What to charge for oil stain on trex deck?

Question

Tenants left this stain on an elevated trex deck.  How would you handle this?  I can see replacing the boards that are stained or is it possible to caculate the replacement cost of the full deck minus depreciation due to it being about 12 years old. The property is located in Colorado.

James Hamling · Answer

NO, DONT SAND! It's TREX, composite decking, sanding it will destroy it!!!!

It CAN be cleaned via a degreasing agent. And it CAN be oiled, JUST oil, no clear coat, sealant coat, none of that that's why I use Ipe Oil ( a little trick).

With composite, it's petroleum based (plastic) and it does loose oil over time. Depending on age and weathering, using JUST oil can rejuvenate it and extend life. I have known some to use cooking oil but for me that's just too weird, I use Ipe. Age, material decay, all factors in to what results a person will get.

Bob S. · Answer

YOU SAID what I wanted to say, but I am trying to be nice, Its like a FB post,

Jim K. · Answer

Good Lord, this is a stupid thread.

James Hamling · Answer

@Ian K. your not going to get the tenant to pay for replacement, your simply not, because once you find out how much that would cost, yeah.

Personally, I'd use a degreasing agent to clean it, and then wipe down the whole thing in Ipe Oil. The boards are clearly weathered as all heck, and I'd want to improve the look and wear.

Charging for the cleaning, totally makes sense and viable for tenant to pay. But asking thousands, yeah good luck. And yeah, to do it CORRECTLY that's what I would charge is thousands. Removing and resetting railing, remove and reset near dozen boards with supply half dozen, yeah, not a job measured in hundreds. Maybe $1,700 - $2,250. There is a "pain in the azz" fee for taking a crew away from a fresh build for a day. And in this level of decks, schedule is generally stacked for 18 months, no shortage of customers.

Clean, oil, move forward.

Ian K. · Answer

I appreciate all the discussion and solutions.  I do have enough deposit to replace the trex boards.  They are 20 feet long, but this is the best selling point of the whole home: an elevated deck with an unobstructed view of the mountains.  I'll try to clean it again with some of the solutions provided.  I'll test out some IPE oil nearby and see if that works. Then hire someone to do the work.

Bob S. · Answer

Hi, it was not my comment that said sand it, YOU NEVER sand a trex deck, I said Goof OFF will remove it or just buy two more boards,

Caroline Gerardo · Answer

Baking soda and dawn blue soap in a paste like toothpaste. Problem is the rest of the deck color is not going to match.

Scrub brush with dawn soap all over. There are products in a bottle, none that great.

Rinse with vinegar and water

Power wash

You will never find boards to match exact as these are faded and have you say 12 years of weather.

Time to clean: 3 hours.

You won't have enough deposit to replace anything.

Bob S. · Answer

You can remove the stain with Goof off. If not simple replace two boards, KEEP IT SIMPLE :) 30 bux a board, takes 20 minutes If that.

Jim K. · Answer

Wait a minute, isn't Trex a composite material? Because if this is wood, you definitely need to do maintenance all over that deck. Sand the thing down and hit it with Thompson's Water Seal.

If you definitely need to replace the stained area of a wood deck, @Bob S.is right, this is a two-board affair. But still, sand the whole thing down and do maintenance on it.

What to charge for oil stain on trex deck?

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