As probably happens with a lot of owner builders, I’m running out time (not so much money, but the job is costing more than I thought) or getting a little behind in what I can and want to do. I have thought of myself as a good painter and am a bit picky, so wanted to paint my exterior of the house myself. But as the late fall and winter are approaching and plans to be out of the country for a month starting the middle of December, and having a host of finish work to do when I get back, and trying to drum up business again when I get back, and, and, and…whew…guess I will paint the house in 15 years down the road when it will need it again.
Anyway, my neighbor is having their house painted next door so I had the painter come over to look at my job. We were going over this and that and my decks came up in discussion for finishing; just something else I thought I would do this coming spring after being constructed almost a year by then. He mentioned a product called Sikkens ( http://www.nam.sikkens.com/index-english.cfm ) which I had never heard of. I did some research this past summer on Penofin and SPT (I think that was the name of the finishing material) as two alternatives I was going to use.
Anyone have any experience with Sikkens? And thoughts on the latter? Thanks…
Replies
Wiley,
I have used Sikkens products for many years--both interior and exterior. It's an old brand, and well known among painting professionals (at least of my acquaintence). I used Sikkens finishes throughout my new Lindal cedar home completed about 5 years ago. Everything (including the cedar decks) still looks like I just finished it. The one exception is the horizontal surfaces of the decks on the south side--given our intense sun and thin air, I have found that a quick topcoat every year prevents problems. The entire exterior of my house is t&g cedar, with 2 coats applied prior to installation (I had my Lindal deliver all the siding to an outfit in town that applied those coats), then 1 coat after installation. Sikkens tells me I'll have to re-coat in 5-8 years, but it certainly won't be 5 as it still looks so good. In short (or not so short), I highly recommend their products--not cheap, but very high quality.
Good luck!
Howard
Howard, thanks for the help. As I outlined above, it too was my painter that made this recommendation; I had never heard of it and thought I had done my research. Also, he said the stuff ain't cheap.
But, if it last as long as you and others say, then it's worth the extra expense not to have re-finish every 1 to 2 years. And this inlies my concern; it seems all the research I did kinda dictated that one has to refinish the decks once a year--two years if you've got a finish with more pigmentation to counter the UV rays of the sun. I don't know, without pricing out the material yet, if I could get four to five years out of finish, that would be great.
You are correct, the extra pigmentation does help w/ the UV. Sikkens does have a solid color product for decks that lasts forever (or it seems like forever), but I'm not sure that's the look you want. Again, I only add a coat to the south decks of my home that take a beating, and only the horizontal surfaces (deck flooring and top of handrail in my case). I just damp-mop the deck (DW thinks that's pretty funny), wait for it to dry, then use a cheap, throw-away pad applicator to spread a quick coat. Doesn't take much time, and not that much material. Good luck!
Howard
Adding my 2 cents (CND) I cetoled a deck of cedar 2x4s that lay between two hulls of a catamaran sailboat. After 3 years in the Bahamas and Caribbean, including one hurricane I re did it as it was starting to look a little scruffy. I would recommend the product. By the way I used their two part polyurethane on the hull and metal primer on the mast. Both were very durable.
An ex-boat builder treading water!
I have used Sikkens for outdoor furniture, over cedar and cypress. Products were Cetol 1 for a base coat and Cetol 23 for the top. Did this four years ago, and the furniture has never been covered or taken in through Wisconsin summers and winters. This summer I added another coat of Cetol 23, as the finish was dulling, though still intact. I believe in the Sikkens products, both for ease of application and durability. Pricey, as you wrote, but I have enough to do without refinishing wood every year or two. I noted a distinct color difference using the same product (dark oak) on the two woods. The cedar was darker than the cypress, which has a more attractive orangish hue to it. A good buddy has used Sikkens on his deck and boat dock, also with good results. He used translucent for the horizontal surfaces, and I would agree. Even though they take a lot of wear, the wear patterns are more apparent with a solid stain than with translucent. Sikkens is part of the Azko Nobel family, which also has an excellent reputation for automotive paint. I'm sure you know to avoid any paraffin based products.
The wonderful thing about the Sikkens products are that you can refinish them so easily. One thing I'd add is to be sure to recoat them BEFORE you get blown out spots. If you wait too long, water, sunshine and dirt will make it begin to lift. Then it's so much harder to fix it, as the wood will discolor, and you'll always see it.
Several years ago, I saw a good painter struggling to get a good finish with one of the Flood brand finishes. It looked horrible and he was cursing the owner for not spending a few cents more per gallon for Sikkens.
As a sometimes boatbuilder, I was familiar with the Sikkens marine finishes, so not long after I had the opportunity to try the Sikkens on an old deck that I'd spent nearly a week cleaning up with a pressure washer.
When I was finished, it looked like new and the owner was totally astonished....he was prepared to have nearly 5K sq. ft of decking replaced.
That was 5 years ago and we just cleaned it up and recoated it this summer.
Sikkens is good stuff, IMO.
Thanks for the heads up guys/gals. I was in my lumber yard (the quality one I drive 17 miles in a major metropolitian area to get to where I also have an account) today buying yet some more Advantage Pine for trim work and walked some aisles investigating this very thing; deck finishes. This yard distributes Penofin, one of my considerations, and had a copied report of how the latter stacked up with a host of its competitors in a Cosumer Report. It seemed that Penofin and Sikkens were neck and neck. My other consideration, TPW, was rated just a little less.
I guess I'll look further into costs and application M.O.'s, and make a decision.
Thanks again for the help!
I recently did a mahogony deck.
I have sprayed cars with Sikkens, and loved their automotive line, so i was predisposed to their deck line. The client and I wanted the clearest finish possible, and that pointed to a two part Sikkens product. In reading their literature, they recomended not using it if the deck wasn't over two feet off the ground. An area of this deck was not, so Sikkens was eliminated, unfortunately. The client also spoke with the store, and they said the Sikkens was hard to apply, and demanding in terms of weather windows.
We chose Penofin as it seemed to be the "clearest" we could find, and the applications matched our weather window. We are in New England and 24 hour balmy periods are few and far between. Leaving it untreated over the winter was not acceptable.
The finished product is, to my and my clients eye, a bit dark, too 'red', and a little 'dull'. Not exciting, and I know the wood could look better. But this is a deck, and it is outside after all, so perhaps my hopes are too high. Samples of Cabots 'Timber oil' appeared nearly identical but required better weather conditions to apply.
The application though, was pretty easy.Jake Gulick
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CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT