OT house deck coatings

[Doozer]

By epoxy, I assume you mean adhesive polymer.

-D

[QSIMDO]

Trex.
I'm done with algae and staining.

[darryl]

Polyester resin with gel coat and uv inhibitors-

[DennisCA]

Pine tar and oil has worked well for me, but requires recoating every 3-4 years. The darkening of the wood had a negative effect in that it dried it out and warped the wood more, so certain sections are not looking that hot from warpage. I have been thinking of removing all the boards and flipping them over and replacing some. I really dislike the grooves in the boards. A big problem is that pressure treated wood is sold sopping wet and they bind the batches together without air gaps so it never dries out either unless you sticker & stack it yourself a good while ahead of any planned project. Screwing wet boards in place really is a recipe for disaster.


Also thinking I'll nail instead of screwing. I kinda think screws are overrated. I mean they hold better. But so what?
-The boards still warped in parts on my deck
-Because of the screws holding power what happened was the heads sinkly sank into the wood
-Sometimes the screw broke too
-Screws are nearly impossible to get out and makes reusing the wood difficult

Nails otoh, they don't hold as well, if the board warps they will pull out.
-Which means they won't sink into the wood and ruin it, making it easier to fix.
-They won't get stuck in the wood (glued nails can be a pita still)
-Nail heads look nicer than screw heads
-It's an older way of doing things so it's better IMO (yes I think like that)

e: Oh yeah also had boards split in the end because the screw was simply too strong.

[Moxiedad2001]

By epoxy, I assume you mean adhesive polymer.

-D

Sorry. Calling epoxy "fiberglass" is a small pet peeve of mine. Gunsmiths do it ALL the time (as in "glass-bedding the action"). It makes as little sense as referring to fiberglass insulation as epoxy insulation.

[A.K. Boomer]

I re-did my back deck a few years back, salvaged as much as the top wood as i could but re-did all the base boards with pressure treated and about 1/2 the top, most of the non-pressure treated is under a roof now,
So anyways - when i got done i went to home depot and asked the "tech" there about what type of paint I can get that won't peel, and he just flat out said "they all peel" lol

so half the old boards i had were already painted and I had to do something so I got the mid grade behr, and yeah it's half peeled now,

I don't think you can expect a water base to penetrate the wood, I think you need an oil base and I don't think you can find that stuff growing on tree's anymore in fact it's outlawed in some (all?) states so yeah were stuck with useless crap when it comes to painting a deck anymore...

[Doozer]

Sorry. Calling epoxy "fiberglass" is a small pet peeve of mine. Gunsmiths do it ALL the time (as in "glass-bedding the action"). It makes as little sense as referring to fiberglass insulation as epoxy insulation.

And all aluminum is bullet. Ha !!! Misnomers drive me nuts too.

-Doozer

[JRouche]

I also use the top level Behr with a high pigment content. The more pigment the longer it seems to last. Thats for stain, I also have some that is painted with the behr. Its good stuff.
Dooz, I think people call it billet and the car nutts are the worst, or used to be. Seems the raw aluminum look is out dated for them. JR

[MichaelP]

The longest lasting deck stain I ever used was Cuprinol (semi-solid, IIRC). It easily lasted for about 7-8 years, and then you'd need a regular pressure wash to re-apply it or any other coating. It doesn't peel, because it's a penetrating stain. There was no algae growth due to its copper content.

Then, about 15 years ago, they stopped selling it in the US because it contained copper, and you know how our environmentalists protect us from any high quality products, be it a solvent, paint or any other goody. It was possible to buy Cuprinol in Canada though. I have no idea if it's available now with the same content.

I started using semi-solid stains (mostly, by Cabot). They don't last that long and don't prevent algae growth that much, but you can squeeze about 5 years out of them. Again, they don't peel like paint and pressure washing is not a major headache with them, especially, if you re-coat with the same color.

However, I came to a conclusion this money pit should really be eliminated. I've seen many decks made of pressure treated wood that were never stained/painted, yet they lasted about the same. If you're ok with the color of the weathered wood, just relax and enjoy your deck "as is". If you count how much effort and money regular re-staining takes over the deck's life (I hire professionals to do it), you may realize that you can have a new deck / new flooring for this amount. If the frame and foundation are done well, you may even have some money left to enjoy beer sitting on the deck over many years.

[J Tiers]

The problem with "as-is" decking is that when it weathers, it tends to also splinter on the edges. Then you can get "toe stabbers" that may affect folks who wear flip-flops or thin sandals. Wives, etc don't like that for some reason.

Stained, or varnished, etc, wood can do that of course, but the penetrating stains do tend to hold the wood together a bit better, as do the "paint-like" coatings. At least they do if they are maintained decently.

[RancherBill]

I can list a hundred things that do not work.

Here's one that does. It is way cheaper than re-doing and re-doing your decks. Mine looks like the day it went down.

https://duradek.com/

[Glug]

I can list a hundred things that do not work. Here's one that does. It is way cheaper than re-doing and re-doing your decks.

History always repeats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMtLdE5Zq-8

[MichaelP]

I can list a hundred things that do not work.

Here's one that does. It is way cheaper than re-doing and re-doing your decks. Mine looks like the day it went down.

https://duradek.com/

How old is your deck? What climate do you live in? Does it get as hot as composite one? Is it easier to put than composite? In general, what are its pluses and minuses if compared with composite?

I'm thinking about replacing wood floor/rails on my balcony, but not fully convinced if I should do with a different material.

Thank you.

[RancherBill]

How old is your deck? What climate do you live in? Does it get as hot as composite one? Is it easier to put than composite? In general, what are its pluses and minuses if compared with composite?

I'm thinking about replacing wood floor/rails on my balcony, but not fully convinced if I should do with a different material.

Thank you.

My current on is 12+ years old. I live near Calgary Alberta. It goes from -35f to 100f with most of the time -15f to 85f. it is not really hot, I believe Trex gets much hotter. You get the deck in a sound condition and then we installed 5/8 tongue and groove subflooring. I installed flashing against the wall. They slather it up with contact cement. Then they slather up the vinyl and put it on. Seams are heat sealed with a pro heat gun. I had a pro install it. It was 44' x 12' and it require 2 lengths. On a big job get a pro to do it. He left some pieces to do repairs. the deck and covering will outlast me, as all the water runs off and nothing gets under.

I covered some small project like a table for the deck.



The one negative is that when it has snow or frost it's slippery. On the path we put a carpet runner in the winter so that unsuspecting visitors don't slip. I walk on it when it's slippery

[MichaelP]

Got it. Thank you for the info.