling out our country. I don't really "need" them to understand what is going on.
I "want" photos of the people of this company saying "*pfft* Looks like cedar stain to me", while puffing a joint. I don't "need" it.
All I do is call 'em as I see 'em. I blame myself and myself alone for being suckered. The company is peripheral to my own gullibility and stupidity. Maybe they have some magic way of getting their stain mixed into their largely cheap solvent product. I don't care. I was stupid enough to trust them.
This deck was really dirty, so I used a TSP soak and scrub...
I followed instructions, rinsed with lots of water and let things dry.
On a scale of 1 to ten, my deck surface prep was at least an 8, probably 9.
Then, I look at the gallon of stain.
^How much time elapsed before the stain was applied?
I've been advised no less than one week of mid summer blisteringly hot temps.
^How much time elapsed before the stain was applied?
I've been advised no less than one week of mid summer blisteringly hot temps.
Less than that. This deck gets full sun. That wasn't the issue anyway. Wood that absorbs the treatment like a sponge is pretty obviously not too wet, we haven't had rain in over a week, nor was any pre-treatment an issue. That advice might be fine for people who have shaded decks or ones with complicated structures though.
Looked at it again this morning. I did a decent job of covering up the issue with uneven pigment application, and the surface is covered with the protectant, but I hate the coloration - which is sorta like the cheapest sapwood cedar fence color with traces of green in it from the pressure treating. Looks like I'll be making up my own treatment and re-doing it. - KB, the color it came out is somewhere between the colors of the wood in the right and left pictures of the TWP header on their website. TWP Stain Sealer | Wood Deck Preservative so although the product MUST be better than what I used, and I note the much larger solids components to the mix, I'm going to "roll my own" with a pint or so of spirits and do some experimenting and testing on this deck. I've got others out back to do, so I'll likely do some further checking on the TWP and may use it on those.
Update: Too long a story, but ended up trying Flood's CWF-UV cedar tone on another deck. The difference between it and the Olympic stain is like night and day. I am SUPER-happy with the results. Application was better than many paints I have used, coverage was great, color tone was exactly what I wanted. +++
I salvaged the first deck with a combo of JASCO wood preservative with a brown tint and (sigh) Thompson's. However... I applied it with a garden sprayer and didn't use a full respirator, since I knew the droplets would be big. HUGE mistake. Some solvent interaction was just plain nasty, even without inhaling the droplets.
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