We have Redwood Decks in high sun, snow and high altitude and need a deck stain to help match our cedar siding.

Message:

Wondering how I would need to prepare my redwood deck for your product. Would a good sanding be enough, had many years of oil based stains on it. Would your product penetrate if there was a little oil stain left in the wood? Do you sell small color samples? Trying to match the red cedar on our home. 

1. Lime Clean 2. Rainforest Sealer 3. Mountain XT Clear 00

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Hi xxxxx, 

Lime Clean is the first step I would take for these decks. 
It's a good time to test some stain while that is done. 

Generally, on high sun, snow redwood decks like this that have mostly cover but the edges wear faster, we would use The Clear 00 System. The edges that weather faster get rolled with a clear coat in the spring or as needed. 

It's a lot easier to roll out clear coats than strip and sand. 

Lime Clean is very strong but it is also pretty pleasant to work with compared to most chemical strippers. It's the best wood prep I know of and these decks need it full strength. 

The best way to go is to brush and roll some Lime Clean on a section. 
If it starts to dry stand back from the house with a pressure washer with a 40 degree nozzle and let the mist evenly moisten the Lime Clean. Lightly.
Keep it lightly moist for about 30-90 min. This wood really needs the lime. It will do a lot. 

When ready pressure wash off with a 15 degree nozzle. Fan in from about 18 to 12" and never get closer than about 6". 
Create an even swing you are comfortable with, fanning in - removing the dead wood, mold and old stains - fanning out. Step right. Repeat. Work a few boards across. Go with the grain. A white haze forms after the lime is dry. This is residual action in the wood and a good thing. Don't worry about washing this off. 
The stain incorporates it into the wood fiber cell. Just make sure no chunks or films of lime remain. Rinse into soil where it becomes calcium carbonate (chalk). 

After rinsing pour white distilled vinegar over the section and let it dry (preferably in full sun). 
Repeat this on each section. 

When dry, take a pole sander with some 50 grit sandpaper on it. 
Sweep the deck floor with it to scuff it up and knock down any splinters or imperfections. 
This should take about 30 minutes to do all the decks pictured. Not a big deal. Just a nice extra step fro pro results.

COLOR: 
My sense from the pics is that Almond may be real nice color for this setting. This is a deep tone that arrives separately from the gallons and fives. It gets poured in before staining. Some people with redwood use this in varying amounts to get the tone they like. It's used full strength max sun blocking is desired from a single coat of stain. I would try this out and see how you like it. Brown Cinnamon is similar and Brown Cedar is even lighter in tone. But with Almond you will have the flexibility to add more or less as you feel is suited. Just keep track of what you add so you know. It's also fine to mix some Oak Tone Deep into the batch so you can add an element of tan to as mentioned. This is easy to do. 

Ordering suggestions:

1. Lime Clean 3-5 gallons
2. Rainforest Sealer 1 gallon
3. Colorant Containers 
4. Earth Clean 1 pint or gallon (clean up oils, yearly wash)
5. Mountain XT Clear 00 pint

Or anything you think you'd like to try. Pour off a few pints from the Rainforest and experiment with the colors in an economical way. By the time the liming of the wood is done you'll probably have colors you really love and feel good about for a long time to come. Shoot me an email when you order the colors and I'll send you the proper amounts to add to a pint. It ranges from half a teaspoon to 2 oz. depending on the color.

I don't think I would have to maintain this deck yearly BUT realistically, I would probably wash every spring with Earth Clean and roll out a clear coat (or a diluted stain coat if that is what you go with) on the areas that need it. This will bolster the stain and if kept up you will see that the wood gets impervious to it's conditions since the tree resin fuses and into the wood fiber cell and gets quite resilient.

The decision of The Clear 00 System or single coat of Stain will resolve itself with these tests and most people feel very good about proceeding without any hesitation. In fact, I would discourage you from using these kinds of high density wood finishes if there was any hesitation. After testing, you should feel good about the next step and be clear of what to expect for the maintenance. 

I've laid out everything I can think of for these decks long term. Please, save as reference.

Best wishes,
Tom

Sample pints are recommended for creating a finished sample in advance. 


Tom Rioux