Redwood

[Jon Fife]

Hey guys,

Any special precautions to take with Redwood?? I plan on treating it the same way as I would Cedar, expecting a lot of felting. Have you guys found any finishes out there in particular that you like for redwood?? The customer wants something that is going to look very natural, but I would think a Redwood-tinted stain would turn the wood very dark. Any suggestions?? thanks for the help,

Jon Fife
Nashville,TN

 

[charlie]

Do not use anything else but oxolic acid to clean. Then apply your wood presative on after it dries.

charlie

 

[JR Wood]

I have had a problem on some redwood because it seemed very soft.It leaves stop marks and can be very tempermental.IOn redwood swingsets it is just like cedar.I use wolman or cabot water base or Olympic or wolman F&P.I requires experience to avoid most common problems.

 

[Aplus]

I had to chemical strip a redwood deck once. Had to use Wolmans, and it turned the deck black. A nice oxalic bath brightened it nicely, but it sure looked bad for awhile. I was not prepared to see such a dramatic reaction. I've had cedar darken, but not as much as the redwood did.

If it doesn't need stripped, then a good oxalic cleaning should do the trick, along with as low a pressure setting as will effectively clean it. I use a dual lance, backed down to about 1200 psi with a 15 tip, held about 6 inches from the surface.

I expect the fuzz potential to be similar to cedar.