The Paint Pit Blog

[#1]

After what must have been only five days of winter here in Atlanta, we're on the verge of that early season pollen blast that leads to sinus headaches and covers everything outdoors in yellow!

While preparing to stain your deck, uncover your grill, and make your way back into the garden, keep these tips in mind:

1) More of my customers choose deck stain that is too bright ... I guess it is their excitement about being outdoors. So, plan ahead and take home several half-pint stain samples to "see" the color on your deck before you purchase gallons.

Last year I wrote, "Ready, Set, Stain" just about this annual event. Click the link to read that post.

2) Check out the gas container and the regulator on your grill to ensure your first effort at grilling will be successful!

The Lawn Ranger gives a great checklist on his post, "My Grill Won't Heat Up Anymore!!"

 3) And, if you need an early season project that will create a pathway into an area you intend to landscape this spring, check out GardenGail's "Soft Path Project" ... more than 75,000 other readers have viewed her outstanding post!

And finally, if you're in a region that is still snow-bound, take a deep breath and hold on because spring is on the way!!!

[#2]

Here in the Pacific NorthWest, I have to restrain customers from wanting to run out there on the first warm sunny day and start staining. After the long, wet, relatively warm NW winters, those fences and decks  are soaking wet to the core. Granted, today's water soluble stains are moisture tolerant, but it a mistake to encapsulate wood that has more than 10 to 12% moisture content. Stains breathe better than paint, but moisture that wants out NOW, can cause premature failure. This is seen more commonly on smooth decking lumber, especially if proper wood preparation was not done when the deck was built. If that stain did not penetrate deep into the wood fiber, the vapor pressure will cause the finish  to pop. If homeowner  insisst on doing something, I tell them it is not too soon to start the cleaning the dirt , algae and mildew removal. But, I encourage them to wait until we have had at least two weeks of consistant warm, dry, sunny, windy weather before they grab the brush.

In Portland, we get about 40 inches of rain over the winter - day after day of drizzel. Add to that, the weather stays above freezing. The Mid-West, with its sub-zero weather in winter, is actually easier on wood finishes then The North-West area. When it is super cold, exterior wood is actually being "freeze dried". At zero degrees, the relative humidity is zero. The dry air actually pulls moisture out of the wood. Here in Portland, the daily drizzell ruthlessly lets water penetrate deep into the wood.

Along with the rain, decks are built in such a way that water has many points to enter: screws that are over torqued and sit in little craters, butt joints that can never again be stained once the deck is assembled, joists that are rarely sealed on top before the decking goes down ( perish the thought that the contractor would actually use rain shield on top of them!), the underside be sealed, etc. The gist is that water WILL get into the wood. Come the first hot, sunny day, vapor pressure will try its best to get out!

Patience is a virtue. Wait until the wood dries out!

[#3]

Yes Ordjen,

You may not have many thunder storms, but you get enough rain for all of us!

Personally, I love to visit and see the natural beauty in your region!

But I might not make it through so many days a year with your constant drizzle.

When you finally get dry enough to stain, you need a long-lasting product to ensure you're protecting the wood.

[#4]

Pat,

The upside to the weather here in the Portland and Willamette River Valley area is that we don't have to shovel that moisture. I sold my snowblower  when I left Chicago several years ago. The secret that we don't tell the rest of the country is that the summers are glorious here, with cool evenings and warm, non-humid days. One of our former governors was famous for his admonition: "Oregon, have a great vacation and then go home! "