Pressure Treated Lumber

Hello, I have deck made of pressure treated lumber, and the previous owner had applied solid stain on it. Since I like to see natural wood grain, I intend to use semi-transparant stain of Olympus (guranteed to last minimum 5 years).

I am thinking to first apply Paint Stripper, followed by Deck Cleaner, and lastly the semi-transparent stain -- all Olympus products. Got a few doubts hoping to get your feedback before I start my deck restoration project.

1) Does pressure treated lumber has good grain ? Will the wood grain be visible with the semi-transparent stain on ?

2) I heard that pressure treated lumber has some protecting coating on. Will all the stripper and cleaner chemicals affect the coating and thus the durability of the deck ?

3) I cannot reach the flip-side of the deck -- I mean the side of the deck facing down the earth. Therefore I cannot re-stain that side. Will this be any concern related to the wood durability after applying all these chemicals?

Many Thanks!

Sure, but I've never seen PT wood that I'd call "pretty" because of the grain. It is usually SYP and looks similar to construction material.

Not a coating but an infusion of chemicals. Sure you will remove some of it.

No, it would probably look ugly with the drippings if you could see it, but since you can't . . . .

Couple of suggestions. Wait a year or two and the stain will probably wear or peel off saving hours of removal time. Most deck stains in sunlight will last only a couple of year in spite of what the can says. You are taking on a LOT of work.

If you truly want a good looking deck, replace the decking boards with epe, mahogany, cypress, etc and coat it with Penofin oils. It will look much richer, last longer, and be a thing of beauty. I built some furniture from mahogany decking material. Look on my web page under woodworking to see it. That wil be the surface on my deck in a couple of years when I get sick of stainign the PT that is on it now. Not cheap, it will probably run you $3.75 a square foot, but will last 50 years and look good along the way.