State of the Exterior Wood Restoration Industry

There has been an issue regarding the use of a pressure washer when cleaning and specifically in Wood Restoration for some time and little to nothing has gotten accomplished over the years. Doesn't this sound familiar, anyway for the "woodies" there seems to be a lot of issues regarding the proper process and who determines standards for our part of the industry. There is another issue and that is damage that is "caused" by a pressure washer. These two items have really come to a head at this time. A few years back I asked Ed Burke who then was with the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association to come to a bulletin board and address the issues and concerns from the contractors who were doing the work. He did and was raked over the coals as tends to happen on these types of forums and then people don't come back. The problem is that sometimes these people are decision makers and have influences higher up the chain. The end result was Ed left with even more of a negative feeling than before the dialogue. While Ed is no longer with the WRCLA his fingerprints are, and they do not recommend pressure washers to be used in restoration of cedar. There is not a far stretch between cedar and pine regarding density. Will pressure treated pine be next?

Restoring Cedar Decking

It is a good practice, to clean your deck once a year, in the spring, to remove dirt, mildew and other forms of discoloration. Yearly cleaning will ensure that the deck looks nice as well as prolonging the life of the protective coating. Scrubbing your deck with warm soapy water will remove dirt, but diluted household (oxygen based) bleach will be required to remove mildew, as mentioned above. Most coating companies also manufacture deck cleaning products to complement the deck finishes they manufacture. These products called cleaners, brighteners or restorers remove different forms of discoloration without stripping the finish from the Western Red Cedar. Most of these cleaners can remove dirt and discoloration caused by mildew and algae from the surface of cedar, but they vary in their ability to remove iron and tannin stains and weathered (grey) wood from the surface of the deck. Some of these deck cleaners may actually remove wood from the weathered cedar surface and therefore you should take care when using them. Power washers can seriously damage cedar deck surfaces and, as mentioned above, this type of cleaning is NOT recommended for cedar decks or any other cedar product.

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http://www.realcedar.com/decking/restoration/

We all know that pressure washer DOES NOT cause the damage it is the person using it. Until now though there has not been a standard or direction regarding lowering psi and what range of psi should be used for wood restoration. Also, there are issues with the process specifically about pre-wetting, chemical usage, rinsing, and finishes.

This has started to affect me because I have had customers visit the WRCLA site and question me about the use of a pressure washer. I also am seeing the damage caused by people who shortcut the process whether it be a contractor or homeowner.

I personally have taken the step to construct a standard that was submitted to the Forest Products Laboratory for consideration. This project of creating a document for this purpose has been accepted and is being tweaked and worked on by some of the leading people in the wood industry. These folks, who like myself, have previously participated on the Joint Coatings Committee of the Forest Products Laboratory and represent the wood part and the coatings part of the industry. Getting this accomplished will insure that those performing wood restoration services will have something to hang their hat on regarding the use of a pressure washer as well as the process. The pressure washer is the most popular tool in exterior wood restoration and we need to make sure that edicts like the one from WRCLA are answered because others will build off of this. At then end of the day its NOT the pressure washer, and the use of one certainly helps us.

If you will be in Houston next week I will be discussing this in detail as well as in Atlantic City two weeks later. If anyone has any direct questions regarding this please feel free to contact me with any questions.

I "wood" also like to thank Jim Foley for his consultation and input regarding this project. His opinion and expertise I greatly value. I hope in the end this helps all of us in the wood part of the industry. I have a lot of respect for a lot of people who do great work and want everyone to know that this is to benefit all of us.

That's great news Everett. I'm not into wood, yet, but THANKS for stepping up to help everybody.

Thank you Everett and Jim. I look forward to reviewing what you, Jim and the others at the Forest Products Laboratory have developed. It will be nice to keep a copy for customers education. Thanks again!

It seems that attempts have been made in this arena over time with many stops and starts. Sam Williams who is a legend in this industry retired and he was the heart and soul of the Forest Products Laboratory. Then there was movement by a couple folks who are also now back on the project. These efforts were thwarted more because of huge cutbacks at the Lab over the past few years. Now we are getting it across the finish line and this will actually promote the use of a pressure washer for this type of work. Thanks for the kind words, there will always be work to do this just gets everybody on the same page in four separate areas of the process and a guide to rinsing without damaging.

Way to go Everett!

Great job Everett ! The resent threads on wood in general and damaging shakes softwashing with bleach has given some new life to a conversation about wood restoration. I've had quite a few email's and calls with concern and questions.

For people that are interested in wood restoration a good step is to buy all the books put out by the Forestry Labs . It will give you a good back ground and a better understanding of wood and what they say about finishing. The industry has changed a bit with finishes being water based and the issues that go along with it .So some of the books are old . I read everything even if I disagree with what hey say .


Interesting thing about wood restoration is no matter how long you do it you learn something new every year . The more I do it the more I tend to go old school . If you read the evolution and history of oils , paints , and how they still maintain the buildings in Europe built a few hundred years ago. Its very interesting to read . It's more interesting when you mix your own oils and they work better. It's also interesting to see how other parts of the world treat there wood .