Restaining cedar deck & dogs

15 years ago

Hi ...

Our cedar deck is 6 yrs old. When it was first built, we were told to wait a few weeks then stain it. We used a Cabot semi in a reddish color (don't remember exactly).

By the next summer, between shoveling and dog nails, the deck looked terible. Any scratch showed up. So the stain really didn't penetrate at all. We were really disappointed.

Still we weren't ready to do it again so we just used a brush and cleaned it ... I think my husband used tsp(?). The next stummer I powerwashed, sanded where rough and restained the floor with Behr California Rustic. Again our dogs and shovels ripped it up....mostly the dogs since I was more careful with the shovel.

Boy, I wish our deck guy had warned us that dogs (or at least our Golden Retriever & English Setter) can really do a number on cedar. We don't have any wood floors and our previous deck was pressure-treated which held up fine. I'd never do cedar again.

So here we are ready to refinish. I just powerwashed, but decided to see if there's anything I can do to get the stain to penetrate more so that scratches don't show up so much.

I've searched this forum for "dog scratch" but only came up with posts that discussed ipe and TT.

So, does anyone have suggestions for me? Oh, and by the way, I'm keeping the dogs' nails shorter now... I swear one of them looks like the Roadrunner when he's getting ready to bolt!

Thanks, Kathy

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Comments (8)

timbulb
15 years ago
Yeah, cedar sucks.
kchaconas
Original Author
15 years ago
So, no suggestions anyone?

My husband says that using a floor sander would probably rip the deck up too much. Anyone have experience with this?

Oh, and I forgot to mention another big issue: oil/grease.

We don't have a shed so our deck furniture sits out all winter. Our chairs don't have 4 legs; they have one long tube that starts up under the seat, goes down and around, then back up to the other side of the seat. Somehow moisture got into several of those tubes and the tubes burst from the freezing/thawing.

When the chairs were moved, grease/oil came out of the tubes and stained the deck in a number of places. Powerwashing with HD's deck cleaner didn't help that at all.

Well, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Kathy
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Faron79
15 years ago
Hi Kathy,

Our Redwood deck is 12 years old.

Like Cedar, Redwood is fairly soft, and WILL get damaged by claws...no way around it.
These woods are very DIMENSIONALLY stable, but on the soft side!

The ONLY way to insure even stain appearance/absorption is to sand it.
* I sanded our Redwood deck 3 years ago. It gets NO shade...still looks real good.
* This is in Fargo, ND too! Temps from -30 to 100. Very dry air...to jungle-like humidity.
* I used the Sikkens Redwood #089, SRD stain.
* I rented a 12" x 18" VIBRATING-PLATE sander. Buy a backer-pad or 2, some 80-grit sanding-sheets, and sand the direction your boards lay.
* Keep going back & forth (pretend you're mowing the lawn!) until your wood looks nice and even, & all old color is gone.
* Vacuum all dust off, & wipe with paint-thinner to remove everything.
* Now, you've basically got a NEW DECK!!
* The beauty of sanding is that all old/degraded cellulose is now gone. Strong, open wood-fibers make up the surface now.
* This "new" surface will now ABSORB & HOLD STAIN EVENLY.

>>> Sure, you can keep cleaning an old deck...BUT, all you'll be staining is OLD, DEGRADED wood-fibers that won't hold stain evenly...or very long!
>>> Usually you can sand & stain the SAME DAY. No waiting for cleaners to dry.
>>> Sikkens reccommends sanding every few years. Also, even Cabot (when pressed) states that sanding is preferred.

Faron
slippery_biscuit
15 years ago
Cedar is soft, there is no way around that. To maintain the "new" look you will have a lot of maintenance. The beauty of a wood deck is that you can sand/refinish and get that look. It just happens more often with soft cedar than the other expensive hardwood decks. Watch out for the fasteners when sanding. You may need to reset them deeper. Hopefully they are screws.
kchaconas
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi faron79 and Slippery Biscuit!

Thanks so much for your responses. Sounds like sanding is the way to go. I'll show this to my husband tonight! We've been looking at stain colors and I would like to go lighter than our existing color. So sanding would be the best option for that too.

Appreciate your help!
Kathy
mikeyvon
15 years ago
i would talk to some pros before sanding or pressure washing. I am not an expert, but i have heard you should not sand or pressure wash cedar. Get some good cleaner (oxy bleach) and some good brightener (neither can be bought at home depot) and use a stain/sealer like readyseal. Do not use Sikkens or any other "film forming" stain. Most wood decks, including ipe, will struggle to keep up with large dogs.
Faron79
15 years ago
Not to contradict Mikeyvon TOO much, but...

We sell a LOT of Sikkens at our store.
We've got Cabot, Penofin, & ACE too.
>>> Sikkens preferred prep IS sanding.
>>> Cabot (when pressed) admits sanding is the best prep too.
>>> Sikkens SRD line (Siding...Roof...Deck) is a 1-coat penetrating oil. NOT a film-forming stain.
>>> Sikkens DEK-Finish (was DEK-Base t/w DEK) IS a film-forming product; as is the Cetol 1, Cetol 23+, & Log & Siding for SIDING applications.
>>> The DEK-Finish line REQUIRES all 6 sides be coated...TWICE.
* Remember, moisture is the enemy of any paint/stain.
* A film-forming product is fairly easily "pushed-off" by water-vapor "wicking" thru lumber. Not to mention the beating any stain takes from foot traffic & harsh sun!!
* When all sides of lumber are coated, moisture has a much harder time getting in...therefore the sheen/film stays nice longer.
* Will it require maintenance?...YES. ANY stain will.

(a 5-gal. pail of Log & Siding now retails for ~$375)

As I've stated...
* My 12-year old Redwood deck & handrail-tops still look almost NEW.
* ZERO shade. ND weather...-30 to 100.
* Been using Sikkens SRD Redwood #089. Two applications now...3 yrs. apart.
* Sanded smooth 3 yrs. ago.

So don't tell ME a deck shouldn't be sanded...:-)

Faron
mikeyvon
15 years ago
well, i did not say a deck should not be sanded, just what i heard. I said the OP should check with some pros. Also redwood and cedar are 2 different woods, what works for one may not work for the other.