Latest / Repcolite Home Improvement Show / Mastering Deck Projects: Tips, Steps, and Product Choices

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Mastering Deck Projects: Tips, Steps, and Product Choices · Repcolite Home Improvement Show

0:02
Speaker 1: Well, good morning, everybody, Happy Saturday. You're listening to the
0:04
Speaker 1: Repco Light Home improvement show sponsored by Benjamin Moore, and
0:08
Speaker 1: today the entire episode, all of it, all thirty nine
0:12
Speaker 1: minutes and thirty seconds or whatever I get out of this,
0:17
Speaker 1: all of it is dedicated to deck projects because really,
0:21
Speaker 1: when you think about it, deck projects they can feel overwhelming.
0:25
Speaker 1: You know, there just seems to be a ton of
0:27
Speaker 1: different steps involved, and if you've never done one before,
0:30
Speaker 1: or you know, maybe even if you have done one before,
0:33
Speaker 1: it's easy to feel a little bit lost in the process.
0:36
Speaker 1: And on top of all of that, on top of
0:38
Speaker 1: all these what seem like complicated steps. They're not complicated steps,
0:43
Speaker 1: but maybe they seem that way. They seem like a
0:45
Speaker 1: lot of them. On top of that, there's an absolute mountain,
0:49
Speaker 1: a boat load of products that you get to choose from,
0:52
Speaker 1: you know, deck products to choose from, and the marketing
0:56
Speaker 1: on these products can really make the whole thing quite confusing.
1:00
Speaker 1: The marketers, you know, marketing people, they make bold promises,
1:06
Speaker 1: and maybe you've done your deck in the past, maybe
1:09
Speaker 1: you've trusted some of those claims, and then you've been
1:12
Speaker 1: so let down when the products didn't hold up or
1:15
Speaker 1: do exactly what the people on TV said they were
1:18
Speaker 1: going to do. When that happens, you start to wonder,
1:20
Speaker 1: did I do something wrong? At least that's how I am.
1:23
Speaker 1: Did I do something wrong is kind of my default position,
1:27
Speaker 1: I think, if I would really be honest and think
1:29
Speaker 1: this through, if something goes wrong anywhere, like for this,
1:33
Speaker 1: like this, if a horn honks anywhere around me, anywhere
1:39
Speaker 1: I can just vaguely hear it, it could be I
1:42
Speaker 1: don't know, one hundred yards in another direction, and I
1:45
Speaker 1: still assume they're honking at me, and that I've done
1:48
Speaker 1: something wrong. Right, Normally, people with me will say that's ridiculous,
1:53
Speaker 1: because I'll ask what did I do? What did I do?
1:55
Speaker 1: And they'll say that's ridiculous. They're way over there, And
1:58
Speaker 1: I don't even answer them anymore because within about thirty seconds,
2:02
Speaker 1: sometimes way less than that, we find out Now, no
2:04
Speaker 1: matter how ridiculous it seems, turns out, YEP, it really
2:08
Speaker 1: was something I did wrong. Normally, I'm right to assume
2:11
Speaker 1: that I've done something wrong. So that's my default position.
2:14
Speaker 1: Maybe that's yours. Maybe maybe you're healthier than that, you know,
2:19
Speaker 1: emotionally or psychologically, healthier than that. Oh, please let you
2:24
Speaker 1: be healthier emotionally and psychologically than I am. But maybe
2:28
Speaker 1: you are, and you question that the failings on your deck.
2:32
Speaker 1: Maybe it was the product that you chose, you know,
2:35
Speaker 1: maybe you assume it wasn't you. Maybe it was the product.
2:37
Speaker 1: Who knows, who knows? Who knows? All I know is
2:40
Speaker 1: that people who have decks are generally in the boat
2:44
Speaker 1: where they're frustrated all the time because they've got to
2:48
Speaker 1: redo them more often than they want to redo them.
2:52
Speaker 1: They have them looking good for what feels like twenty
2:54
Speaker 1: minutes and they're right back to looking at Okay, when
2:58
Speaker 1: am I going to have to redo this again? Always
3:00
Speaker 1: frustrated with products that don't seem to hold up, with
3:03
Speaker 1: work that seems just more work than they want to tackle.
3:06
Speaker 1: So that's deck projects. That's the fun of deck projects.
3:10
Speaker 1: And I get all of that. So today I want
3:12
Speaker 1: to help you out. I want to get all of
3:14
Speaker 1: the information in your hands so you know what you're
3:17
Speaker 1: looking at if you're going to jump into a deck project,
3:19
Speaker 1: and you know what to expect out of the deck product.
3:22
Speaker 1: You know, I don't want you disappointed. Nobody wins when
3:24
Speaker 1: you're disappointed. So let's talk about all of that, and
3:28
Speaker 1: I guess really to get us moving on that, I
3:31
Speaker 1: just did my own deck and I'm going to use
3:34
Speaker 1: that kind of as a springboard to talk about So
3:37
Speaker 1: by the end of the show today, you're going to
3:39
Speaker 1: know exactly what you're getting into if you take this
3:41
Speaker 1: on for yourself. You're also going to know about the
3:43
Speaker 1: products that are out there, the different products that you
3:45
Speaker 1: can choose from, and why you would choose this product
3:48
Speaker 1: over another product or you know whatever. You're going to
3:51
Speaker 1: get all of that information. We'll cover it all. Okay,
3:56
Speaker 1: to get started. Before I get into the actual nitty
3:59
Speaker 1: gritty of what a deck project looks like step by step,
4:02
Speaker 1: I want to highlight a few important things that you
4:05
Speaker 1: should keep in mind. First. One is this, if your
4:08
Speaker 1: deck isn't rotting away into a pile of sawdust, it
4:12
Speaker 1: can be improved. Now, I know that sounds kind of
4:14
Speaker 1: like a throwaway comment, but I mean it. If you've
4:17
Speaker 1: got a wood deck that still structurally sound, even if
4:20
Speaker 1: it looks rough, even if it looks like it's seen
4:23
Speaker 1: its best years and they were a long time ago.
4:25
Speaker 1: If it structurally sound, even if it looks rough, it
4:28
Speaker 1: can look better. Okay, it can look better, often way better.
4:33
Speaker 1: Now I'm not saying it's gonna look brand new, but
4:35
Speaker 1: it's gonna look better than what you've got. Now here's
4:37
Speaker 1: my deal. I can demonstrate this a little bit with
4:40
Speaker 1: a personal anecdote. My deck had built in flower boxes.
4:45
Speaker 1: Previous owner built these flower boxes right onto the deck,
4:48
Speaker 1: and I lived with them for a long time. They
4:50
Speaker 1: were very nice, but they started to deteriorate. They started
4:55
Speaker 1: to just break down, and I needed to get them off,
4:58
Speaker 1: so I tore them a the deck, and that's when
5:01
Speaker 1: I realized that over the years they had held a
5:03
Speaker 1: lot of moisture, and that moisture had really really damaged
5:07
Speaker 1: a lot of sections of wood on the deck itself
5:10
Speaker 1: that was underneath these boxes. It was kind of hidden
5:12
Speaker 1: to me until I pulled them off. Well, once I
5:14
Speaker 1: got them off and I see all this damaged wood,
5:17
Speaker 1: I start to think, how in the world am I
5:19
Speaker 1: going to fix this? It looked like all of these
5:21
Speaker 1: boards needed to be replaced. But that is expensive work.
5:26
Speaker 1: That's an expensive undertaking, and for somebody as cheap as me,
5:32
Speaker 1: I wasn't ready to spend that money at this point.
5:34
Speaker 1: So I'm trying to think, what am I going to
5:36
Speaker 1: do to make these look good. I've got rotting sections
5:39
Speaker 1: of board. I can't imagine that it's going to look good. Well,
5:43
Speaker 1: what I decided to try was I rented or brought home.
5:46
Speaker 1: Let's put all the chips on the table. When you
5:49
Speaker 1: work at Repcolite, I'm not renting anything from Repcolite. It's
5:52
Speaker 1: a perk I get to take that home. So I
5:54
Speaker 1: took home the on floor machine. It's a sanding machine
5:58
Speaker 1: we rented out. I'll talk more about it later, but
6:01
Speaker 1: I brought it home, got it on the deck, and
6:02
Speaker 1: went to work and I sanded it off the rotted
6:05
Speaker 1: surface layer around all these boards. I applied a new stain,
6:09
Speaker 1: and I was really surprised at how good the whole
6:11
Speaker 1: thing looked. Now, if you get up close, you can
6:14
Speaker 1: see the dips in the boards where you know they're
6:16
Speaker 1: just well, there's dips in the boards. I don't know
6:18
Speaker 1: how else to explain it. I had sanded it away
6:20
Speaker 1: a fair amount of rot, you know, maybe a quarter
6:23
Speaker 1: of an inch or so of rot from the tops
6:25
Speaker 1: of these boards. But I did get down to solid
6:27
Speaker 1: wood underneath, and you can see that dip. You can
6:30
Speaker 1: see that there's a little bit of a color variance
6:32
Speaker 1: because those sections took the stain a little bit darker.
6:36
Speaker 1: But from a distance, you know, just a few steps back,
6:38
Speaker 1: the deck looks really, really good. Even up close, it
6:42
Speaker 1: looks pretty good, you know, way better than it had,
6:45
Speaker 1: Way better than I thought it was going to. So
6:46
Speaker 1: if you're in that bad case category like I was,
6:49
Speaker 1: just remember it can look way better than what it
6:52
Speaker 1: looks now. No matter what it looks like, it's going
6:54
Speaker 1: to look better. Okay, first thing to remember. Second thing,
6:57
Speaker 1: it's not too late in the season to tackle a project.
7:01
Speaker 1: I know, June's right around the corner and you might
7:03
Speaker 1: be thinking that you missed your window. But this spring
7:05
Speaker 1: has been weird. You know, it's cold, it's rainy, it's
7:08
Speaker 1: not been great for outdoor work. Everybody's a little bit behind,
7:12
Speaker 1: and we've got a wide range of products that are
7:14
Speaker 1: suited for all kinds of different conditions. And whether you're
7:17
Speaker 1: starting this weekend or next month, you've still got time
7:20
Speaker 1: to get it done and enjoy your deck all summer,
7:22
Speaker 1: So keep that in mind. Third thing, third important thing
7:26
Speaker 1: to keep in mind is this one set realistic expectations,
7:29
Speaker 1: and this is a big one. A lot of deck
7:31
Speaker 1: stains say that they're going to last three years, five
7:34
Speaker 1: years longer. You know, they make a lot of big claims.
7:36
Speaker 1: And maybe in some parts of the country, you know,
7:39
Speaker 1: maybe in Arizona, if you know you've got great, big
7:43
Speaker 1: shade trees around your deck, maybe that deck stain is
7:47
Speaker 1: going to last three years, five years longer. But we
7:49
Speaker 1: live in Michigan, and our decks take an absolute beating.
7:53
Speaker 1: You know. We've got long winters, we've got snow, rain,
7:56
Speaker 1: hot summers, and the deck it's a horizontal surface. It
7:59
Speaker 1: holds that no, it holds that water. It's baked by
8:02
Speaker 1: the sun. We walk on it all the time. So
8:05
Speaker 1: no matter what the label says, most products in our environment,
8:08
Speaker 1: they're going to need some touch up or maintenance every
8:11
Speaker 1: year to probably a year and a half. Now, I
8:13
Speaker 1: know that's not what you want to hear. That sounds discouraging,
8:16
Speaker 1: But if you plan on it, it's not as big
8:19
Speaker 1: of a deal. Right, It's kind of a mental war.
8:21
Speaker 1: You've got to win with yourself. Win it now, and
8:24
Speaker 1: in a couple of years you're just kind of used
8:26
Speaker 1: to it. It'll just become part of the natural spring cleanup.
8:31
Speaker 1: And one thing I should say to make sure that
8:33
Speaker 1: we're all on the same page here, I'm talking mostly
8:36
Speaker 1: about the deck boards themselves. Maybe the railings, the spindles,
8:40
Speaker 1: you know, all the vertical stuff that might be able
8:42
Speaker 1: to go to or three years maybe more before it
8:45
Speaker 1: needs anything. But the deck boards. Just plan on regular
8:48
Speaker 1: maintenance and you're not going to be frustrated. All right,
8:51
Speaker 1: With all of that said, let's start walking through a
8:53
Speaker 1: typical deck restaining project. And let's start here. You've got
8:57
Speaker 1: to clean it. And this cleaning isn't optional. Cleaning the
9:01
Speaker 1: deck is absolutely essential for a couple of big reasons.
9:04
Speaker 1: First off, the esthetic reasons. Most of the deck stains
9:07
Speaker 1: that we recommend always look better on a clean deck,
9:10
Speaker 1: depending on the opacity of the deck product that you choose.
9:13
Speaker 1: If there's dirt, if there's grime, mildew, even just pollen
9:16
Speaker 1: or footsteps, you know, footprints on the surface, your final
9:20
Speaker 1: look is going to be underwhelming. You're going to be
9:23
Speaker 1: a little disappointed. You're going to see those things through
9:26
Speaker 1: a translucent or a semi transparent stain. If the boards
9:29
Speaker 1: are naturally graad or dull, that tone is going to
9:32
Speaker 1: dramatically affect the final color of the stain you pick,
9:35
Speaker 1: so cleaning it gives you a better look in the end.
9:39
Speaker 1: So that's one reason. The second reason, which is maybe
9:41
Speaker 1: even more important than the first one, is based on function.
9:45
Speaker 1: You know, the first one was esthetic. This one's function.
9:47
Speaker 1: When you clean the deck properly, you open up the
9:50
Speaker 1: woods pores and that allows the stain to penetrate more deeply,
9:53
Speaker 1: which means better durability and longer lasting protection down the road. Really,
9:57
Speaker 1: it just makes all the work that you're going to
9:59
Speaker 1: do go further. So you've got to clean the deck.
10:02
Speaker 1: How do you clean it? Well, we're going to get
10:04
Speaker 1: to that on the other side of the break. So
10:06
Speaker 1: let's take a break right now, and then we'll talk
10:08
Speaker 1: about what the cleaning process looks like. And I've got
10:11
Speaker 1: that on floor machine we're going to talk about that's
10:13
Speaker 1: a quick way to get it cleaned. We'll talk about
10:16
Speaker 1: all of that in just a minute. Stick around, and
10:23
Speaker 1: we're back. You're listening to the Repco Light Home Improvement Show,
10:25
Speaker 1: The Deck Project one on one edition of the Repco
10:28
Speaker 1: Light Home Improvement Show sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And already,
10:33
Speaker 1: I mean we're flying. We've already covered a bunch of
10:35
Speaker 1: stuff but now we're starting to get into the actual
10:37
Speaker 1: nitty gritty of the work. And we ended last segment
10:41
Speaker 1: talking about why the deck needs to be cleaned before
10:44
Speaker 1: you stain it. To recap very briefly, you clean it
10:48
Speaker 1: because it will look better and it will hold up better.
10:51
Speaker 1: That's the long and the short of it. That's why
10:53
Speaker 1: you clean it. Now let's talk about how you go
10:55
Speaker 1: about doing that, and there are a lot of different options.
10:58
Speaker 1: I've got two main options that I'm going to look at.
11:01
Speaker 1: The most common route is to use a chemical deck
11:03
Speaker 1: cleaning system and the one that we carry, the one
11:05
Speaker 1: I love, I love to recommend, is from Benjamin Moore.
11:09
Speaker 1: But there is another method, and I already hinted at
11:13
Speaker 1: it earlier in the show. You could rent the on
11:15
Speaker 1: floor machine from Repcolite and use that to prep the boards.
11:18
Speaker 1: It's fast and crazy effective. Generally speaking, it's going to
11:22
Speaker 1: make the deck look almost like new. And I'm going
11:25
Speaker 1: to talk more about that in a little bit. It
11:27
Speaker 1: really is a game changer when it comes to this
11:29
Speaker 1: deck project. That's the on floor machine. We'll get to that,
11:32
Speaker 1: but right now, let's focus on those Benjamin war cleaning products,
11:36
Speaker 1: and the system is a little bit. I guess you
11:39
Speaker 1: could say it's customizable based on your situation. There's different
11:44
Speaker 1: products you would use, and it's all dependent upon the
11:47
Speaker 1: condition of the deck that you're working on. So, for example,
11:50
Speaker 1: if your deck is brand new, first thing you need
11:52
Speaker 1: to do if it's brand new is check with the
11:54
Speaker 1: supplier of the wood regarding how long it should weather
11:57
Speaker 1: before you stain it. So I'm talking if it's new,
12:00
Speaker 1: you just put it down. Check with the people who
12:03
Speaker 1: sold you the wood or the people who put it in,
12:05
Speaker 1: and find out how long it should sit. Sometimes that
12:09
Speaker 1: can vary depending on a number of different things, so
12:11
Speaker 1: look into that regardless. Once it's ready to be stained,
12:16
Speaker 1: even though it's a brand new deck, it still should
12:18
Speaker 1: be cleaned, and you need to clean it because you
12:20
Speaker 1: need to break the mill glaze that's on the surface
12:23
Speaker 1: with new boards. You probably noticed how smooth and shiny
12:26
Speaker 1: some of the boards can look. That slick, almost glossy
12:29
Speaker 1: surface If you catch an angle when you see that,
12:32
Speaker 1: that's mill glaze. Milglaze happens during the milling process when
12:35
Speaker 1: the lumber is playing down, you know, planed down. Hard
12:39
Speaker 1: to say that and make it sound like a word
12:41
Speaker 1: when it's playing down the heat and the pressure from
12:43
Speaker 1: the big steel blades can actually compress the wood fibers
12:46
Speaker 1: and it brings the natural oils to the surface and
12:49
Speaker 1: that results in this kind of hard, shiny layer on
12:52
Speaker 1: the top of the board. And that matters because stain
12:55
Speaker 1: generally isn't going to soak through mill glaze. It's just
12:58
Speaker 1: going to sit on top. It's not going to penetrate
13:01
Speaker 1: the wood in the way it's supposed to. You're going
13:03
Speaker 1: to end up potentially with poor color. You're not going
13:05
Speaker 1: to get as rich a color as you were thinking.
13:07
Speaker 1: More importantly, you're going to have poor adhesion and most
13:11
Speaker 1: likely you're going to deal with some peeling or flaking
13:13
Speaker 1: down the road. So if you've got brand new boards,
13:15
Speaker 1: would that smooth, slick feel or look to them, you
13:17
Speaker 1: really should clean them. And the product that you'd use
13:20
Speaker 1: for that is Benjamin Moore's Brightener slash Neutralizer. It's just
13:25
Speaker 1: basically a deck cleaner. So you would hit it with
13:27
Speaker 1: that and you're good to go. I'll talk about what
13:29
Speaker 1: that looks like using all these products. We'll get to
13:31
Speaker 1: that in a minute. I'm just just going to give
13:33
Speaker 1: you the products for the different scenarios. Right now. So
13:36
Speaker 1: that's new deck. Benjamin Moore's Brightener neutralizer. Use that. If
13:41
Speaker 1: the deck is bare gray weathered wood, you know most
13:44
Speaker 1: of the old coating is gone. If you've got that situation,
13:47
Speaker 1: use Benjamin Moore's Restore and that's going to clean off
13:50
Speaker 1: the loose dead fibers and get it ready for new stain.
13:53
Speaker 1: After you've done that restore, you'd immediately hit the deck
13:56
Speaker 1: with that brightener neutralizer and then rinse that as well.
14:00
Speaker 1: That brightener neutralizer that we just talked about that is
14:02
Speaker 1: applied after using the restore. If the wood on your
14:06
Speaker 1: deck is still holding onto a previous stain or an
14:08
Speaker 1: old coating and you need to remove it completely, you're
14:11
Speaker 1: going to want to use Benjamin Moore's Remove, different product
14:14
Speaker 1: than restore restores for grade decks to bring them back.
14:18
Speaker 1: Remove is to remove, you know, an older coating that's
14:21
Speaker 1: down there, and just as in the previous scenario, you'll
14:24
Speaker 1: hit the surface with Benjamin Moore's Remove. Once you've rinsed
14:27
Speaker 1: that off, you hit it again with that brightener neutralizer.
14:31
Speaker 1: That brightener neutralizer is important in both of those instances
14:34
Speaker 1: because it neutralizes the chemicals that you just put down
14:37
Speaker 1: and it also brightens the wood so that the stain
14:40
Speaker 1: looks vibrant when you apply it. All right, now, the
14:42
Speaker 1: process for using all of these products is pretty much
14:45
Speaker 1: the same, and it's simple. Here's how it works. You
14:48
Speaker 1: mix the cleaner, whichever one you're working with. You mix
14:51
Speaker 1: it out with water according to the directions on the container.
14:54
Speaker 1: You put it in a standard garden pump up sprayer
14:57
Speaker 1: and put it onto the deck, you know, put it
14:59
Speaker 1: on the deck board, and then let it sit usually
15:01
Speaker 1: ten to thirty minutes something like that. You've got to
15:03
Speaker 1: keep it wet, so you may need to reapply that product,
15:07
Speaker 1: you know, just as you're waiting. So let it sit,
15:10
Speaker 1: let it wait, let it cook, you know, let it
15:12
Speaker 1: do its thing. Don't get on it too fast. Once
15:15
Speaker 1: that time is up, then you're going to scrub that
15:17
Speaker 1: surface with a good stiff scrub brush. And then once
15:20
Speaker 1: you've done that, go ahead and rinse everything with a
15:22
Speaker 1: hose or ideally with a power washer. Now, a word
15:26
Speaker 1: of caution, whenever we're talking about using power washers on wood,
15:29
Speaker 1: you want to make sure you're careful. It's easy to
15:31
Speaker 1: damage that wood if you get too aggressive. So if
15:33
Speaker 1: you're using a power washer. Just use it with some care.
15:36
Speaker 1: All right. Once you've done all the proper cleaning steps
15:39
Speaker 1: and you've got it rinsed, the next thing that you
15:41
Speaker 1: need to do is just wait. Probably the easiest and
15:44
Speaker 1: hardest part of the whole process, you know, waiting, it's
15:47
Speaker 1: the hardest part. I'm not going to sing. I'm not
15:50
Speaker 1: going to hurt everybody's ears. You do need to let
15:52
Speaker 1: that deck drive for probably two to three good drying
15:55
Speaker 1: days before you stain it. And when I say good
15:57
Speaker 1: drying days, what I'm talking about are good sunny days
16:00
Speaker 1: without rain, you know, and low humidity. If you can
16:02
Speaker 1: get it all right, that drying time matters. The cleaner
16:05
Speaker 1: is going to open the pores of the wood, but
16:07
Speaker 1: if you stain it too soon, the moisture in the
16:09
Speaker 1: wood can actually prevent that stain from penetrating properly. So
16:13
Speaker 1: wait it out. Be patient. It's it's worth it. It's kind
16:16
Speaker 1: of an essential step. We don't like to wait, but
16:19
Speaker 1: it's really important in this situation. All right, that's what
16:22
Speaker 1: the cleaning looks like using the cleaners from Benjamin Moore.
16:25
Speaker 1: But I did mention that we have another way to go,
16:28
Speaker 1: and that's the on floor machine rental that we've got
16:31
Speaker 1: at Repcolite. Now, this thing is super cool. I've talked
16:34
Speaker 1: about it a Pheromount on the show. You're probably familiar.
16:37
Speaker 1: But it's going to sand your deck and get it
16:39
Speaker 1: ready for stain in the same day, So no waiting.
16:43
Speaker 1: In this instance, you don't have to wait for the
16:44
Speaker 1: wood to dry because you're not introducing any water to
16:47
Speaker 1: it at all. You just sand it down. We've got
16:50
Speaker 1: one available for rent at Repcolite. Like I said, I've
16:53
Speaker 1: got more info in the show notes if you do
16:55
Speaker 1: want to check that out after the show. Now, to
16:57
Speaker 1: give you an idea of what it's like, imagine, you know,
17:00
Speaker 1: kind of a big drum sander, but without the drum. Oh,
17:03
Speaker 1: that's ridiculous. That doesn't make any sense at all. It
17:06
Speaker 1: doesn't look like a sander like you would picture, not
17:08
Speaker 1: like a belt sander or anything like that. It looks
17:11
Speaker 1: more like a giant electric shaver, you know, with the
17:14
Speaker 1: three rotating heads. It's got three rotating heads. They're fitted
17:19
Speaker 1: with carbide impregnated sanding brushes. And these brushes they're really
17:23
Speaker 1: cool because that means you can cruise right over uneven
17:26
Speaker 1: boards instill sand them. You can go right over raised
17:29
Speaker 1: nail heads, you can go into deep grain, you know,
17:32
Speaker 1: like I was dealing with with the rotted sections. And
17:35
Speaker 1: you can do all of that without tearing up your
17:37
Speaker 1: sandpaper or catching your paper on anything, because there's no
17:40
Speaker 1: sandpaper at all to rip or even replace. It's just
17:43
Speaker 1: those sanding heads. Now, another thing about it that I
17:45
Speaker 1: love is that you can literally run it with one hand.
17:48
Speaker 1: It's super easy to control. If you've ever used a drumsander,
17:52
Speaker 1: you know, or a big belt sander on a deck
17:54
Speaker 1: or a floor, wood floor or something like that, you
17:56
Speaker 1: know it's like trying to rein in horses. This is
17:59
Speaker 1: not like that at all. You can use one hand
18:01
Speaker 1: control it very easily. It can stop in one spot
18:05
Speaker 1: and it's not going to sand through or cause a
18:08
Speaker 1: visual problem later. Try that with a drum sand or
18:12
Speaker 1: a belt sander, and you're gonna end up with a
18:14
Speaker 1: lot of different issues on the surface that you're sanding.
18:18
Speaker 1: You can't let it sit for even just a few seconds.
18:20
Speaker 1: With the on floor machine, there's none of that to
18:23
Speaker 1: worry about, so it's really easy to work with. We
18:26
Speaker 1: rent it out with a vacuum system so there's no
18:28
Speaker 1: dust and again The best part, like I mentioned already,
18:31
Speaker 1: is when you're done, the wood looks pretty much brand
18:34
Speaker 1: new and it's ready for stain at that point. Now,
18:37
Speaker 1: I've got all that information in the show notes if
18:38
Speaker 1: you want to check that out, or just head to
18:40
Speaker 1: Repcolight dot com and click the on floor machine banner
18:43
Speaker 1: right on the homepage. All right, that's cleaning the deck.
18:46
Speaker 1: Whether you use the chemical cleaners, whether you use the
18:49
Speaker 1: on floor machine, you've got to get the deck cleaned.
18:51
Speaker 1: Once you've got that done, now it's time for the
18:54
Speaker 1: fun part, putting the stain on. We're going to get
18:56
Speaker 1: to that in just a minute. Stick around and we're back.
19:02
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Repcolite Home Improvement Show sponsored by
19:04
Speaker 1: Benjamin Moore, and we're walking our way through a deck project.
19:08
Speaker 1: And so far I've covered pretty much everything you need
19:11
Speaker 1: to know about cleaning the wood, cleaning the deck. Now
19:14
Speaker 1: it's time to talk about putting the actual stain on.
19:17
Speaker 1: And you know, this is the fun part. This is
19:19
Speaker 1: the part that actually makes a big visual difference. The
19:22
Speaker 1: cleaning actually can make a pretty good visual difference, but
19:26
Speaker 1: you know this is the fun part. Now in the
19:28
Speaker 1: next segment. The last segments of the show, I'm going
19:31
Speaker 1: to walk you through the different types of products that
19:33
Speaker 1: you can choose from, because there are a ton of them,
19:36
Speaker 1: but no matter what you end up using, the actual
19:38
Speaker 1: application process is going to be pretty similar. So that's
19:41
Speaker 1: what we're going to talk about right now, actually applying
19:43
Speaker 1: the stain. And I've got a couple of different methods
19:46
Speaker 1: that I like to use when I stain a deck,
19:48
Speaker 1: and both work really well in my experience. The first
19:52
Speaker 1: one is great for decks that are in good condition.
19:54
Speaker 1: You know, the boards are relatively smooth, they're flat, they're
19:57
Speaker 1: not cupped, they're not heavily weathered. And here's how that works.
20:02
Speaker 1: I'll usually recruit one of the kids to help out,
20:05
Speaker 1: and they take a paint roller on an extension poll
20:08
Speaker 1: and they work out of a paint tray, and they
20:10
Speaker 1: basically just roll the stain on, you know, maybe two,
20:13
Speaker 1: one or two or three boards at a time, you know,
20:15
Speaker 1: the entire length of the board, probably one or two
20:18
Speaker 1: at a time, the length all the way down. And
20:21
Speaker 1: then as they're moving along and starting to get out
20:23
Speaker 1: of my way, I get right behind them and follow
20:26
Speaker 1: with what I considered to be an absolute must have
20:30
Speaker 1: tool for any deck project. The Wooster Bravo stain brush.
20:35
Speaker 1: Have no idea why they call it a Bravo stainbrush,
20:38
Speaker 1: unless it's just because you want to stand up a
20:40
Speaker 1: cheer when you're using it, I don't know. But this
20:43
Speaker 1: thing really is cool. I mean, as far as brushes go,
20:47
Speaker 1: this is one of the cooler brushes out there. And
20:49
Speaker 1: like I said, you've got to have it if you're
20:52
Speaker 1: doing a deck project. What makes it different is this
20:54
Speaker 1: it's like four inches wide, four and a half inches wide.
20:57
Speaker 1: There's a couple of different ones. It's really so it'll
21:00
Speaker 1: hold a lot of product. It fits easily into the
21:03
Speaker 1: can and all that's cool. But the best part is
21:06
Speaker 1: that the handle itself screws right off and then you
21:10
Speaker 1: can attach that brush head to an extension pole, all right,
21:14
Speaker 1: and that means that you can brush the deck from
21:17
Speaker 1: a standing position. You don't have to be hunched over,
21:20
Speaker 1: no sore knees, no sore back, You're just standing up
21:24
Speaker 1: and brushing it on. That way. It is so much fun.
21:27
Speaker 1: You'll have such a feeling of power doing this. It
21:30
Speaker 1: saves time, saves your back, gives you a much more
21:33
Speaker 1: even finish. It's really really cool. So as my kid's
21:36
Speaker 1: rolling the product on, not getting too far ahead, but
21:40
Speaker 1: a little bit ahead. I come behind with that brush
21:43
Speaker 1: and backbrush the stain in again. I'm standing up while
21:46
Speaker 1: I'm doing it. I'm smoothing out all the roller marks.
21:48
Speaker 1: I'm making sure that the stain penetrates deeply and that
21:51
Speaker 1: it all looks even. That goes really fast. That's one
21:54
Speaker 1: way to do it, and it works well. I like it.
21:57
Speaker 1: But lately I've kind of moved away from the roller
21:59
Speaker 1: method and I've gone simpler. I just brush the stain
22:02
Speaker 1: on directly using that Bravo brush. I work straight out
22:05
Speaker 1: of the gallon can, so I'm not pouring into a tray.
22:08
Speaker 1: Just shake up the can, pop the lid on it,
22:10
Speaker 1: and I'm working straight out of that. And I found
22:13
Speaker 1: that it's pretty much just as fast, sometimes even faster
22:17
Speaker 1: than that roller and brush combo. Plus I don't have
22:20
Speaker 1: to time my work to match somebody else's pace, and
22:23
Speaker 1: that lets me get into a rhythm and just move
22:25
Speaker 1: through the project at my own speed. And I like that.
22:29
Speaker 1: So those are just two methods for getting that stain
22:32
Speaker 1: on the deck, and there are a lot of different
22:34
Speaker 1: ways to apply stain. You know, some people use staining pads.
22:37
Speaker 1: Other people swear by pump sprayers, like a little garden sprayer.
22:40
Speaker 1: They'll spray it on and then backbrush it. There's just
22:43
Speaker 1: a million different ways, you know, as many people as
22:45
Speaker 1: there are, there's somebody you know, a different version or
22:48
Speaker 1: a different way to apply stain to the deck. For me,
22:51
Speaker 1: I like the two methods that I mentioned, and if
22:54
Speaker 1: you're new to this, I'd recommend just starting straight off
22:57
Speaker 1: with that Bravo stain brush and an extension poll. Skip
23:00
Speaker 1: the rolling, skip all of those things. Go straight to
23:03
Speaker 1: that brush on an extension pole, and brush the stain
23:06
Speaker 1: onto the deck, taking one board from one side of
23:09
Speaker 1: the deck all the way to the other and completing
23:12
Speaker 1: it before you move on to the next one. It's
23:14
Speaker 1: going to move fast, it's simple, it's effective, it's going
23:16
Speaker 1: to give you great results. And when you do apply
23:19
Speaker 1: the stain, here's something really important to remember. Most of
23:22
Speaker 1: the time, I would say most of the time, let's
23:26
Speaker 1: just say it that way. You're applying one coat in
23:29
Speaker 1: one coat only. You know, unless the product label explicitly
23:32
Speaker 1: says that a second coat is okay or recommended, don't
23:36
Speaker 1: do it all right, I'm going to say that one
23:38
Speaker 1: more time, because this is radio you can't just go
23:40
Speaker 1: back and read it. Most of the time, when you're
23:42
Speaker 1: applying deck stain, you're applying one coat and one coat only.
23:47
Speaker 1: Unless the product tells you to use a second coat,
23:50
Speaker 1: don't apply a second coat. This is especially true for
23:53
Speaker 1: translucent and semi transparent stains, which again we're going to
23:57
Speaker 1: talk about next segment. They're specifically formulated for single code application.
24:02
Speaker 1: Trying to force a second coat to you know, maybe
24:05
Speaker 1: deepen the color. That's usually why people try to do that.
24:08
Speaker 1: When you do that, If you do that, it can
24:10
Speaker 1: backfire big time. You can end up with tacky spots,
24:13
Speaker 1: poor drying, unevenchene, or even peeling down the road. Now,
24:17
Speaker 1: if you're using a semi solid or a solid stain,
24:20
Speaker 1: some of those allow for two coats. But again, read
24:23
Speaker 1: the label carefully. That's the best thing you can do.
24:26
Speaker 1: Or ask questions in the store. Always follow the manufacturers instructions.
24:30
Speaker 1: Don't just assume more is better. In the world of
24:32
Speaker 1: deck stains, it's rarely the case. All right, that's applying
24:36
Speaker 1: the stain. Once you've done that, you just need to
24:39
Speaker 1: let it dry. That's step four. And this is the
24:41
Speaker 1: part where you walk away, and I know that's hard,
24:44
Speaker 1: especially when the deck looks really good and you're ready
24:46
Speaker 1: to move furniture back and start enjoying it. But drying
24:49
Speaker 1: time matters. Now, how long you have to wait depends
24:52
Speaker 1: on the type of product that you used. In general,
24:54
Speaker 1: water based stains are going to drive faster and they're
24:57
Speaker 1: going to have a shorter back to use time. Oil
24:59
Speaker 1: based stain so they're going to take longer, sometimes significantly longer,
25:03
Speaker 1: to fully cure and get the deck back to you.
25:06
Speaker 1: So check the label, follow the recommendations, and don't rush it.
25:09
Speaker 1: You know, give that finished time to set up properly,
25:11
Speaker 1: and you're going to have much better performance and durability
25:14
Speaker 1: down the road. All Right, there you go. That's the
25:17
Speaker 1: deck project in a nutshell. Now. I know I moved
25:20
Speaker 1: through it kind of quickly and I probably didn't drill
25:22
Speaker 1: into every single detail that you might have been wondering about.
25:25
Speaker 1: But hopefully it should give you a solid idea of
25:28
Speaker 1: what the process looks like. You know what kind of
25:30
Speaker 1: works involved, and how you can tackle it step by step.
25:33
Speaker 1: It's a surprisingly straightforward project with a huge payoff having
25:37
Speaker 1: a beautiful, refreshed deck to enjoy all. Summer really does
25:40
Speaker 1: transform your outdoor space. And like I said at the
25:43
Speaker 1: very beginning, no matter what condition your deck is in
25:45
Speaker 1: right now, as long as it's not rotting and falling apart,
25:49
Speaker 1: no matter what condition it's in right now, no matter
25:51
Speaker 1: what it looks like, there's always a way to make
25:53
Speaker 1: it look better. All right, If you've got questions, stop
25:56
Speaker 1: out at any Repcolite location, tell us what you're working on,
25:59
Speaker 1: and we'll help you figure out exactly what you need.
26:01
Speaker 1: The tools, the products, the guidance, everything you need. You know,
26:04
Speaker 1: we've got you covered. All right. Let's take a quick
26:07
Speaker 1: break and when we come back, I'm going to demystify,
26:10
Speaker 1: at least do my best to demystify deck codings. There
26:13
Speaker 1: are a lot of different options out there, and it
26:15
Speaker 1: can get confusing fast. But by the end of next segment,
26:18
Speaker 1: you're going to know exactly what to look for and
26:20
Speaker 1: how to choose the right product for your specific situation.
26:23
Speaker 1: That's all coming up next. Stick around and we're back.
26:33
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Repcolite Home Improvement Show sponsored by
26:36
Speaker 1: Benjamin Moore, and it's officially deck Season. I have so
26:39
Speaker 1: christened it and over the last few segments, we've been
26:43
Speaker 1: talking about a deck project in glorious minute detail. I've
26:49
Speaker 1: covered every aspect of it that I could think of.
26:52
Speaker 1: We've talked about the prep work. We've talked about cleaning it,
26:55
Speaker 1: talked about the different options for cleaning it, whether you
26:58
Speaker 1: use some water soluble chemic like Benjamin Moore's cleaning system,
27:02
Speaker 1: or you maybe rent a sander. We've got an on
27:04
Speaker 1: floor machine we rent at Repcolite. We can get it
27:07
Speaker 1: to whichever location is nearest you on the west side
27:10
Speaker 1: of the state. We've got that option that will get
27:13
Speaker 1: the deck cleaned. We talked about all of that. We
27:15
Speaker 1: talked about applying the stain that was last segment, how
27:18
Speaker 1: to do it, a couple of different methods to get
27:21
Speaker 1: the stain on there, and some things you need to know.
27:23
Speaker 1: We've covered all of it. Right now, I want to
27:26
Speaker 1: get to something that I think is pretty confusing for
27:29
Speaker 1: a lot of people. You know, the project itself can
27:31
Speaker 1: be confusing just because it's steps we don't do or
27:33
Speaker 1: things we don't do on a regular basis. So we
27:37
Speaker 1: covered that part. Now let's get to the other part
27:39
Speaker 1: of this that I think is confusing, and that's the
27:41
Speaker 1: products themselves. You know the deck stains, and I think
27:45
Speaker 1: they're confusing because there's just so many options out there,
27:48
Speaker 1: so many different types, so many different opacities, so many
27:51
Speaker 1: different maintenance requirements for them. You know what's best for
27:54
Speaker 1: your situation, and how do you know? How do you
27:57
Speaker 1: pick the right one? Well, the good news is it's
27:59
Speaker 1: not complicated. I'm going to break it down. I'm going
28:02
Speaker 1: to simplify it. And one thing before we get to
28:05
Speaker 1: all of that, just to make sure that everybody's on
28:08
Speaker 1: the same page here. If you're lost, if you can't
28:11
Speaker 1: remember everything that I'm walking through, don't worry so much
28:14
Speaker 1: about that. Just stop out at any Repcolite store. Every
28:17
Speaker 1: single person in any of the Repcolite locations can walk
28:20
Speaker 1: you through everything that I'm talking about right now and
28:23
Speaker 1: everything that I've talked about earlier. We do a lot
28:26
Speaker 1: of decks. We help people with a lot of decks
28:29
Speaker 1: all summer long. We're here to help so you don't
28:32
Speaker 1: have to remember it all. Just remember to come to Repcolite.
28:35
Speaker 1: We'll help you figure out what you've got going on.
28:36
Speaker 1: Bring pictures of your deck with you, bring pictures of
28:39
Speaker 1: the product that's on the deck. If you've got stain
28:42
Speaker 1: on the deck already. If you've got a can in
28:44
Speaker 1: the basement, even if it didn't come from us, bring
28:46
Speaker 1: that in. Anything that you bring in can help us
28:48
Speaker 1: figure out what you've got going on, and it will
28:51
Speaker 1: help us help you get the right product and the
28:54
Speaker 1: right process to make your deck look great. All right,
28:57
Speaker 1: let's talk about these different deck stains, and the one
29:00
Speaker 1: to start with is the most transparent option, the translucent stains.
29:04
Speaker 1: These are often called wood protectors or toner coats or
29:07
Speaker 1: something like that, and these products come in a smaller
29:10
Speaker 1: selection of colors, so there's not as many color options available,
29:14
Speaker 1: and it's important to realize that with these they're translucent,
29:18
Speaker 1: so there's not a lot of pigmentation with these and
29:21
Speaker 1: because of that, because they don't have a lot of pigmentation,
29:24
Speaker 1: these finishes are going to give you maximum visibility of
29:26
Speaker 1: the wood grain. So if you've got a beautiful new
29:29
Speaker 1: deck or a deck that's been cleaned or prepped really well,
29:32
Speaker 1: these are a great way to showcase the wood's natural beauty.
29:35
Speaker 1: If you're trying to picture what they might look like,
29:37
Speaker 1: just think interior stains. For the most part, that's the
29:40
Speaker 1: look you get out of a translucent deck stain. Now,
29:43
Speaker 1: besides really highlighting the natural beauty of the wood, another
29:46
Speaker 1: benefit of translucent stains is that they're a relatively low
29:49
Speaker 1: maintenance option. When they're applied correctly, they're not going to
29:52
Speaker 1: appeal and they're not going to show tons of traffic
29:54
Speaker 1: patterns like some of the other products will not. Because
29:57
Speaker 1: of their nature, you're most likely going to have to
29:59
Speaker 1: redo that a little more often, and I would think
30:03
Speaker 1: you're probably going to be redoing these once every year
30:05
Speaker 1: to year and a half in Michigan. But when you
30:08
Speaker 1: do have to redo them, the maintenance is much easier.
30:11
Speaker 1: There's not a lot of heavy stripping to do or sanding.
30:13
Speaker 1: You really just need to clean them and recoat them.
30:17
Speaker 1: So that's why I think they're a relatively low maintenance product.
30:21
Speaker 1: There may be other products that you put on that
30:23
Speaker 1: can go a little longer before they need to be redone,
30:25
Speaker 1: but when they need to be redone, the work is heavier.
30:29
Speaker 1: You know, there's more heavy lifting to do, there's more
30:32
Speaker 1: that you've got to accomplish before you can just put
30:34
Speaker 1: another coat on. These are about as easy as it gets. Now.
30:37
Speaker 1: On the downside, they provide less UV protection than some
30:40
Speaker 1: of the other deck stains that we're going to talk
30:41
Speaker 1: about now. The color options, Like I said earlier, they're
30:44
Speaker 1: more limited and the condition of the wood is really
30:47
Speaker 1: apparent through the stains. So if you're going to use
30:50
Speaker 1: a translucent stain, you really need to make sure you
30:52
Speaker 1: do that prep work, that cleaning, otherwise you're going to
30:55
Speaker 1: see that through there. You see any imperfections or flaws,
30:58
Speaker 1: you're going to see it through the decks. Going back
31:01
Speaker 1: to that UV protection for just a minute, in the
31:03
Speaker 1: translucent product category, there is a clear option. You know,
31:08
Speaker 1: we've got some different tone or colors, a ceeder color,
31:10
Speaker 1: a butternut and stuff like that, but there is a
31:12
Speaker 1: clear And often people will come in and they've got
31:15
Speaker 1: this desire to keep a new deck looking just like
31:18
Speaker 1: it is. You know, they just put it up. They
31:20
Speaker 1: love that look and that's what they want it to
31:23
Speaker 1: look like. They don't want an additional color on there.
31:25
Speaker 1: They don't want it to look like a brown tone
31:27
Speaker 1: or anything like that. They love how it looks just
31:30
Speaker 1: like it is, and so they want to clear. Well,
31:32
Speaker 1: here's the scoop on clears. We've got one, but they
31:36
Speaker 1: offer pretty much little to know. UV protection and that
31:40
Speaker 1: means that the deck boards are not going to look
31:43
Speaker 1: new for very long. Even though you're putting a clear on,
31:46
Speaker 1: it's still going to gray. You know, that stain that
31:49
Speaker 1: you're putting on is going to protect it from moisture
31:51
Speaker 1: and all of that, but it's not going to stop
31:53
Speaker 1: it from grain. It's not going to give you the
31:55
Speaker 1: UV protection that you need. If your goal is to
31:57
Speaker 1: keep that new wood look, you're probably going to want
32:00
Speaker 1: to stop out at Repcolite and ask about our Decandock
32:02
Speaker 1: Spruce color. And that's the color that we formulated so
32:05
Speaker 1: that it would look like new wood while still providing
32:08
Speaker 1: that UV protection that will keep it from graying. So
32:10
Speaker 1: that's Decandock spruce. Ask about that and we can help you.
32:15
Speaker 1: If that's the color that you want, we can help
32:17
Speaker 1: you get there. All right, those are translucent stains, and
32:20
Speaker 1: at Repcolite we've got a couple options. I've already mentioned
32:23
Speaker 1: our Port City deck and dock. It comes in both
32:25
Speaker 1: a waterborne and an oil based version, and we also
32:28
Speaker 1: carry Benjamin Moore's Woodlux line, which also comes in a
32:31
Speaker 1: water based in an oil based option. All Right, translucent
32:35
Speaker 1: stains the most transparent of all the options you can
32:37
Speaker 1: put on your deck, all right. Next step up from
32:39
Speaker 1: that is semi transparent stains. Now, these stains will show
32:43
Speaker 1: a fair amount of wood grain yet it's still going
32:45
Speaker 1: to allow that to come through, but they do have
32:47
Speaker 1: more pigment than the translucent products, and this increased pigment
32:51
Speaker 1: means that you've got more color options and better UV protection. Now,
32:54
Speaker 1: if you're wondering what they look like, you still see
32:57
Speaker 1: the wood texture and a fair amount of variation in
32:59
Speaker 1: the woods good, but the graining is going to be
33:01
Speaker 1: masked a little bit more than the translucent coatings. For products.
33:05
Speaker 1: Repcolite has wood Master semi transparent stain. That's one option.
33:09
Speaker 1: Benjamin Moore's Woodlux line has an oil and a water
33:11
Speaker 1: based semi transparent option as well. These are ideal for
33:15
Speaker 1: soft woods like pine or cedar decks, and for decks
33:18
Speaker 1: that are perhaps a little bit more weathered and you're
33:20
Speaker 1: struggling to get the wood back to that near new shape.
33:24
Speaker 1: Semi transparent stains give you a color refresh without going
33:28
Speaker 1: too opaque. They're also good for decks if you're really
33:31
Speaker 1: looking to have more color options, you know you want
33:33
Speaker 1: to get a little bit away from you know just
33:36
Speaker 1: the natural wood tones that the translucent stains will give,
33:39
Speaker 1: but you're not ready to completely, you know, start hiding
33:42
Speaker 1: that grain of the wood. Semi transparent stains might give
33:45
Speaker 1: you what you're looking for, a little more color option,
33:48
Speaker 1: but still allowing a lot of that natural wood graining
33:50
Speaker 1: to show through. Just know that over time, especially if
33:53
Speaker 1: you don't strip off that old layer before restaining, the
33:56
Speaker 1: pigment canon will build up and it's going to start
33:58
Speaker 1: to hide more and more of that wood grain, and
34:00
Speaker 1: eventually the build up will completely mask the wood and
34:04
Speaker 1: it can lead to peeling. So you're gonna have some
34:06
Speaker 1: work to do down the road at some point. It's
34:08
Speaker 1: usually a fair distance off in the future, but if
34:11
Speaker 1: you don't remove the coatings and get down to berewood
34:13
Speaker 1: at some point, it's bound to happen. Keep that in mind.
34:16
Speaker 1: Those are semi transparent stains. Now semi solid stains the
34:20
Speaker 1: next step up the ladder. These offer even more pigman
34:23
Speaker 1: and UV protection than semi transparents, but you still get
34:26
Speaker 1: a hint of the grain and the texture underneath. Now
34:29
Speaker 1: they're great for older decks that may have you know,
34:32
Speaker 1: some more significant visual flaws that you want to mask,
34:35
Speaker 1: but not completely hide. These are a nice way to
34:38
Speaker 1: restore some richness to the woods color while still keeping
34:41
Speaker 1: a somewhat somewhat natural look. For product Benjamin Moore's oil
34:46
Speaker 1: and water based versions of Woodlucks. They all come in
34:49
Speaker 1: semi solid stains as well, so check that out semi
34:52
Speaker 1: solid stains. Finally, last one that I'm going to talk
34:55
Speaker 1: about solid color stains, and these are for this situation.
35:00
Speaker 1: Let's say your deck has been through a lot. You know,
35:03
Speaker 1: it's seen stuff. It's older, it's wrinkled, it's shriveled, it's
35:09
Speaker 1: the grampa of decks. You know, maybe it's had multiple
35:12
Speaker 1: layers of stain, maybe even some paint in the past.
35:15
Speaker 1: It's not pretty, and you're looking for a way to
35:17
Speaker 1: make it look better just a little bit longer before
35:20
Speaker 1: you eventually replace it. Well, if that's the case, your
35:23
Speaker 1: answer might be a solid color stain. These are going
35:26
Speaker 1: to look more like paint, so you're not going to
35:28
Speaker 1: see any wood grain at all, but you'll definitely get
35:30
Speaker 1: maximum color options and maximum UV protection. They can hide
35:35
Speaker 1: a lot of flaws, but on the downside, solid color
35:38
Speaker 1: stains also tend to show traffic patterns more quickly. And
35:40
Speaker 1: they're more susceptible to peeling. You can touch them up,
35:44
Speaker 1: but the results may not be perfect. And depending on
35:46
Speaker 1: the color that you pick, they can also be a
35:48
Speaker 1: lot hotter to walk on than some of the other
35:50
Speaker 1: less pigmented options out there. Still, in certain situations, this
35:54
Speaker 1: can buy you some time before you replace your deck,
35:57
Speaker 1: And really I shouldn't just say they're for that situation.
36:00
Speaker 1: And in many situations we run into people who really
36:03
Speaker 1: do just want a certain color on the deck and
36:06
Speaker 1: by all means never paint the deck. This is the
36:08
Speaker 1: way to get color on your deck. And some people
36:11
Speaker 1: will choose that, They'll choose a solid color stain and
36:13
Speaker 1: they'll live with it happily for years and years, just
36:15
Speaker 1: doing the touch ups as they need to. Just be
36:18
Speaker 1: aware you're going to have to do touch ups at
36:21
Speaker 1: some point, probably yearly, if you go with a solid
36:24
Speaker 1: color stain. It's just the nature of the beast with
36:26
Speaker 1: that kind of a product, all right. So those are
36:29
Speaker 1: the main opacities of deck products out there. Translucents, semi transparents,
36:33
Speaker 1: semi solids, and solid color stains. Now let's talk about
36:37
Speaker 1: the two main types, oil based versus water based stains.
36:40
Speaker 1: No oil based stains like those I've already mentioned are
36:42
Speaker 1: traditional deck and dock or Benjamin Moore's woodlocks oil, they're
36:46
Speaker 1: going to have a longer working time and that means
36:48
Speaker 1: that they're going to be easier to work with. They're
36:50
Speaker 1: not going to dry as fast, so you're going to
36:52
Speaker 1: have more time to apply them evenly and smoothly and
36:55
Speaker 1: make them look great. The downside is clean up. Of course,
36:59
Speaker 1: you're gonna need mineral spirits to get your hands and
37:01
Speaker 1: your tools clean. Another downside is that they don't dry
37:04
Speaker 1: as fast. Now it was just a positive a minute ago.
37:07
Speaker 1: Now it's a negative. And it's a negative because you know,
37:10
Speaker 1: once we get it on the deck, once we get
37:12
Speaker 1: the deck stained, generally speaking, we want to kind of
37:15
Speaker 1: put it back to use and get you know, living
37:17
Speaker 1: and enjoying it. And with an oil based product, you've
37:19
Speaker 1: got to give it longer before you can actually put
37:22
Speaker 1: it back to use. So that's oil based products. Water
37:25
Speaker 1: based stains, they've come a long way, you know, the
37:27
Speaker 1: technology has really advanced. Of course, they clean up with
37:30
Speaker 1: soap and water. They've got lower VOCs. They're going to
37:33
Speaker 1: dry quickly so you can get the deck back in use.
37:37
Speaker 1: Very quickly compared to oil based products. But on the downside,
37:40
Speaker 1: again we're hung up on that dry time thing. They
37:43
Speaker 1: dry quickly, and that makes them sometimes trickier to apply,
37:46
Speaker 1: especially in the sun or in warm temperatures, So be
37:50
Speaker 1: aware that's the downside to water based stains. Which one's
37:53
Speaker 1: best for you, Which one's best for your situation. Really,
37:56
Speaker 1: it's going to boil down to your skill, your situation.
37:59
Speaker 1: You know what you've got going on with the deck
38:01
Speaker 1: and the time of year that you're doing it. If
38:03
Speaker 1: you're comfortable working quickly to get the product on the deck,
38:06
Speaker 1: if you're eager to get the deck back into use sooner,
38:08
Speaker 1: if you really need to have soap and water cleanup,
38:11
Speaker 1: then water based is a great way to go. If
38:13
Speaker 1: you're new to staining decks, or you're working in high
38:15
Speaker 1: temperatures without much shade, then oil based products are going
38:18
Speaker 1: to give you your best chance of beautiful results by
38:22
Speaker 1: all means. The best way to go forward is to
38:24
Speaker 1: stop out at any repcolite location. Tell us what you're
38:27
Speaker 1: working on, show us some pictures, tell us what you
38:29
Speaker 1: want to get to, and we'll help you make the
38:32
Speaker 1: right decisions, find the right products and go from there,
38:36
Speaker 1: all right, that's going to do it. Last thing I
38:37
Speaker 1: want to leave you with is this Repcolites deck and
38:39
Speaker 1: Doc and Benjamin Moore's Woodlux products. All the products that
38:43
Speaker 1: I just talked about, they're all on sale until June sixteenth. Also,
38:46
Speaker 1: that really cool Wooster Bravo stainer brush that I talked
38:50
Speaker 1: about earlier, that's on sale during the same time period.
38:53
Speaker 1: So pretty much everything that I talked about, you know,
38:56
Speaker 1: with the deck stains and the tool to apply them,
38:58
Speaker 1: the brush to apply them, all of that's on sale
39:01
Speaker 1: until June sixteenth. So if you do have a deck
39:03
Speaker 1: project coming up, now's the time to grab those products.
39:06
Speaker 1: All right. If you want to catch this episode again,
39:08
Speaker 1: you can find it online at repcolit dot com. Whatever
39:11
Speaker 1: you do today makes your paints a part of it.
39:13
Speaker 1: And remember your next project is way easier than you think.
39:17
Speaker 1: Step out at your nearest Rep Callite and let us help.
39:19
Speaker 1: Have a great weekend everybody, and I'll see you next week.
39:22
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hansen, and thanks for listening.