LESLIE: Pam in Illinois needs some help with a decking project. What can we do for you?
PAM: Well, I need to know what is the best product that I can use to get the best results to repaint my deck with another solid color.
TOM: So you want to do a solid-color stain, Pam?
PAM: Yeah. What we did first was we put on a semi-color stain and it didn’t last very long, so we power-washed it and repainted it with a solid-color stain.
TOM: OK.
PAM: And now it’s peeling off really bad.
TOM: How long ago did you put the solid stain on? I want to get a sense into how long it lasted.
PAM: It’s about three years.
TOM: OK. Alright.
PAM: And see, it’s in constant sunlight.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Right.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Mm-hmm. Now, when you put it on top of the previous stain, which was the semi-transparent, did you – I know you pressure-washed it but did you sort of scrape away any of the extra that may have been peeling or did you get it down to a good, smooth surface?
PAM: Oh, we scraped off what we could.
LESLIE: OK.
TOM: Yeah, because this comes down to an issue of adhesion and right now, you’ve got two products on that deck. You really are going to have to use, most likely, a stripper product to get as much of the old stuff off as you can.
Behr has a good line of deck and fence and siding stain products that I think would work well for you. But the thing is, you’re going to have to remove the old product first. And so they also – when you buy into a line of finishes like the Behr finishes, you want to use their entire line, because they all work well together.
So they’ve got a premium stain and finish stripper that you would apply first and that is product number 64. And then on top of that, you use the solid-color deck, fence and siding wood stain. And if you get the old finish off and then you apply that and follow label directions, I think you’re going to find that you’re going to have a renewed finish there that’s going to last you a good number of years.
PAM: OK, great. Now, do we power-wash before or after we use this product?
TOM: No, you can power-wash initially to get the loose stuff off but don’t be too aggressive because remember, a power-washer is not only going to take off the old finish; it will dig down into the wood and potentially damage it. So be very gentle with that and let it dry really, really, really well before you take the next steps and you start getting into the Behr prep products and then, of course, the Behr stain product.
PAM: Well, that’s very helpful. Thank you.
TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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