My bridge I believe is pine. It is old but in excellent shape except for the bleached out color. What would be the best product to make it attractive again? Is there prep work besides cleaning it well?
Sherrie, if you could post a picture of it then that would help the best. You could go with painting it or perhaps something like the Sikkens product which is more like stain.
Sikkens is a great product. Follow their advice and seal it all the way around. Sikkens is a 'building' type stain that can also peel if trapped moisture tries to evaporate out , so seal it under and around and do it every year for lower maintenance.
I've done some decks that were in similar shape. We used the Sikkens on them and they looked great afterwards (they were done in a brownish-red type color) so Sikkens does get my vote here.
Peace, you don't mean all the way around like UNDER the bridge. That would be impossible as it was placed there be a big machine and nobody can move it. I'll go to Lowes or HD for Sikkens. Thank you Peace & Dan.
Since you cannot stain under the deck, I would use a different stain because the Sikkens will peel on deck top surfaces this way. It works great on vertical surfaces (the pickets) and on surface not directly exposed to the weather (overhangs).
Peace, glad I asked and even more happy you answered. A year or two is fine with me. This poor bridge has had nothing done for well over 15 years but cleaning on occasion. Now I want it to look better.
@Peace and Sherrie..love the bridge. And A stain will make it gorgeous. We used Sikkens on our deck hubs put together over 3 years ago. We were not able to get underneath, and it has not peeled or anything. We have given it a quick second coat the second year, not last year, but probably will this year , just because. However hubs doesn't want to because he doesn't want it to get any darker and we have a gallon left over. The darker it gets tho the more I can see dust and mud tracks on
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it! When it was light, not so much!
Just a side note, my neighbor had a mh aluminum railing that was falling down, bent in the middle, really looking trashy. So i implored hubs to please offer to make this woman a deck so I would not have to watch trash city over there. He did, she paid for the materials, he worked 3 whole HOT days. Then told her about Sikkens. So it would look nice like ours. Well she went and got some cheap stuff and within one season it was all worn off, starting to look grey. So I shut my eyes and mouth .
But a couple of days ago as we were talking about it, hubs saying he didnt want to go any darker, BUT here's a gallon of sikkens..he took it over to HER and asked if she wanted to buy some of it for her deck , and he would put some on to show her how nice it would look. Wood all splintered, grey, baddd. Well, as he was putting some on, out comes the 9 yr old girl, "I like to paint"..ok, here's a brush, Then the boys came out, "we can help", here's more brushes; he told them how to do it, and they went right at it. Just the railings tho, but that's ok, that 's all I can see from here. Hubs had to stop, and then they stopped, so if it will get finished..who knows. But this is a real Tom Sawyer story!!! And everyone wins! haha Especially me!
Sherrie at the far end of the bridge, there are ....gazing balls? Do you have any trouble keeping them looking nice? My glass stuff got very water spotted from sprinklers.
Oh, oh another project NOT done. Bridge will absolutely be next. I started other things around the bridge. I must get that bridge done very, very soon.
Bernice H, those are real cheap things that look like little gazing balls but you fill the top part & they actually water plants. My sprinklers put out a lot of ugly iron so I use a product called Goof Off rust stain remover and they look great. I've had them for a number of years.
Looking forward to seeing photo and seeing what we can come up with.
Sikkens is a great product. Follow their advice and seal it all the way around. Sikkens is a 'building' type stain that can also peel if trapped moisture tries to evaporate out , so seal it under and around and do it every year for lower maintenance.
Best, Charles
Since you cannot stain under the deck, I would use a different stain because the Sikkens will peel on deck top surfaces this way. It works great on vertical surfaces (the pickets) and on surface not directly exposed to the weather (overhangs).
I know, too many details /-: ...»
Any other good stain can do well for a year or two.
It's a beautiful bridge and will look really nice stained.
Thanks,
Charles
Just a side note, my neighbor had a mh aluminum railing that was falling down, bent in the middle, really looking trashy. So i implored hubs to please offer to make this woman a deck so I would not have to watch trash city over there. He did, she paid for the materials, he worked 3 whole HOT days. Then told her about Sikkens. So it would look nice like ours. Well she went and got some cheap stuff and within one season it was all worn off, starting to look grey. So I shut my eyes and mouth .
But a couple of days ago as we were talking about it, hubs saying he didnt want to go any darker, BUT here's a gallon of sikkens..he took it over to HER and asked if she wanted to buy some of it for her deck , and he would put some on to show her how nice it would look. Wood all splintered, grey, baddd. Well, as he was putting some on, out comes the 9 yr old girl, "I like to paint"..ok, here's a brush, Then the boys came out, "we can help", here's more brushes; he told them how to do it, and they went right at it. Just the railings tho, but that's ok, that 's all I can see from here. Hubs had to stop, and then they stopped, so if it will get finished..who knows. But this is a real Tom Sawyer story!!! And everyone wins! haha Especially me!
Anyway I love the bridge and your whole area!!
Do let us know what you decide!
Bernice H, those are real cheap things that look like little gazing balls but you fill the top part & they actually water plants. My sprinklers put out a lot of ugly iron so I use a product called Goof Off rust stain remover and they look great. I've had them for a number of years.