Don't Let This Happen To You! The Cedar Deck Incident!
81TO STAIN OR NOT TO STAIN? THAT IS THE QUESTION!
Three years ago, my wife and I undertook the sometimes painful task of home remodeling. We added a 20 x 20 room and a beautiful cedar plank and rail deck. The room is beautiful. So is the deck (in theory).
The problem was this. We messed up big time waiting to stain the fresh cedar! Being so dazzled by it's beauty, we were completely stupefied! Blinded!Too much time was spent in ignorant admiration and not enough in effort. We simply waited too long to stain the wood! Blasted!
Here's our story:
After countless hours of laborious planning and construction, my 'brilliant' thought process went something like this. Wow! This deck is beautiful! Just look at how nice that fresh-off-the-truck cedar looks! I want to keep it that way!
Let's stain it! -- Now!
Yeah! That would be great!! -- (That would've also been smart). -- But we waited some more. Don't know why. Still blinded I guess. Or cedar drunk!
"Let's pick out a color," my wife chimed.
"Not a problem," I added. "And the best deck sealant as well." (By this time the deck had been weathered but still looked decent; or so we assumed).
So off we go to the local Lowe's and get our stain. And much to our happy, happy joy, the search didn't take long. We quickly found what we were looking for and motored back home. Our shiny new deck would soon be encapsulated for generations; or so we assumed (again).
After sun bathing for about 5 weeks, most of the deck's shiny new skin could still be seen. So we joyfully applied the most expensive deck stain our rollers could dip into and journeyed on toward deck nirvana. That was the last of the happy, happy joy time.
The Results:
I can't recall the exact date and time but it wasn't long before our freshly-stained deck morphed into our freshly-peeling deck. And then our freshly-diminishing-in-appearance deck. And eventually our headache deck of epic proportion. It looked awful. Still does. See the photos! Ugh!
Our lesson:
In short, allow your new cedar deck to be naked for two weeks max. If you wait longer than that, the woody freshness (all nice and sexy for sure) will wane to a dull gray. The window of opportunity will shut tighter than a croc on a log.
For us, the task ahead is the painstaking process of sanding, power washing, and finally restaining our deck. Not a happy, happy, joy time for sure!
Oh, and did I mention we used the most expensive stain we could find. Brilliant!
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Rob,
Yikes! You have a job ahead of you now! Good luck with that one... post some pictures when you have finished it!
I'll keep you posted when we get it done. It'll be awhile for sure. Thanks.
I know you probably tried this but, did you try using a deck wash? Bleach is good for cleaning decks and restoring them somewhat.
Cedar drunk! Ha! A hard-learned lesson.
lol, this is why i stopped undertaking projects. me and follow through, not always the best of buds.
at least it isnt years worth of damage, but make sure you have the time free and the will power to sand through and stain fast. can't wait to see the finished product.
I have seen many others make the same mistake, you are not alone if that is any consolation. You will have a good laugh with this after the restoration is complete!
I appreciate all your kind words of encouragement. If my wife and I had the time and fortitude we might tackle this beast this year. Bids to have it done are sure to be outrageous.
The pictures do a great job of illustrating your situation. Thanks for sharing your experience. We can all learn from it.
I have read dozens of stories of cedar deck restoration but a yet to read of anyboby using my solution of silmply unscrewing the deck boards and turning them over.I cleaned and then used a brightener and now have a new looking cedar deck.
Jeff J:
THAT is a great idea! I'm out to give it a try! Really!
Thanks!
It doesn't matter if you waited or not, we stained ours right after we had it done, and I think mine looks worse than yours. We have sanded and stripped and restained it about 3 times in the last 5 years and it continues to peel every year. I have yet to find a solution to this deck problem short of getting rid of it. Hope you find a solution to your problem because we are still searching. If you find one, let me know.
Connie, Sorry to hear about your deck. Ours still looks bad, but word is that once I powerwash it, my next step is to seal it without a stain. Hopefully that will work. I'll let you know... Thanks for stopping by!
Hi everybody,
Whats important to realize with CEDAR wood material is that this particular species of wood is naturally, very highly acidic. Cedar lasts structurally a very long time because of this natural internal chemical resitance to rot and breakdown.
The utmost important practice when using CEDAR lumber for your deck or gazebo etc is to do NOTHING to it after installation. Let your new cedar deck enjoy mother nature for a period of 2 yrs min and maybe more depending on your local climate and UV exposure. Over time, the cedar will sweat out its natural acids which will allow stains and colors to properly adhere to the grains.
Remember, the worst thing you can do with CEDAR is to stain or seal it right away....let it dry out and discolor..then deckwash, light sand and color/seal....
Good luck!
Jay:
I had no idea! So in essence, what you are saying is that now is the right time to stain? If so, then maybe I can get back to the nice color my wife and I wanted to begin with, and the scope of this hub is skewed. Just curious. Everybody I know has told me that I waited too long! Even some respected home improvement sites advise staining early. I guess for me, it doesn't matter. The deck was installed nearly 5 years ago and is now a calm state of grey. Thanks for your knowledgeable viewpoint. Please drop by any time.
Treat with sodium percarbonate, pressure wash, strip with potassium or sodium hydroxide, Treat with sodium percarbonate, pressure wash, finish with oxalic or citric acid while wet, leave on, if any residue remains at dry spray off with hose.
There you go. New deck.
Don't stain a dirty deck!
One of the issues could easily be that the stain you are using is not a penetrating type of a product. It is behaving like a film forming protectant/stain, which can easily have this end result. Also, waiting the time you did, was not a mistake, as new wood can have an issue termed "mill glaze." Prepping the wood prior to staining is a very important step.
It looks like you used a water based stain. They always peel and do not work. All was not lost and your deck should have been an easy fix. Just a sand, brighten and stain 2 times. Also make sure you always dry wipe after you stain. I always also tell people to go to a real paint store and ask what most of the deck guys are using to find what will work best in your part of the country as a Lowes and Home depot you get someone will little to no knowledge. Oh and one last thing is like Wayne said most would has a mill glaze so you should always sand a new deck before you stain it.
thanks everyone for the nice comments! Right now we are waiting for the budget to allow us to stain the deck the right way. All is not lost. The deck can be reclaimed.
My husband built a deck we I think we too were cedar drunk. We got alot of conflicting advise on whether to stain or even not to stain. We didn't stain at all for 3 years. In Ontario we are subjected extreme cold, snow, sun you name it. It was looking really dirty and dark in alot of spots. In doing some research, I knew it had to be cleaned first, so I got out my scrub brush and buckets of hot water and Oxyclean. I was amazed at mildew and gunk that came off. Next I tackle the pickets! We did sand when the deck was completed though. So I guess we should be good to go to stain. I'm not sure what brand to buy yet but for sure I'm going with oil and a penetrating product. It's not easy, but worth it though.
Thanks Maureen for your well taken comments. This project is scheduled for a redo next year.
RJ
Hi Rob - I am building a cedar fence and have been told in every paint store and by every one I know who has worked with cedar that I have to wait at least 6 months for it to dry before sealing. Perhaps you sealed too soon and the moisture still present didn't allow the stain to penetrate and in fact pushed it up??? I'm itching to seal at least the face of the boards so the colour is preserved but your deck is telling me not to!!
Rob:
What expensive stain did you actually put on your deck? I think you have missed the real issue...it is not that you waited too long to apply the stain, it is the stain that you applied that caused the adhesion issue. I treat 100 decks a season and your hypothesis of waiting too long has too much research contradicting your conclusions. Deck prep prior to your stain application could have played a part but by looking at the pictures I have a pretty good guess at the brand/product you used.
The more I learn, the more I realize what a mess I created. This is the year, however, when I hope the rectify things with the deck.
I used the most pricy product I could get. But as you say, my lack of experience certainly bit me in the rear. Thanks for contributing your professional input.
Thanks,
Rob
We cleaned our very old deck put the stain on, beautiful. Every where the rain hit it the stain came off. We know what's wrong with it we used water base stain the same stain that's on our house. It works on the house but not on the deck. This year it will be cleaned and all old stain removed and oil base stain will be put on.
My wishes are for your success. I'll be sure to update this hub when it is looking better as well as how it was done.
Rob, Your deck looks exactly like mine. I'm getting tired of staining and sanding it every year. I listened to everyone ones advice about waiting for the cedar to dry and stain it after. I have sanded the whole deck so many times I'm lucky to have any cedar left...lol The Home Hardware store recommended water base Behr and I used that last year 2 coats it looked really good till spring and now it looks the same as previous years all peeling off. I don't even need to use pressure hose just regular water and it peels off. I guess what I'm looking for is should I use an oil base and if so what kind? I would appreciate any advice. Thanks Loretta
Oh my gosh! Thank you for posting everyone! I thought I was the only one with this problem. We put in a cedar deck 6 years ago, and every spring I have to redo, by the fourth of July I am retouching. What a pain! The first year our carpenter told us to wait a tear to stain allowing for the cedar to dry out. Used a semi transparent stain, again on the Fourth! By the 4th year I was pulling my hair out! Went to Sherman Williams for a "good stain" they recommended using a solid base coat, big mistake! Touching up the deck 3 times a year now. 6 year, tommarrow I am renting a sander to get all the last of the peeling deck, hand sanding under all the rails and around the hot tub! OH JOY! After it's clear I'm power washing waiting a week then using a Australian oil base stain I found on the Internet! Hopefully nightmare over!
Wow there is soo much misinformation on this stream I have no idea where to start. Firstly, pressure washing. Never ever ever pressure wash cedar ( or any wood for that matter) your number one enemy when staining is loose wood fiber on the surface of the wood, pressure washers only create a loose fibrous surface, when the wood expands and contracts with temp change, the fibers stand on end and take the stain with them. Your second enemy when staining is the hot sun. Most people assume a clear hot sunny day is the perfect weather for staining......nope! The idea is to put the stain on as thinly as possible so that your first coat absorbs into the surface of the wood without forming a film, if you put the stain on in the sun it cures to quickly and does not get a chance to absorb into the surface. Stain early in the morn or in the eve and remember..........thin to win! It is also extremely important to prep the wood before staining with an oxalic acid wood conditioner, this will remove mill glaze and open the pores of the wood to accept a stain. Do a tape test and absorption test on your wood before staining, this will ensure the wood is porous and free of loose wood fiber. I do a lot of deck staining and have had lots of success with the 100% acrylic water based stains. (the hybrid oil/acrylic stains are too finicky and do not last and cannot be touched up). If you decide to sand your deck to remove the old stain don't forget to prep it after sanding, the easiest way to remove an old stain is to strip it with a chemical deck stripper, way easier then sanding.
Thank you all for stopping by and leaving such knowledgeable comments, especially the most recent. As mentioned in this hub, I am NOT a deck pro. I simply have a story to tell. Most of the solid advice is from commenters above with the real know how. Thanks again to all.
SirDent Level 4 Commenter 4 years ago
Sorry you had to go through way you did to learn how to do it right. Any wood that is left to weather will turn colors quickly. Even treated wood will lose it's color.
I am glad you shared this with everyone.