stain vs paint

[ghouchu]

i've got a house that is stained grey, as opposed to painted grey, that i've been asked to prep for a new coat of stain(i won't be doing the staining). is there anything special i need to know about these colored, paint-like stains? is there a particular chemical i should use to make it more receptive to new stain? do i need to use striper to remove the old stain or do i just give the house a good thorough cleaning?

any and all info and and advice will be much appreciated.

thanks

richard

 

[ron]

ron p

i have never done a house but im thinking you need to find out what stain[type] is on it now and what they plan on useing.
I would read the can of stain that they plan on useing. Some finnishes can be covered and some cant. They wont penatrate the other finnish and fail quickly. Why not ask the painter and get it in writting to show the customer.
im guessing your going to have to strip,brighten. Most all of the decks ive done, that are solid stain, i did because the cust tried to put a second coat on there deck and it failed in less then 3 months.
Strip a whole house, WOW, i dont like scaffolds and ladders. If i could drive a lift all around it then maybe, or if it were a 1 story.

 

[Greg Rentschler]

By the paint reference you have given I am assuming it is a solid base stain. Typically if the finish is in good shape you can use a general purpose cleaner (limonene and tsp) and do a thorough cleaning of the siding. Then allow to dry and recoat. I would bet the painters going to use an acrylic latex solid stain which has excellent adhesion qualities and goes on easy. If your trying to put a semi trans on thats another ball game..

Greg Rentschler
TimberSeal, Inc.
866-230-2419

 

[Sunny1]

Prep is the key

From my experience with redoing houses, it sounds like your dealing with an oil-based stain. Most stains are. But to find out for sure I would do a test patch with our stripper. If it were I, i would strip the old stain off, unless I knew for sure I was going over the old with Exactly the same. In that case a good cleaning would be all that's needed. But to get the best results, I would use our stripper (which works best for oil based products) to clean and not neccessaraly worry if i got 100% of the old stain off. (Providing the color will be close) Then, as Ron said, I'd nuetralize with a britner to stop the effects of the alkaline. At that point, the house would be ready to re-stain. As for stripping house, when I use our stripper, it is easy. It's just a matter of spraying on, allowing about 15 minutes dwell time, then power washing off. It really is that simple. This is just what I would do. Hope it;s food for thought. Contact me if there's anything else about this you'ld like to discuss. Tracy