Deck Restoration

[camping4me]

We need to restore our small deck. We have been looking into the different brands of restore paint products - Rustoleum Restore and Olympic Rescue-It, etc.

Today I have been looking at reviews of the products and needless to say I am rather disappointed. But you know how people get when they hide behind a computer.

I'd like to get some comments from anyone who has used these products.

The wood on our deck is in tough-shape, but replacement is not ideal. We would eventually love to have a concrete slab poured instead of a wood deck. We just want to make it last a few more years until what we want can be done.

 

[ezra]

DO NOT DO IT.
they may work fine in a place like Arizona but not in the Midwest.
with all the expansion and contraction we get with heat then cold then dry then humid that stuff just will not work.
the Marketing departments are doing a decent job of covering up the massive failure rate of there products.
never put it on but have had to fix 2 jobs that it was applied.
huge chunks faking off etc etc.
ended up getting my floor sanders in to do the job .

 

[garyl62]

My neighbor just put it on last weekend. If you don't plan to do it this season still I'll give you a review in the late spring based on what happens to his.

 

[Ramsey]

What did you do to it to fix it?

DO NOT DO IT.
they may work fine in a place like Arizona but not in the Midwest.
with all the expansion and contraction we get with heat then cold then dry then humid that stuff just will not work.
the Marketing departments are doing a decent job of covering up the massive failure rate of there products.
never put it on but have had to fix 2 jobs that it was applied.
huge chunks faking off etc etc.
ended up getting my floor sanders in to do the job .

 

[ezra]

well at first wen with the norm pressure washer then scraping off big hunks . finally gave in called in my hardwood floor sander to do the deck and replaced rail with generic trex

 

[fusion]

I have a lot of experience with deck refinishing and maintenance. I have a huge two tiered deck that runs the full length of the back of a 2400 square foot house in southern WI, leading to a Gazebo. And a large, 15 foot suspended deck running the full length of two sides, with Eastern and Southern exposure, just west of Eagle River. I've been down your road and had my share of frustration.

I had to restore our deck and ultimately I ended up sanding it completely with a belt sander - it took a few hundred hours on my knee's. Then I tried various product, all of which were basically junk, particularly and Olympic, Thompsons or Sherwin Williams Cuprinol. After you sand the mold and old stain, the only thing I would bother putting my labor into application is Sikkens SRD. It penetrates Pine deck very well and holds up for 2-3 years before reapplication. It's pretty expensive, but it's worth the price.

 

[I Doo]

Just sanded the solid color crap off my red cedar deck as well. Now looking as you are what to put on it. Was looking at TWP which Fleet Farm carries. Also looking at Cabots stains.

 

[skidoodoug]

I personally know 3 people who tried this deck restorer and all 3 have failed. For what ever reason, prep or product, does not appear to be worth the money.

 

[snobuilder]

We applied the Behr Deckover last August after power washing our 7 year old red cedar decking
and it is holding up fairly well.
I say fairly well due to noticing 3 spots where the product has bubbled but not torn open.
The biggest spot is aprox. 1" by 2". I haven't picked at the spots, but don't baby the deck either with normal use,
ie; tables, chairs and foot traffic.
This is on a summer rental in Northern WI so it has seen the extremes as far as weather along with a solid
3 months of weekly renters.
The Deckover applied easilly with a quality long knap roller in 2 coats. I did use an oil based primer topped with a matching color solid stain on the rounded edges at the grooves before applying the Deckover.
We love the slightly textured and very tough surface that it provides but still worry about the couple of bubbled up
spots even though they don't appear to have gotten any worse since we opened up the place in early May.

Until these bad spots open up I will leave them be and once they do I will have to examine what caused them ....
for example a grease spot or maybe a pitch pocket....?

 

[Go Fast or Go Home]

You indicated that replacement is "not ideal". Rather than go through the backbreaking time and effort along with the expense for a short term fix until you decide what to do, why don't you just wait and do it the way you want.

I tore my entire deck off (20' x 56') and replaced it with with the new composite material. This was four years ago and it still looks new. All I do is hose the dust with a garden hose once or twice a year.

I live in Southwest Michigan and get a varying degree of weather ups and downs.

Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[fusion]

Trust me, if your Behr product has bubbled up, it means the stain has not adhered to the wood, most likely as a result of moisture underneath or wood rot not sanded before application. You will need to scrape those spots and same them, then reapply your product. Eventually all those bubbles will break through. It sure sounds like you used a solid stain and that's a huge error on a deck. I fought that stupidity for years before I figured out the solution. Spend the money and use Sikkens SRD next time and you won't have flaking or bubbling. Behr makes some pretty good products but any solid stain is best applied to vertical surfaces.

 

[fishcrib]

What about this type of product:

ARMORPOXY POOL & EXTERIOR SURFACE COATINGS

Armor Renew Wood & Concrete Resurfacer is a unique roll-on outdoor wood & concrete surface restorer. Restore and resurface concrete and wood decks, patios, stairs, driveways and more! Covers and repairs splintering and corroded/spalled surfaces. Easy application, low cost, naturally non skid and super long-lasting. Resurface for a fraction of the cost of replacing!

 

[snobuilder]

Trust me, if your Behr product has bubbled up, it means the stain has not adhered to the wood, most likely as a result of moisture underneath or wood rot not sanded before application. You will need to scrape those spots and same them, then reapply your product. Eventually all those bubbles will break through. It sure sounds like you used a solid stain and that's a huge error on a deck. I fought that stupidity for years before I figured out the solution. Spend the money and use Sikkens SRD next time and you won't have flaking or bubbling. Behr makes some pretty good products but any solid stain is best applied to vertical surfaces.

We applied Cabot clear coat when new. It lasted a couple of years before it wore off/ flaked off so power washing it to raw wood was easy.
The solid stain I mentioned was done over primer only on the edges between the deck boards when the Behr Deckover was applied.
The deckover type products are fairly new and need to prove themselvs over time, much like the composite decking that was sold in the early days and still is as the less expensive version nowadays. Tons of problems with composites as well.
AZEK PVC decking which has no wood pulp in it is the only way to go if you ask me....as long as you can afford $10.00+ a square foot for the product and fasteners alone.

 

[fusion]

I don't disagree that the new synthetic wood decking is the way to go. If I ever have to do it over I won't hesitate. The problem with solid stains, even on new wood- once you get a nick or cut that penetrates the surface, it can allow moisture to get underneath and then you get bubbling. It's the same thing with spending 75g's more for a brick home vs. cedar sided. Now I'd never hesitate to spend more for the brick because you end up paying just as much in labor, your own or contracted, to stain it every 3-4 yrs. live and learn

 

[zltim]

My decks are about 25 years old. Menards green treated. No stain or anything, just power wash to get the pine pollen stain partially off every year. I would never paint or stain a deck since I don't like painting every other year or so.