Website design By BotEap.com

Website design By BotEap.comExterior wood siding has changed over the years, making what was already a “more difficult than it sounds” process miserable.

Website design By BotEap.comThe problem begins with the expectation before starting a project. There are four main factors to consider when restoring wood surfaces. The first is the look that everyone wants to make it look great when it’s finished. The second is to preserve or extend the life of the wood. Third, there is the durability or useful life of the coating. Then there is the fourth factor, and the most important, what will the future maintenance be and how easy will it be to maintain it in the next few years? It is impossible to have a product that is number one in every factor. When you go for durability, you will lose the ease of future maintenance. When you opt for an easy-care product in the future, you will generally sacrifice the longevity of the coating.

Website design By BotEap.comConsider this scenario; Year one a light cleaning and a natural sealer, next time a light cleaning and it does not look bad but you go with a stained sealer or a lightly tinted stain, next time there are a lot of imperfections, so you go with a semi-transparent stain or solid. Then in today’s market, some people are using thick textured coatings that companies claim will restore gray or old wood. Now there’s a peel-off clutter that can’t be undone with anything over-the-counter at the paint or hardware store. Sounds familiar?

Website design By BotEap.comOf course it does for many. There are two main reasons why coatings fail today. One is the coatings themselves and the focus of the industry. The second is the prep work that is done before applying a coating.

Website design By BotEap.comLet’s tackle coatings and industry focus. The major manufacturers that everyone is familiar with focus on the durability and longevity of the coating. They feel that these are the selling points for the consumer. A major issue with this is that you can be happy for a few years with the look and longevity, but as it begins to peel and NOT wear, you find that a detailed stripping and possibly sanding process is necessary before returning to be coated. This process is often time consuming, exhausting, and expensive. With the newer products on the market from Behr, Olympic, Rust-Oleum and others, it may actually be cheaper to replace the wood than to remove the coating. There is no stripper made for these types of coatings and with the rough texture and ceramic microspheres in the coatings, they will break down the sandpaper in no time. Remember, these products are not made to come off right away and if they peel off in a few months, you are in for a major problem. On an old expiring deck, it could mean the end of the road. Without going into the lawsuits that have arisen regarding these coatings, you can do an internet search, the biggest misconception is that these coatings form a film and are rigid. If you put a more permanent, rigid type of siding over wood that is constantly moving as it expands and contracts, what are the expectations? The more durable they make them, the more difficult they are to remove, but the easier they are to “pop” and “peel” from the surface of the wood, leaving the consumer with a headache. It is best to look for products that wear out, which makes cleaning and repainting easier, even if it is more frequent.

Website design By BotEap.comNext, we must discuss the preparation of the wood surfaces before coating. It must first be recognized that the better the preparation, the better the end result. Poor preparation magnifies the end result once a coating has been applied. We start with a cover that is gray or worn by exposure and the sun. To properly restore wooden surfaces we must remove the grayish wood layer. These wood fibers are not attached to the “good” wood underneath. In fact, you can scrape off the grayish fibers with your fingertip or a light tool. To remove this layer of gray wood, a very light amount of pressure or sanding is used to expose the good wood. Now the coating you apply will last longer and wear evenly. In today’s market, you will find many people who call themselves “professionals” or “experts” and insist on “gentle washing” wooden surfaces to clean. Some of these contractors will tell you that they stain when they are done or that they are “ready to stain” when they are done. This process can damage the wood. Many soft washers use a stronger chemical than the industry standard, usually bleach. If the chemicals are not thoroughly rinsed from the wood and left on the wood when finished, it can cause the coating to drop rapidly and will dry out the wood prematurely for a lifetime. In this process they are simply “bleaching” the wood to make it look new, but as mentioned above they have not removed the loose gray wood fibers, they are simply bleaching and recoating afterwards or letting you recoat it. In either case, the end result will fail because the coating has stuck with loose wood fibers that will come off the wood sooner rather than later leaving it with a stained appearance.

Website design By BotEap.comThese are the top two reasons why coatings fail today, which is why a consumer is faced with the decision of what is best for their wood surfaces. While there is no perfect product, we must take into account all the above information. We need to make sure that the preparation is being done correctly and that the contractor, or whoever is doing the work, understands what the proper industry standards are and that they will meet your expectations. You don’t want someone to make you look good today and get a check and in a few months, you’re facing buyer’s remorse for your decision. So we must consider that if the wood is constantly moving and receives a lot of traffic and wear, it would make sense to look for a product that also “moves” with the wood and wears out. This makes future maintenance a light cleaning and repainting while keeping the price low. If manufacturers don’t add to the simple fact that they are frustrating the wood deck consumer into making decisions to move to composite decking (which has its own problems) they will lose a large portion of their end users. There are many great products, many of which you need to research online, and are not sold in paint and hardware stores. The research can be overwhelming, but look for future maintenance ease over longevity for fewer future headaches.