A few weeks ago I did a deck facelift job. Trex decking and cedar posts/rails. Whenever I do a deck with expensive materials I end the job on final payment with a “congratulations on your purchase, here’s your care, maintenance, and warranty information” type letter. The more helpless the homeowner seems, the more information is included in the care and maintenace section.
Anytime I use the WR cedar I recommend they apply a minimum of two coats of Penofin to the posts and rails to start, and a coat yearly. Well this most recent customer took my advise (sort of) and bought a Wagner mess maker and went about spraying his rails with out a lick of masking tape or a single drop cloth. There’s big drip stains and a good deal of overspray on the Trex. My “fact sheet” clearly says not to paint, seal, prime, stain, coat, etc the Trex.
He called me yesterday and wants to know if I can:
a) Penofin the entire deck for him
b) belt sand the stains
I kinda dodged the issue during the phone call as I was on another job at the time anyway and told him I would do a little research and see what his options are and get back to him. I leaned heavily towards “I’ll see what options you have in solving your problem” rather than “Let me find out how I can fix this for you”
What are the real options here? I thought about going over there and testing the belt sander on the underside of the deck, but I’m 99% sure that this will just make another obvious looking mess of the deck. Any ideas about how deep the Penofin may have penetrated into the Trex? I’m sure applying Penofin to the entire deck will void the warranty, but anyone know of any other adverse reactions the Penofin may have with the Trex? No matter what, if that whole deck gets hit with Penofin it won’t be under my advise or by my hands.
I’m also thinking of dropping a line to Trex. Maybe this is my best option. I could then print out their feedback and show it to the homeowner.
Right now, the only thing I would really feel comfortable with as a solution to this problem is replacing the stained boards, or possibly flipping them and re-installing. I didn’t even mention this to him yet. Problem is that the worst of the boards are the onces notched around the posts, so there’s no saving these as the flip method is useless.
What say you? What do I tell him?
Replies
I think belt sanding would be the last choice ... it will take all the texture off the boards in a very localized spot. What disolves penofin ... other than time? Isn't it a wax product? Maybe hit it with a steam pressure washer. If it removes with solvent, be sure the solvent won't damage the trex.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
I would look at using a solvent to clean any of the drips that are still sticky. Then get a "deck stripper". Apply it and then wash it off and if that is not enough then power wash it.
Also it depends on how picky the guy is. If you can get the worst of it off the rest will disappear in a year or so.
But first I would email both penofin and trex tech support and see what options that they suggest or things specifically not to do.
diesel... are you a Trex Pro..if not , you should be... get registered and call their tech support..let them recommend the fix, if they will
in any case,
we paint & stain Trex all the time ( when we use it for trim)..
i would think the best bet is to spray the whole thing with a light Penofin and then let it weather uniformly... too bad the guy is such a putz
do NOT sand the stains off....
but hey, whadda i no ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore