Hi all,
I've had this problem in a previous house and met with marginal success so I thought I would post here to get ideas on how to get a proper job done.

I have a 12 x 12' elevated deck with stairs with banisters/rails going off of two sides. Not sure if the paint is latex or oil. The current paint is 20% (?) peeled and more is cracked. It also has some areas of mold but not to a great degree. I would like to know what process I can use to ensure at least several years of wear. I don't think we are interested in taking it down to bare wood. The wood is still all very solid and all of the integrity is there so I want to act to protect the investment. My idea as to process is as follows.


1) Apply bleach application to molded areas.

2) High pressure pressure wash with a good deck cleaner.

3) Let dry well.

4) Spot scrape and prime with oil.

5) Paint with good quality latex paint. Could I rent and use a sprayer for this part?


What are the key secrets in getting ext paint on horizontal surfaces to stick? Any recommendations of what type of paint to use would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks so much.




Regards,
wvdthree

 

I would not use a latex paint at all
I would suggest a solid stain

Also, as your substrate is "unknown", I'd use an oil rather than latex (actually, it's be an alkyd rather than acrylic but you get the idea)

I would not suggest a sprayer for a number of reasons

 

Make sure your bleach water/water solution is no stronger than 50% bleach, 40/60 is usually strong enough. Too strong and the bleach will destroy wood fibers Be sure to rinse well!!

Pressure washer will make the job easier. I usually don't use the deck cleaner - the bleach solution normally works well for the entire deck. Don't forget to protect surrounding plants from the bleach.

Depending on the color stain used and the over all condition of the deck, you may or may not need a primer. I'd recomend using a quality solid latex stain instead of paint [paint requires primer, stain may or may not] Paint almost always peels. Stains will normally not peel but wear away over time. This means less work when it's time to redo

You can rent an airless at most rental places and some paint stores. There is more to spraying than just pulling the trigger. You need to be mindfull where the overspray will travel! It is also benificial to back roll [or brush] the sprayed on coating. This helps it to be worked into the substrate instead of just laying on it = longer lasting and usually better looking job.

Horizontal surfaces are the hardest to get a coating to last on. They recieve more sun and weather than a wall does. using quality coatings like you will find at a real paint store, decent prep and application will give you the best results. Big box paint depts base their coating selection on price. Rarely will a cheap coating last as long as a quality coating. You can also generally get better advice at a paint store versus a big box.

 

We are in the process of painting our solid stain deck which gets a lot of weather here in Oregon. We were told one of the local home improvement chains to prime our solid stain deck with a primer. It did not lengthen the time the paint lasted nor did it improve coverage with our BEHR solid stain. In our research we have found that it is good to prime wood before applying solid stain only if it is a weeping wood. Check out weeping woods.

As we prep and prepare our deck for painting again, we realize that the pink primer stuck to the wood and the actual stain color cracked and flaked off. We have spent hours with a orbit sander on our knees, as the primer really absorbed into the wood. So proceed with caution. We also realize that our redwood color stain may have bubbled because we applied it too thick--two thin coats is what most web sites suggest. Paint coats 24 hours apart.

We suggest that you check out and talk to many folks with solid stain decks such as ours before you take this journey for the first time. Talk to the people who have actually painted solid stain decks, not to the people in the franchises who are not often familiar with deck paint and refinishing processes.

 

Welcome to the forums mcbab2010!

It's true that generally a solid stain doesn't need a primer. Latex solid stains do need a primer under certain circumstances with the main reason being what you mentioned - tannin bleed.

While it doesn't hurt to remove all your primer, it's ok to apply a solid stain over it [as long as it's clean, well adhered and not chalky] Behr doesn't have a great reputation in the painting industry I've not used much of their coatings but know that most coatings sold at a big box paint dept are stocked based on pricing and not quality. It may cost more up front but you might be better off going to your local paint store for a better quality stain. They usually have better trained help and can give better advice too