Hi All,

My brother built a 1000 sq ft beautiful deck some years back, and stained it with an oil based stain. A couple of yrs ago he wanted to restain it, went to the bog box store, (first mistake) where the 'paint helper' talked him into another brand of stain as it was supposedly better (second mistake). What he didn't notice, until it was too late (like a year later), when it started to look like crap, was the new stain was water based. So now he has a crappy looking deck, with water based stain over oil based. He borrowed my pressure washer and used deck cleaner, but after 4 hours got very little done - it wasn't coming off.

What's the best stuff he can use to get the water based stain off - his whole deck, railings, etc. are covered with it. I think he'd like to get down to the wood and then restain the whole thing.

Pete

 

I'm not sure how feasible it would be to completely strip the deck, you might try a paint stripper. What I'd probably do is scrub the deck with TSP, rinse with a pressure washer and then apply either a semi-transparent stain or a solid stain - dependent on how the deck looked after cleaning.

The waterbased stain should have adhered ok to the oil stain IF proper prep was done prior to applying the waterbased stain.

Also care should be used when using a PWer. Too much pressure [or tip too close to the wood] can chew up the wood..... and sanding or replacing is the only fix for that

 

Thanks - what is TSP and what does it do?

And for the next stain, what type? Does he need to stick with water based if he doesn't remove all the old waterbased stain?

 

TSP - tri sodium phosphate. It's a heavy duty cleaner. It must be rinsed well to prevent bonding issues with the new paint/stain. Should be available most any where paint is sold.

I've used latex over clean weathered oil base stain with no issues. I'm not fond of applying oil over latex on the exterior. They also sell a hybrid stain of sorts [waterborne]. It has a lot of the good characteristics of oil base but cleans up with soap and water. While it dries fast, it still needs 36-48 hrs before it cures enough to not be affected by rain.

IMO it's best to get thru with the cleaning process before deciding which type of stain would be best.

 

ok thanks... the water based stuff is peeling on the deck itself... does that mae a difference in what he should use?

 

Shouldn't matter but all the peeling stain needs to be removed.

 

yep, that's why I posted the question to the pro's... whats the best way to remove the water based stain?

if a stripper should be used... whats the best stripper to use?

 

I don't use strippers very often so I'm not real familiar with the different brands/types. When ever I have questions like that I ask the paint rep at the paint store [not a paint dept]..... but I'd scrub with TSP [add bleach if there is any mildew] and pressure wash first. More than likely that will remove all of the failing stain.