Let me see if I can help.

PT is just a chemical injected into the wood to discourage termites and rot. It is not a sealer. Cut ends of PT should probably be sealed, as the treatment does not extend to the center of the board.

Almost nobody in the west uses PT for deck boards.

Gaps are fine, depending on the original moisture content of the wood, there will be some shrinking. Normal redwood shrinks about 1/8'. The gaps are good for airflow.

No single board should be 1/8' higher then the rest. With a bowed framing member, all decking boards in contact with it should gradually rise the the peak of the bow. That would be a lot of sanding. We have never used a floor sander on a new deck. A very old deck, yes.

Unless you are a master pressure washer, I would stay away from it. Redwood is very soft, and it can do more damage then good. There are chemicals out there to clean and condition your deck prior to staining/sealing. I personally prefer those that include Oxalic acid, but they also bleach out the deck a little bit. Do not use bleach as a brightner.

You can use a clear finish, but they have less UV protection. UV's are what turn the deck to gray. The more color in the stain, the better UV protection.

All stains and cleanings will have to be done on a regular basis, once every year or 2, to keep the wood looking good. There are no products out there that will make or keep redwood looking as good as the day it was installed. Sorry.

I'm not a fan of Thompson's either. I haven't tried it a long time, so it might be better now. We usually use either Superdeck or Penofin. The natural colors have a slight amount of tint. Unfortunately, some of the products that are spoken of highly on this and other forums, are not available in CA., due to the VOC's in them.

Good Luck

Mark

Here is a link that might be useful: Decks

The only prep needed on new Redwood decking is an oxalic acid wash. A person is better off using nothing than thompsons.

I would not use a floor machine on a deck although some over here have. Using a 5''Makita random orbit sander with 60 grit pads is my choice.

In your area twp 1500 series would be good also these guys sell a good outdoor finish > www.woodrich-brand.com John Hyatt www.deckmastersllc.com

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll head to some paint shops to look for a light stain from the brands you mentioned, I don't want to lose the redwood color, but also don't want a gray deck! I'll also look for some cleaner that has oxalic acid (btw, what does this do? What may happen differently if I don't use this acid wash before staining?).

As for the uneven boards, I think the source is a beam-post or beam-joist not matching perfectly. In my design, the tops of posts, beams, and joists are all at the same level because I wanted the deck only ~10" off the ground. Maybe I'll just try to sand a bit by hand to smoothen the transition between boards...it's not like this the whole deck, just a few boards.

Two more questions. If I'm going to be sanding some areas in the prep, is this the order of action :

-light rinse to get dirt off top of deck
-let dry
-sand what's needed
-sweep/vacuum/blow saw dust away
-clean with acid
-stain

Lastly, on half the deck I had my wife helping me and she was painting the bottom and sides of the boards with Thompsons. Well, she put way too much and so many boards when flipped over have Thompsons leaked all over them. Will the acid clean this off so I don't have spots all over?

Thanks again,
Dan

Live and learn Dan. A lot of the time you weekend Tradesmen come off with some really good Projects!

Clean the thing first,water, scrub what ever it takes, then sand where you need to, clear off the dust, Oxalic acid wash, dry,put on the finish.

Oxalic is a brightner not a cleaner, it conditions the wood and acts as a nutural agent. The finish will take a lot better using it.I buy it in the 50 lb bags but any product that has Oxalic as the top % will do just fine.

Get the GDF thompsons off completley. Any trace left will show up after the finish is put on. And dont yell at the Little Lady its not Her fault ! Trust me on this one that stuff should not be made much less sold. Sand it off,cuss it off,pray it off, but get it off.

Hang in there Bro, that deck is going to look like a face up dime in a mud puddle. JonMon

Dan, how did you attack the boards? If you screwed them down, I would take the offending boards up and chisel, grind,or sand the offending piece of framing down.

Johns instruction are right on. With the first step, they do have deck cleaners and deck scrub brushes. If the deck is very dirty, these will make it a little easier to clean.

Mark

I have an old deck with redwood decking. I went to a rental shop and rented one of their orbital floor sanders when I refinished my old deck a couple years ago. I hired a couple teenagers to help me. The greatest expense was the backer pads that cost a lot and seemed to take a beating as the sandpaper wore out. The kids just kept going. When it was done it was beautiful and didn't cost that much anyway. Then I used the cleaners and stuff that kills mold etc. I finally used Cabots semi-transparent stain on the deck. At the same time I replaced the bench that ran about 20 ft. along the deck with new redwood that I got from Lowes. I finished that with Cabot's Austrailian timber oil. After a year, the timber oil looked a little tired so I had one of the boys put another layer from the same quart can that they used originally. Let me tell you, the finish on that bench is like new and water just beads up and runs off of it, while the deck is looking ok but not water repellent any more (two years). If I had it to do over again, I would use the Cabot's Timber Oil on the whole deck and redo it occasionally. It is just so rich looking in a dark brown color. (Don't recall which, but it was a standard color).

You bought Redwood from Lowes??

J.

Yes, it is the closest source of lumber to my home. I had to go through the whole pile to get 2x6s that were not all sapwood, but I found some very nice pieces eventually, with just a little. The dark and light patterns look very good. I also got Cabot products there too. No one there really knows anything about stains and oils, so I researched the net before choosing Cabot stuff. It wasn't rated the best, but seemed to be the best choice available in our area. I've had better luck with it than anything else I have used on the decks in two homes I have owned.

nerdyshopper,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm glad to see a very specific product that someone like's on Redwood. I had to do the same thing on the wood....got mine from Home Deopt. Myself and my wife spent 2 hours ripping through the 2x6x12' and 2x6x16' piles to find wood "somewhat" straight. There was no question I was getting it at Home Depot, though, as it was half the price of a nicer lumber yard. The color is absolutely beautiful, although everyone's told me I won't be able to keep it. I'll take a look at Cabot's Austrailian Oil...maybe they have a very light stain...

An update on the boards, I just went out there today and was thinking...I should just leave the boards how they are, you can't even notice it with your feet. I think I was just over-reacting cause it's my first deck and I tend to be a perfectionist (which sucks when you just have hobbyist carpenter skills!).

I'll let you guys know how everything turns out with the cleaning and staining...

Thanks nerd, I have never seen redwood at the box stores.

J.

Hey John,

We have a steady supply of Redwood in the Box stores out West. The quality is terrible; tree farmed junk. But occasionally you find some boards from a real tree mixed in there.

Most people around here still use redwood for fences. The Heart "B" grade seems to be the best bang for the buck. I stick with my reliable supplier, rather than waste time picking through piles at the Home Depot. But if we come up short, the Home Depot Pro really comes in handy.

Cheers

Intersting, thanks Man!

Things are different over here in Cow Town Oklahoma. But if the quilty issues reamin the same in the box stores I can just picture the quality of the redwood.It would be helpfull in a crunch.

One thing, when I see Folks picking through lumber at a box store to a high degree It sits wrong with me. Even tho management dosent care that is a classless low leval move. Just not good Business.But thats Me.
If you want quality Oats,you will pay a quality price, But if you dont mind Oats that have been through the Mule one time...Lets Make A Deal!!
JonMon

I figure if they have the nerve to put propellers in their lumber piles, I have the right to hand select the best and straightest ones there that day. Most of them should be turned into presto-logs anyway. I wonder what they do with them. I bet they just leave them and add to the stack when it goes down a bit.

Aiden, where do you hail from. I'm in Los Gatos, near San Jose.

I never buy redwood from HD, I think they only carry construction common, pretty much the lowest grade on the totem pole.

We used to only use clear heart redwood, then it slipped to Heart B. Now we just use ipe, for decking, with heart B for fascias and rail framing. It's really hard to find good quality redwood, at any price.

Mark

Mark-
I live in Pacifica. My full time gig is in Menlo Park, but I work all over the area. I get almost all the outdoor wood from Empire Lumber in Belmont. Mike always gives me good prices and the pick of the stack.

Hardwood and specialty ply- I buy from Aura in San Jose.

You're right about the quality of all Redwood these days, It's nothing like the old growth stuff. I found an old 4x4 Redwood post the other day, and was cutting it for kindling. I couldn't believe the rings! They were too fine to even count. I polished the surface with a razor blade to bring out the grain. Then I got a magnifying glass and started counting. There are about 300 rings on that 4x4! There is a stretch in the middle that appears to represent a drought that lasted for over 100 years, with a pattern of 10 to 20 years of almost no growth interspersed with one or two years of significant growth. What an amazing record of natural history an old redwood tree holds!

Compare that to a redwood 4x4 at a box store with only about 10 rings in the cross section. The new Redwood does not have anywhere close to the same rot resistance. The 4x4 with 300 rings will last about 30 times longer without rotting. I think tree farming is a waste of the environment just like cutting old growth. The wood is crap, the habitat is worthless, and the energy used to harvest the wood over and over is a bad deal on the environment. How many acres of tree farmed redwood does it take to equal one old growth tree? The tree farm land will never becaom a mature forest habitat. The 1,000 year old tree has wood that will last for 50 years or more. The tree farmed tree takes 30 years to grow, but the wood only lasts 10 years.

I never source wood from Home Depot. Like I mentioned, sometimes I'll get onesies or twosies from the Home Depot Pro in Daly City, if we end up short. Most of the lumber and sheet goods there are a total joke.

One fine day we have got to get together for a shot and a beer Adian.

Man did I love to use that old straight grain Redwood, even the sent got me going, A wood worker can just tell.

Go Get Em Bro!! JonMon

Another avenue is to seek out wood salvage yards in your area for old growth. It will more than likely be weatherd and rough sawn, but it's amazing what a table saw and planer along with a belt sander will do to bring it all back to life. You'll want to invest in a metals detector as well to check out for hidden fasteners that might be buried before milling. Some yards have mills that will do it all for you to your specs if you aren't tooled up and dont want to purchase a good table saw/planer.

Waaaayyyyy up here in snowy Fargo, ND...
I've got a 15y/o "Construction Heart" (NO yellow sapwood) grade Redwood deck.
Now...you can't find decent Redwood to save your life!

I've sanded the deck floor twice in that time. It still looks very good. I've used Sikkens SRD #089 Redwood. If you haven't built it yet, stain ALL SIX SIDES of the lumber. This prevents more moisture from getting into the wood from underneath/ends.

Separately-
I put 2 coats of Sikkens Deck-Finish, #045 Mahogany, on a swinging bench that's ~ 20 yrs. old. I sanded it down, de-dusted it, & used that Sikkens. It's got a nice "furniture sheen". I've purposely left it out 2 winters now, and it still looks new.

Faron

Do not finish all six sides of any decking. J.

IF using the DEK-FINISH, Sikkens instructs all 6 sides coated....TWICE. Even then, if it's a low deck, don't use DF at all. Moisture intake is too high for this particular FILM-FORMING product.

SRD as you may know, is a penetrating Oil, NOT a film-former like Dek-Finish. The SRD breathes. Coat all six sides if possible to limit/even-out moisture intake. The keeps the wood a little more stable.
>>> This is the exact same reason products like Cedar shakes, etc. should be back-coated...TO KEEP MOST MOISTURE OUT.

Faron

No need to shout Dude. J.