Any recommendations on a good deck weatherproofer?
I put down the BEHR stuff (from Home Depot) last fall and after the winter it was all peeling up. Of course BEHR tells me I didn't prep it properly even though I followed all the steps. I am currently stripping it all off which is a royal pain in the arse. I have since found 3 other people who have had the same problem.
I am not using BEHR again...what do you folks recommend?
It's a pressure treated deck.

Rob.

Why put anything on it, if it is already pressure treated?

Possibly the decking material still had a lot moisture in it when you put the coating on it? I built a pressure treated deck last summer, and refused to put a coating on it as I don't want to be redoing it every couple of years. The pressure treated decking we used sure had a lot of moisture in it when we built it.

Now all I have to do is resist my wife's soon to be annual insistence that I get out there and put a coating on it....

We stain our decks every few years. The "transparent" colours don't tend to peel as much as the "solid" ones. Mine don't peel at all.

My decks are now 16 years old and the one totally exposed is starting to get ratty. I believe I will replace it with one of the no maintenance (Plastic?) products in a couple of years.

Consumer Reports does a report on stains, etc.

Hey our Behr did that this year as well. I assumed the deck was not dry but I always wait a few days after a rain before I apply the product.

On a related note I sanded my deck down a few years ago and it really did wonders. It removed most of the weathered surface and produced a smoother surface for bare feet. I use a semi-transparent too and never stained the first year as the wood was soaking wet.

Why put anything on it, if it is already pressure treated?Spoken like a true west coaster! :D I'm going to tear my deck right down to nothing and rebuild it this summer if all goes according to plan. For those that don't know, the water damage out here on the South Coast of BC is really incredible (after 4 or 5 months of non-stop rain!) so I'm going with a transparent roof this time made out of Pal-Ruf or Sun-Tuf to avoid the direct rain contact to the wood. Just another tip: I painted some 6 x 6 pressure treated fence posts with a top quality enamel and after years in the wet ground they were in perfect condition!

Wood pressure treated with water-borne preservatives may be painted or stained provided the moisture content, after treating is reduced to about 20%. Occasionally there may be surface deposits of preservative which should be removed. In addition, the color imparted to the wood by the preservative may affect the final shade of any stains used. Products treated with water-borne preservatives are maintenance free and do not require surface finishing unless the natural color is not acceptable..

Wood preservation on the farm (http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/resmgmt/publist/300series/378600-3.pdf)

It's not just because I am lazy...but what about the environmental impact of these extra treatments?

It was Earthday on the weekend...:p

I just put a deck in a few weeks ago and have no intention of treaing it.

We stain the deck arround the pool one color, and the deck coming from the back of the house another color..

I see it stood up well again this last winter:-)

I use a roller to put on Thompson's Water Seal every couple of years. It's great as it penetrates (even pressure treated) instead of coating. A few cons though, it is very thin, so it will drip through (only a problem if you are 2nd storey with something below). It will also spray if you go too fast, and that stuff just doesn't come off siding once it's dry.

Works great, and reduces some of the green of the p/t wood too!

Thanks all for the feedback.

What if I used cleaner only and didn't bother with a waterproofer. Every year or so I simply use the cleaner to restore the appearance of the wood.

I've already stripped it though so have I damaged the existing pressure treatment?

If I can "clean" it every year as opposed to resealing it every couple years that might be an option too as I certainly don't want the hassle of stripping again.

Without a waterproofer or a stain, your deck will experience water damage prematurely.

Also the UV inhibitors in the waterproofer/stain prevent the wood from discoloring to a grey color (although some people may find that attractive).

There's no getting around it...if you want your wood deck to last as long as possible, you have to do some maintenance.

I thought I would revive this thread since I am 'considering' apply a sealer to a 500 sq ft deck. The wood is pressure treated pine and 3 to 4 years old. Nothing had been applied in those years (new owner). June has been a wet month so if I get a week of good weather I may tackle it soon. I prefer a clear sealer over a semi or opaque stain. In the past I used a red semi and after a short period of time the high traffic areas would wear down to bare wood. CR has rated Olympic Weatherguard highly and I keep reading about a synthetic sealer like DEFY that are supposed to resist coloring. I will most likely sand down the surface to remove the weathered wood.

So does anyone have a clear based product they prefer?

I just applied some Thompson's Water Seal (clear) to my new deck (had let the wood dry for a couple of months as directed). The deck is Trex (composite) on all the horizontal surfaces - it doesn't require anything, but the "trim" is cedar and the Thompson product really brought out the grain in the cedar nicely. It was also very easy to brush on and work with - no drips. I know that CR didn't give it a high rating, so I'll have to see how it holds up in a few years, but I liked the workability and look.

Askthebuilder rated these as the best. I had heard of 1 and 2 and 4 so I guess I will start looking around.

1. Sikkens
2. DEFY
3. Weatherall UV Guard
4. TWP 101

I researched this to death 2 years ago and came to the conclusion that a penetrating oil sealer is the way to go.

I had been using Sikkens Cetol SRD, and it looks good and is quite durable. But after 2 years of sun, snow and rain, it needed to be redone. And that's when I found out the bad news -- it has to be stripped, sanded or pressure-washed off before recoating. That turned out to be a major hassle -- worse than having to scrub and re-seal every year!

We put a penetrating oil sealer/opaque stain on a new cedar deck 2 years ago, and it needs to be redone now after 2 full years. But re-doing it will be much easier -- all we have to do is scrub it with a stiff brush and an algicide, let it dry well, and recoat it with the same penetrating oil sealer using a brush or roller. The one we chose is "Superdeck".

Based on what deck pros are saying on other websites, stay away from the cheaper products and especially Thompson's. Also, stay away from products that form a barrier. It will have to be stripped before recoating.

Ricketty

penetrating oil sealer

Thanks RR. I had come to some of the same conclusions as you. Also newer synthetic sealers (like DEFY) share the properties you mentioned but are not prone to feeding algae and fungi.

I had been using Sikkens Cetol SRD, and it looks good and is quite durable. But after 2 years of sun, snow and rain, it needed to be redone. And that's when I found out the bad news -- it has to be stripped, sanded or pressure-washed off before recoating. That turned out to be a major hassle -- worse than having to scrub and re-seal every year!

I know of way too many people who have used the BEHR product (myself included) and had it fail within the same year. 3 years ago I stripped and sanded the awful BEHR stuff off and started fresh with Sikkens Cetol and it looked beautiful. The second year looked faded but no peeling so I left it. This year (the third year) all I did was clean it and reapply the Sikkens again. No stripping or sanding required. The instructions even state that every two years all you need to do is apply a maintenance coat. Not sure who told you it had to be sanded but that definately is not the case.
I have since converted two of my neighbours over to Sikkens after their failed BEHR attempts.

No stripping or sanding required. The instructions even state that every two years all you need to do is apply a maintenance coat. Not sure who told you it had to be sanded but that definately is not the case.

The Sikkens Technical Data Sheet is where I read that it has to be sanded or stripped. I guess it depends on how you interpret these instructions:

"Previously coated wood -- Old coating must be completely removed before applying Cetol SRD."

As it was explained to me by a pro who builds decks for a living, any product that forms a sealed membrane will peel off if moisture gets behind it. If you apply a maintenance coat before the initial coat has worn off, you're OK. But if it has worn off in places, chipped or peeled (as ours did in the worst areas) you must remove the old coat.

Ricketty

Sure, I'll agree with that. If the existing Cetaol coating is too far gone (ie. peeling) then yes, it needs to be removed first. However, keeping on top of it every 1-2 years with a maintenance coat is much easier than having to strip it.