Here we go again

Do you all remember our deck fiasco last year? We replaced the wood on our 15 year old deck with new cedar and had it stained and sealed with the newest, greatest sealer. Unfortunately the new Sikkens sealer just didn't work. It didn't soak into the wood at all. The sealer just sat there. Gunkifying.

Our contractor sent a crew to strip the gummy sealer from our deck. It would not come off. (The sealer would not soak in and the sealer would not come off with chemicals nor pressure washing.) The Sikkens rep came out to our house to inspect the disaster. In the end, our brand-new expensive Port Orford cedar had to be sanded to remove the crap stuff. I was very sad. Then, the product was re-applied - very lightly, under supervision of the product rep. All is well.

Sort of. Truth is, this Sikkens sealer was just junk. It did not protect our wood at all. After a rainy Oregon winter, it looked like drek. Our contractor was contacted. He observed. We do not need to mention here our contractor has not used this product since.

To make a long story short (ha), this week our deck was stripped again.

Notice all the dark moldy spots on the wood? Yeah, maybe you don't. Trust me. The deck does not look good. (But that little pooch looks adorable, doesn't he?)

Geraldo and Jose Luis had to prepare/protect our house before applying a chemical stripper to the upper deck - which meant they had to protect the cedar deck directly below the upper deck. It was covered with plastic drop-cloths. But what is Jose doing over there in the corner?

Mr. Audubon Society is making a plastic tent over the light fixture (barely visible behind his back). Why? The black blob on top of the lamp is a bird nest! And - wouldn't you know it? - the nest contains two just-hatched pink featherless babies! I couldn't stand that the babies might get wet - or get chemical stain remover (eeks!) dripping down into their nest. So, Juan devised this little tenting system. I am happy to report the tent was removed after the deck treatment and the Mom has returned to the nest!

And so the chemical treatment began. It was spread-on with a mop-type apparatus, scrubbed down, left to rest and then pressure-washed off.

Most of the Sikkins product was removed, but not all. I am afraid another little bit of sanding will occur tomorrow.

Rat farts.

There was nothing left for me to do except have a mani-pedi and cook Pad Thai for dinner. My recipe is vegetarian - made with tofu - though you could easily substitute chicken or shrimp. I will post this recipe straight away. Anyone interested?

A few Thai beers may have been consumed during the filming writing of this blog post.

Until my next update, I remain, your spicy correspondent.