LESLIE: Scott in Illinois has a question about a stamp from pressure treated lumber. How can we help you today?
SCOTT: I put in a wood deck about a year ago. It’s treated lumber; cedar, I think. And the lumber yard or the mill, they stamped it with their stamp that tells the grade or the manufacturer or whatever it is. And I want to stain it with a transparent stain, so I want to figure out how to get that off of there. I’ve tried power-washing it but that doesn’t do any good.
TOM: No, you have to sand it. The stamp from pressure treated lumber is in the grain of the wood, so you’d have to sand it out. And you can do that without affecting it because the pressure treatment goes throughout the entire wood.
But it’ll be a slightly lighter color. But why are you going to go with clear? Why not use a semi-transparent or a solid-color stain?
SCOTT: So it looks more weathered.
TOM: Yeah. I mean you can do that to remove stamp from pressure treated lumber. I will tell you, the difference between semi-transparent and solid color is probably about five years of longevity. Because the solid color just lasts a lot longer because it’s got more pigment in it.
SCOTT: Is that right? OK. So, a solid color will last 10 years compared to 5 or something?
TOM: Long, long – yeah, yeah, I think so. I think that’s fair. And by the way, you won’t have to worry about that stain because it’ll just go right on top of it.
SCOTT: Yep, OK. Too easy.
TOM: That’s what we try to do, Scott. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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