Deck Stain Stripping Questions and Answers - Deck Stain Help Forum

Stripper rinsing question

screaminjay — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 21:21:36 +0000

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I have a western red cedar fence that I stained once in 2017 (both sides) with Armstrong-Clark transparent oil-based stain. One side is full sun, one is nearly full shade. I’ve been cleaning the fence every year or two, and this year I’m finally getting around to restaining.

I was doing a new set of cedar porch steps in RAD Semitransparent Light Walnut, so I ordered enough to redo the fence as well. Got the stripper/brightener kit and the thickening additive. My plan was to strip, spot sand the posts and 2x supports, brighten, stain.

Yesterday I applied stripper to both sides of the fence. I used the Chapin sprayer and the 5 gallons of mixed stain just covered the 350-ish square feet. Let it sit for 20 minutes, then rinsed with a hose (pressure washers and me don’t get along). After a full rinse I scrubbed, then rinsed again.

The next day, I’m seeing quite a bit of wood pulp remaining, especially on the sunnier side (see photos), and I’m wondering if I’ve done enough to get the stripper out. Does it look like I need to rinse more, and can I still do that now that the wood has dried overnight? Or can I proceed to spot sanding and brightening?

Product for Stripping Behr Semi-Transparent Stain/Sealer?

egm87 — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 21:01:57 +0000

My deck recently was redone with Behr semi-transparent waterproof stain/sealer. It's a terrible orange color, and it was painted on unevenly, so it is patchy. I've learned that Behr is particularly frustrating to remove, and a bummer product. And it's on all the railings as well. What is the best stripper to take it off? Pictures attached.

Many Thanks for the advice!

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Terrible color

akaaren — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 18:53:37 +0000

Hi, we just added on this wood paneled entry. It’s like a porch with walls. My husband

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stained it yesterday with Flood semi-transparent. It was supposed to be a light “natural fir” color, but it’s ORANGE. So, so terribly orange. What can we do???? Strip? Re-stain? Paint over it?

First time, solid stain large deck

decker — Sat, 15 Jun 2024 12:03:01 +0000

Hi Scott,

I am a complete newbie and have two weeks to get this done. Large solid stain deck, multiple coats in covered area since it doesn’t peel the previous owner kept painting over.

uncovered portion is worn and beat from Colorado climate. Railings are starting to peel. I plain to use same color.

1. What would you use to strip? I have access to 1800 psi power washer but don’t want to damage wood.

2. does it need cleaner after strip? I saw that your review of RAD paint strip doesn’t require any cleaner since it neutralizes, is that right?

3. would you do any sanding? If yes, what type of sander and paper. I need to buy.

4. does everything need to come off or only the loose stuff? My concern is the uncovered portion has several layers.

5. few boards are rotting or have damage, what type of wood should I replace with?

6. Anything else?

thanks

Ipe deck strip

helmsman — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 20:23:00 +0000

I have a ten year old Ipe deck. It has a Messmers oil based stain on it. We want to strip this stain, and then apply a new oil based stain. We had to re-build part of the deck, so we have a few new boards mixed in with the old ones. We tried sanding a board or two with 80 grit and 60 grit, and the 60 grit removed some stain, but not all. However the deck is too large to effectively use that method. What stripper would be best to use for 10 year old Ipe? What process would you suggest to get the best result?

Removing film residue from Behr Wood Stain & Finish Stripper

gary_z — Sat, 07 Oct 2023 19:56:38 +0000

I have seen several mentions of people having a slippery, film residue left after using this product. I have the same and really need advice to get it off. I have used Restore a Deck cleaner, Brightener and another stipper from penofin that did a good job on first half of my deck. (Ran out of product on a Sunday, and penofin retailer was closed, so stupidly went to Home Depot and bought Behr) I have also tried pressure washing with just water and a degreaser. Grasping at straws. My pictures are dramatic because it shows boards stripped by Penofing next to boards stripped with Behr. You can see residue on top, and Behr caused wood to be darker after stripping. It's tigerwood. PLEASE HELP

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Stripping question

jsuehl — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 23:51:19 +0000

I put something on the front deck at a rental property that was kind of like a stucco which was supposed to last forever but started peeling in a year. It is half peeled off now. It might have been Rhino Shield but I'm not sure - it was 10 years ago. I want to strip it and stain the deck. What product do you recommend for stripping something heavy like this off? It peels off with my fingers in some areas, but other areas are still adhered pretty well. Would any of the Restore a Deck products work or do you recommend something else? I've attached a photo of part of the deck. We are just trying to remove it from the floor as it is holding on pretty well to the ballisters and would be too much work to remove there, and we are capping the top rails with new wood.

Thank you so much for your help!

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Seattle Weather vs Decks

e4wesley — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 01:35:11 +0000

Hola Scott (and the World),

I have a very large deck just outside of Seattle. I have refinished it more times than I can count and it always looks like crap after one year. I have tried oil based and water based previously. The deck is pine and I have replaced boards as needed.

What am I doing wrong??

I am getting ready to refinish AGAIN and I really really want to get it right this time. Here are current pics. I pressure washed it a couple of weeks ago but got delayed.

We get a lot of rain and occasional heavy snowfall at this location. My goal is durability and ease of future maintenance as it's an Airbnb.

I am open to all suggestions from start to re-finish ;)

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Cheers and Thanks, Wesley

Prep a 4 year old rough sawn deck

chucky2023 — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 03:02:44 +0000

I have a 5 year old deck made from rough sawn 2x6 lumber. originally stained with Super Deck oil based semi transparent stain which is no longer available. After two years, restained with Messmers water based stain which was rendered an opaque brown color with no transparency. I want to get back to a natural semi transparent finish and am considering Armstrong Clark. Do What is the best stripper to use, or will a cleaner do the job. I also use the under deck are and all the joists and bottom of the deck are stained the right color. I don't want the stripper or cleaner to streak that area.

Use planer to remove 'Restore' coating?

hskul — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 14:46:49 +0000

I would appreciate any advice around the most efficient way to prepare my deck for re-finishing. I've searched the site for an answer to my question but didn't fine one. Here is the story.

We purchased the house ~7 years ago and it now looks like the previous owners may have used something like Rust-Oleum Deck Restore coating on it. It looked great when we purchased the house but now it looks terrible. The picture you have for the Rust-Oleum Deck Restore coating is eerily similar to our deck (see pictures) so I'm assuming it is that or something similar (I don't really know). Before finding this website we tried power washing and chemical removal and neither works (in agreement with experiences of others). Heat gun helped in some areas but it takes forever.

I am not thrilled about the idea of sanding this down as it will leave a dust of this material everywhere. So I was considering getting a plug-in planer with replaceable blades (yes, I realize I will go through quite a few blades) and then just remove the top surface after making sure the nails have been set properly. This will allow me to collect most of the debris from the deck and dispose of it properly. I would try to remove as thin layer as possible but the coating is quite thick is some places so I would have to do a lot of touch up with sanding (along any edges).

My understanding is that the wood is white pine. I'm planning on finishing the deck using semi-transparent deck stain so if there is any specific issue I should look out for in this case, I would appreciate any advice on that.

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BTW, really happy I found this site before I started this. Very helpful.

Thanks,

Hjalti