# Dock Sealer



## summertime14 (May 4, 2009)

So, I have a couple of docks to do. One had Behr put on over Ipe about a year ago and the other is really weatherd. I remember coming across some sealers a while ago that was safe to use over the water. I like Armstrong Clark but I was hoping someone could point me to something that was specially made for docks.


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

Most sealers are designed to work on decks, docks, fences etc... What type of wood is it? IPE? Sikkens, and TWP are the two best products that I sell the most of.

Staining IPE is not easy. The wood is incredibly dense and doesn't take stain well. Best to strip it down (chemically) Light sand with 60-80 grit. Then...just before staining...wipe each board with laquer thinner, then apply stain immediately after the laquer thinner evaporates.


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## johnisimpson (Oct 5, 2007)

Do some test spots on the Ipe with Behr on it. It can be tough to strip, especially their products with "silicone additive." Being over the water, I don't think you can allow most of the common chemical strippers to be used. We've run into this problem before. EPA and local water regulations don't allow us to let sodium hydroxide or methylene chloride go straight into the water. Does the dock have a railing system? or is it just the dock floor?


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

You may be best to stay with a water borne sealer. I have heard good things about the Defy brand. I wouldn't go with anything stronger than a sodium percarbonate over water (for the clean and strip). you have to check with your local AHJ to see what they allow. They may let you pull a permit. (and so you know.. the fine for illegal chemical into fresh water starts at $10,000. Permits may also cost you several thousand). Price them to sand the decks down and apply the Defy would be my suggestion.


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## summertime14 (May 4, 2009)

Thanks for the help guys. I did find some stuff about the DEFY line, the only product I could find that was a marine grade product. They say to use their wood dock cleaner, and it is *Environmentally friendly for "Clean Marinas" *so I hope that is true. I have done Ipe many times, just not on a dock. Never really been happy with the products available for that hard of a wood. Penefin and Australian Timber Oil is all I have really used, and I know that won't last on the dock. I was planning on sanding it anyway but was worried about an electric sander leaving marks on the wood once the stain is applied. That has been an issue on interior trim and cabinets that I have finished. Some carpenters take a sander to trim they screwed up and think the problem goes away, but as soon as the wood absorbs the stain you see swirl marks all over. I wondered if that would be a problem here.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

Its not really an issue outside if you know what you are doing with a sander. Don't go above (numerically) 60 grit.


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

A random orbit sander is fine, I wouldnt take a disc or belt sander to it by any means. I haven't found any waterborne products that work very well on decks, let alone IPE. Here's a pic of a sample I just made for a customer. IPE with Sikkens SRD 078 Natural


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## summertime14 (May 4, 2009)

My biggest concern is removing all the old Behr stain since I can't use a stripper. I have worked on Ipe and docks, just never had this combo of factors. I think I will try the DEFY line of cleaner and sealer even though I like the Pressure Tek cleaner and Armstrong Clark line of stains. I at least know what I am getting out of those products. So I guess I will let everyone know how the DEFY works. It is going to be a little while down the road though. Well thanks for all the help guys. I think this is what this forum was meant for, not the usually sensleess boring bable that is usually going on here.


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## Msargent (Jan 16, 2009)

If it was my job I would sand with 60 grit minimum. Then 2 coats sherwin williams deck scapes . Do not sell sikkens It peels then its a pain in the butt to reapply sanding. then you need to strip after 5 coats .What kind of chemicals are you going to use on the dock? how will that effect the fish? water?


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## summertime14 (May 4, 2009)

Well, my plan is to use the DEFY dock cleaner because it is suppossed to be safe for the water. At least that is what they claim. And I also plan on sanding it with either my 1/4 sheet palm sander or random orbit sander. I will probably use the DEFY dock sealer since it is suppossed to be safe for the water and all that. I have never really been a big fan of the deckscapes.


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## KLaw (May 8, 2009)

Why not just pull the dock out of the water and use the product your are comfortable with. Doesn't this remove any concerns about the safety of the water?


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## summertime14 (May 4, 2009)

This bad boy ain't coming out of the water my friend. Man I wish!


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## KLaw (May 8, 2009)

We had a cottage in Deep Creek Lake, MD and we had to pull a very similar dock out of the water every year. Of course, those docks were put in knowing they needed pulled each year. Down in SC, do y'all keep the docks and the boats in year round?


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## summertime14 (May 4, 2009)

Ya, these docks stay put. They are generally anchored. We don't get a freeze like up north. You can keep your boat in year 'round. Most people just have a lift for their boat, like in this case. But this area is all private communities. Mostly high end. The lake is a series of man made lakes. Lake Keowee is this particular one. They don't even live here. It is mostly people's second and third homes, vacation type stuff. I could not afford to live here for my primary residence! But ya, no way the dock can be moved. There is no where to move it anyway, because the bank is pretty steep.


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## summertime14 (May 4, 2009)

I am actually from MI so don't know how much advice I could take from a Buckeye!! (couldn't resist! But here, we are all just painters anyway)


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## KLaw (May 8, 2009)

summertime14 said:


> I am actually from MI so don't know how much advice I could take from a Buckeye!! (couldn't resist! But here, we are all just painters anyway)


:thumbup:It's all good. BTW - Michigan Sucks. Just kidding. It's a fun rivalry though. 

Here is another off the wall suggestion: Get some plastic sheathing, staple it to the sides and front (create an under the dock "funnel" that goes into a 5 gal or something larger). Just throwing some stuff out there. If the cost to whip up this contraption is less while you use your trusted removers it might be worth it? Muck Fichigan (Being a Buckeye, you know I couldn't resist). It's all in good jest.


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## michfan (Jul 6, 2008)

Is that at Keowee Keys? That looks like about as much fun as cleaning the grease off these nasty jetbridges!


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## summertime14 (May 4, 2009)

No its at Cliffs at Keowee. I did the community clubhouse. This guy got my number form another board member.


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

Wow, now that I look at it, thats gonna be a tough strip to make it all even again. You could use Gemini Safe Strip. It actually works, and is enviro friendly. Safe around water, plants, animals, etc. I live in Michigan aswell, I sell a TON of this stuff for dock strips up here. 

*** you could do it the "buckeye way" and just flip the dock upside down  ***


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

Rent one of those vibrating floor sanders from Home Depot. Along with a random orbital and 18 grit followed by 36 grit paper of the floor sander, you can have that whole dock finished in an hour. The only truly safe chemical around water is NO chemical. 

*****************************************

Betsy Anderson and her husband, Mel Battle, were walking on the Little Sugar Creek Greenway on Saturday morning when they noticed that nothing in the creek was moving.

"There were just dead fish all over the place," Anderson said.

Hundreds of them died, from Carolinas Medical Center toward Freedom Park, after chemicals that were being used in pressure-washing leaked into the creek, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Stormwater Management officials. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and the Charlotte Fire Department were alerted early Saturday; a hazardous-materials team tested the water and determined there was "no immediate threat to the public, to workers or to nearby businesses", said Rob Brisley, spokesman for the Charlotte Fire Department.

The fish weren't so fortunate. CMC had hired _ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance_ to pressure-wash new concrete on its property. 

"ValleyCrest violated city and state laws by using an acidic chemical compound as part of its pressure-washing", said Rusty Rozzelle, water quality program manager with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Stormwater Management.

The acidic chemical lowered the pH levels in the water to 6 (7 to 9 is normal for the creek), killing the fish. 

"ValleyCrest agreed to remove the dead fish and could face up to a $10,000 fine", Rozzelle said. ValleyCrest officials could not be reached for comment Saturday evening. 

"CMC cooperated with authorities to determine the cause", said Debra Pierce, vice president of marketing for CMC.

Commercial pressure-washing is not a violation of drought-related city or county water restrictions, Rozzelle said. But the drought is an aspect of the incident: Low water levels in the creek added to the problem, Rozzelle said. The water flow was not sufficient to dilute the washing chemicals.The pressure-washing lasted 11 hours, dumping the chemical from a stormwater drain near a CMC parking deck that faces the creek. Around noon Saturday, upstream from the drain, the water was clear and fish were alive; downstream, the water was clouded and the fish were dead.)

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert...t=dis&lang=eng


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