Our home came with a huge deck. 600 square feet of untended worn out boards covered in a fresh coat of redwood stain. We never even noticed the poor condition until the stain began to peel next spring.
My hubby dutifully power washed and scrubbed the deck as directed before we applied a fresh coat of name brand stain. There! That ought to do it. The water beaded up just like the picture on the can. At least for awhile, then more peeling. Is this supposed to be a yearly job? No thank you!
A little research on natural waterproofing brought up an article about how they used beeswax to waterproof ships in ye olden days. The article led to some experimentation in the soap shop with beeswax and olive oil in a Crockpot. Sanded a section of deck, applied the experimental goo, and held my breath as I poured on the water.
Success!! All of this was done while Kent was at work, mind you. No need to stress him out with another experiment!
Our deck boards are so worn we really have nothing to lose. So hubby and I sanded off all the old stain we could, then applied the polish in warm weather. When the boards are hot the polish melts right into the wood. At that point we didn't know how long it would last, but it was enough for me to know that it would NOT peel off.
I'm happy to report that the waterproofing was still working well after the first winter, though we applied a second coat this summer. If it needs refreshing we'll apply another coat next year. Total cost to refinish the deck? $150 the first year (we went through a ton of sandpaper) with enough ingredients left over to add a second coat this summer. Maintenance coat of $25 per year, a lot less expensive and more satisfying than paying for more stain!
The one drawback is that on hot days, our deck smells a bit like an old french fry. Better this year since I cut back on the olive oil. Here's what you'll need:
4 parts of beeswax pastilles to 1 part of olive oil. I put 8 cups of beeswax pastilles and 2 cups of olive oil on low in an old CrockPot. Took the whole melted pot outside and applied the polish to the dry deck with an old towel while the boards were hot to help it melt in. Cold boards don't work as well, the polish sits on top but will melt in once the sun hits it. The oil and beexwax seem to have conditioned the boards and added some life to them.
That's it! Next time I polish I'm going to experiment with some natural colorant, see if I can get the boards to take on a bit of a reddish hue.
My hubby dutifully power washed and scrubbed the deck as directed before we applied a fresh coat of name brand stain. There! That ought to do it. The water beaded up just like the picture on the can. At least for awhile, then more peeling. Is this supposed to be a yearly job? No thank you!
A little research on natural waterproofing brought up an article about how they used beeswax to waterproof ships in ye olden days. The article led to some experimentation in the soap shop with beeswax and olive oil in a Crockpot. Sanded a section of deck, applied the experimental goo, and held my breath as I poured on the water.
Success!! All of this was done while Kent was at work, mind you. No need to stress him out with another experiment!
Our deck boards are so worn we really have nothing to lose. So hubby and I sanded off all the old stain we could, then applied the polish in warm weather. When the boards are hot the polish melts right into the wood. At that point we didn't know how long it would last, but it was enough for me to know that it would NOT peel off.
I'm happy to report that the waterproofing was still working well after the first winter, though we applied a second coat this summer. If it needs refreshing we'll apply another coat next year. Total cost to refinish the deck? $150 the first year (we went through a ton of sandpaper) with enough ingredients left over to add a second coat this summer. Maintenance coat of $25 per year, a lot less expensive and more satisfying than paying for more stain!
The one drawback is that on hot days, our deck smells a bit like an old french fry. Better this year since I cut back on the olive oil. Here's what you'll need:
4 parts of beeswax pastilles to 1 part of olive oil. I put 8 cups of beeswax pastilles and 2 cups of olive oil on low in an old CrockPot. Took the whole melted pot outside and applied the polish to the dry deck with an old towel while the boards were hot to help it melt in. Cold boards don't work as well, the polish sits on top but will melt in once the sun hits it. The oil and beexwax seem to have conditioned the boards and added some life to them.
That's it! Next time I polish I'm going to experiment with some natural colorant, see if I can get the boards to take on a bit of a reddish hue.
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