# Removing Behr Deckover



## Adhregina (Jun 20, 2017)

Two years ago I hired a contractor to install a cedar deck. The deck was installed in May here, in Hamilton, Ontario.

He bought the cedar and Behr Deckover stain at Home Depot. Unfortunately, later that year we noticed the stain peeling. No shovel was used and we called the contractor back who said he would sand it in the Spring. He said that he has used Deckover before but never had it peel. I talked to Home Depot who said that they will replace the 2 gallons of Deckover and their #63 stain stripper.

Last May I hired another contractor to sand and restrain my deck. He's a neighbour and had used Deckover on his sheds he just built. His hasn't peeled??? Well, I paid him and guess what, it has peeled again!!! Unbelievable.

I called Behr's toll-free number and one customer service representative said that Deckover is the wrong product??? Home Depot recommended it but Behr said it's for older decks. They reimburse me for 2 more gallons & #63 stripper. I wished that I read the reviews as similar problems are listed.

I spoke with Behr's top representative who stated that the stain has to penetrate the cedar & recommended Behr's penetrating stain plus #64 stripper which is supposed to be stronger. The #64 stripper was thicker and seemed to be chemically toxic as some of it splashed on my leg causing it to burns. However, the #64 really did nothing. I had used earlier #63 which removed a lot more stain. I was careful and followed directions too. Please use rubber gloves, eye protection and old clothes when stripping.

I also got Home Depot to lend me free one of those heavy electric sanders & used 2 grades of sandpaper for 24 hours. I am now using a small orbital sander for the benches and corners, then will apply #63 stripper again. Hopefully, by the weekend I'll start brushing on the penetrating stain.

I have better things with my summers than sanding decks! This better work at least for a good 5 years or more. Home Depot should compensate me for the 2nd contractor and my time but they won't.

I do not recommend Behr and suggest Cabot or a gel, most likely at a deck specialty store.

Signed,

Exasperated in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

Deckover is the wrong product - it, IMO, is only for decks which are on their last legs and you apply that stuff just to buy yourself another year or two before replacing the decking.

Sorry that someone put it on your deck new, it's a nightmare to remove.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I've never used any of the deck over coatings but what I know about painting lets me know it's a coating that is bound to fail. When it fails [as you found out] it's a nightmare to get the deck nice looking again [no matter what coating you use next]

A deck because of it's exposure to the elements will always have a shorter coating life. I suspect your neighbor's shed did fine because it was on a wall and not an exposed floor.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

The theory of Deck Over and Rustoleum's product is that it "seals" out the weather. They don't. Face it, you don't seal all 6 sides of the wood, so water can enter. If the top is coated, moisture will enter the bottom and sides with no place to go, so the finish will peel.

I feel your pain as I have it on my deck and front porch and wish I had a "reset" button somewhere.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

.... and even if you managed to seal all 6 sides, sooner or later there will be a crack in the finish allowing moisture to get to the wood. Then the wood will start to shrink/expand with temp/humidity changes signalling the beginning of end of the thick coating.


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## klaatu (Mar 9, 2015)

Join the class action suit. You can look it up online. It was just started at the beginning of June. The class action suit against Rustoleum Restore was just completed a couple of months ago and Rustoleum is making millions of dollars in payouts, although they haven't disclosed how much they are paying per deck. I believe it is based on the square footage of the deck in question.

And the reason deckover works on sheds and such is that when a vertical surface is painted with it, the moisture in the wood has a place to go, in that it will drain to the bottom of the wood. If you notice, it works well on the vertical portions of decks but not the decking itself and the handrails. On horizontal surfaces any moisture will just sit in the grain of the wood until it either rots the wood or is turned to vapor by heat and the sun, in which case it tries to do what water vapor does and go up. But because the deckover is an impermeable barrier, it just condenses again. This process happens over and over again everyday until the deckover eventually lets go. After 30+ years in the paint industry.......when i first saw this type of product (Restore actually) i was shocked. I couldn't believe that anyone would be stupid enough to put such a product on the market. You can't blame the consumers because they are basically believing what the advertising (and the Home Depot clerks) tell them. Why wouldn't they? But isn't it time that consumers start to question the validity of what these companies and salespeople say? That is the real tragedy of this situation, that Home depot and Behr will never have any loss in business from this. People will continue to flock to them to buy their products because of their marketing and an absolutely ridiculous top rating in Consumer Reports magazine every year!


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## Adhregina (Jun 20, 2017)

Klaatu,

Thank you for your comments. Question: Is there a website for the class-action suit?


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## UFCreel (Jun 15, 2016)

Also the ceder he got from Home Depot is probably only ceder toned wood. I went there the other day to get some ceder boards for a customer. I would have had to order real ceder from them to get what the customer wanted. Maybe also be an issue with deck over not sticking.


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## rbriggs82 (Mar 4, 2013)

Adhregina said:


> Klaatu,
> 
> Thank you for your comments. Question: Is there a website for the class-action suit?


I found this website to submit a claim which includes Canada. http://www.consumerclassactionlawyers.com/behr-deckover-stain-class-action.html

The first time I saw these type of products my first thought was "Great, in a couple years I'm going to be getting a ton of calls to strip this junk." I was right. 

Even Cabot isn't what it used to be. I'm not sure what products you have access to up there but I'd go with either Benjamin Moore ArborCoat or Sherwin Williams Superdeck in solid. 

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk


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