Why does nobody talk about the weird way my neighbor's deck changed color?

So my neighbor across the street, Bob, built this cedar deck about 5 months ago. It looked amazing, a perfect golden brown. Then, two weeks ago, I look over and the whole thing is this bizarre, splotchy gray and orange mess, like a bad tie-dye job. I finally asked him what happened. Turns out, he used some 'all natural' citrus based cleaner his wife bought, thinking it was safe. He sprayed it on, left it for a weekend, and it basically bleached the wood in patches. The before and after is wild. He's now power washing it all off and starting the stain process over from scratch. Has anyone else had a finish get totally wrecked by a 'safe' cleaner they didn't test first?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan_young291mo ago

My buddy Dave did almost the exact same thing with a vinegar and baking soda mix he saw on some DIY blog. He dumped it on his redwood fence and came back two days later to find white streaks all down the boards like someone had poured bleach on it in stripes. He spent the whole next weekend sanding the whole thing down and it still looked patchy after he restained it. It's crazy how something marketed as 'natural' can totally wreck a finish that was perfectly fine before.

the_viola1mo ago

Man I've been there with a customer's fence actually. The vinegar eats away at the wood's natural oils and the baking soda leaves that chalky residue that just bakes into the grain once it dries in the sun. If he hasn't already, tell him to try a pressure washer with a diluted oxalic acid cleaner before sanding again, it cuts through that white stuff way better than anything else.

patricia5581mo ago

@logan_young29 tell Dave the vinegar thing works better on concrete than wood. Baking soda just turns into crusty white salt once it dries.