Sodium Hyd is ice age stuff and wont really do anything real well. You need to strip with not stronger but efective product. WWW.woodrich-brand.com sells md 80. It sounds like that is what your going to need with so many coats of finish already on. Woodrich is not the only place you can get md80 if you can get a better deal go for it so far I cant. Anyway you follow that with an oxalic wash I buy that stuff in 50 lb bags so I dont use the woodrich brand oxalic but it is buffered and better on you,less likely to make a mistake with it.

I use a paint pad on a pole for the deck brush the rails a roller has too much slop going all over for me. After three coats I would just leave the thing alone and have a few beers on your deck. In a coulpe of years do the light oxalic wash and put on a couple more.

This thing with the Lacquer thinner is really stupid as well as wastefull and if your a green freek lacquer thiner is 100 % voc. Anyway after md80 and oxalic there is no need x1000000 to open the wood up.

Be carefull with md80,read the stuff on the can and follow it. For me its easy but mabey not so easy for a diy kinda guy.

Thanks John,

Before I order the HD-80 can you tell me why it might be difficult or dangerous
to work with?

Thanks

Its some strong stuff. Just take the normal sprit of a sound mind using it. Add the product to the water not the water to the product same with the oxalic. Remember high school chem class same thing.

Dont stand over it like your looking for a ruby when its in the bucket, put it on with a roller/pole with the deck,dip a hand brush in the bucket and scrub it on for the rails. Ware good rubber gloves dont let either one the oxalic or the md80 get into and behind the gloves and colect on your wrists.

Depending on the heat outside keep the solution wet on the wood with a hand held sprayer on the garden hose while your working. Work fairley small areas,rinse,go on to the next.

With your project and all the stuff on it you will have to scrub....the deck and the rails... The rails can be done with the hand brush so can the deck. I use a 14'' buffer for the deck with a scrub pad on it any bigger and you cant control it with out Chuck Noris standing by.

Sounds a little complex No? its really not. Md 80 is not going to hurt you unless you do something stupid, good idea to protect any plants around and use a lot of water with the rinse.

In a timley nature after all the shitola is off,roll on the oxalic it works on contact you will see it. Its ok to do this in sections but dont let the gunk set up again while your working the md80.

Have I lost you yet??? No wonder Folks hire me to do this. JonMon

JonMon,

You're a King among men. I've uploaded a pic of the current state of affairs
but it hasn't posted yet. By the time I've finished this I'll have wished I hired a Pro. And I don't have anything even close to 14". I think with the sanding
I'm getting close to real wood again. A little spray with water and moderate
sanding isn't bringing that much more of this stuff up.

thanks

This is where I am now. There's a yellow cast to the ipe (old stain) but the grain
is showing itself again. Based on this do you think HD-80 is needed, or something less powerful like the EC-38?

vic

Here is a link that might be useful: Photo of ipe deck

Your back to normal on that pic. No need to use either one. If anything a light oxalic wash.

Good deal with the clips they dont usually hold up like that. J.

Thanks JonMon,

It's definitely improved but is there a way to test it to see if I've gotten
enough old stain out so the TWP won't fail. If I have another
failed stain and have to start from scratch I'll go off a bridge. I know there's
still some old product in there but maybe that's O.K.?

One more: does "wet on wet" mean a 2nd coat immediately or just before
the first coat has dried completely?

JohnMon, you've been more help to me than the thirty "store experts" I've talked to. Thanks

Vic

Just be forewarned, TWP 116 (named rustic oak) looks like redwood... not oak.

Unfortunately, I have 2 unused 5 gallon containers of TWP 116 (I'm in the Chicago suburbs).

Let me know if anyone is interested in buying it from me (click on my user name in this post and then click "send me an email").

If I could do it over on my Ipe deck, I'd use TWP 120 Pecan.

Jim