Cleaning Raw Wood

Q. This may seem like a weird question, but can you clean and disinfect wood? Doesn't it just sink in and not come out with common cleaners like Lysol? I have wood cabinets in the condo, and all the surfaces are "raw" wood, and look kind of dirty.

A. Raw wood is very difficult to clean, because it stains very easily. I spoke to a cabinetmaker friend and he suggests you try bleach such as Clorox. Make sure you wear gloves, covering on all your skin and goggles. You then have to wash down the cabinets with some light soap and water. It does stink so make sure you can open the windows for ventilation. This is not a guaranteed solution to the problem, but he says it works 75% of the time. It depends on what the dirt is. If it is grease, it will need to be sanded.

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Deck Preservation

Q: I have heard a lot of different opinions on what I should use on my wooden deck to preserve and seal it. First I heard use Thompson's Water Seal then I heard "Oh no...... never use that crap." Please help me. Background info: I live in Piedmont area of North Carolina, the deck is about 15 years old, make of Southern White Pine. About 5 years ago I used a Behr Semi-gloss stain on the deck.

A: The Behr product is a urethane based product and should have sealed the deck. I like the Thompson's Water Seal but not over urethane based products. If you want to reseal I would use clear a urethane based sealing product. Make sure the deck is really clean before application.

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Removing Sap From Wood

Q: My house has a magnificent wrap around porch - beautifully stained wood and in excellent condition. Unfortunately the stairs leading to the front door are not so great. The builder must have been running short on funds when he got to the stairs because a couple of them still have bleeding pitch coming out - and the house is 15 yrs old! There is more sap on hotter days - on cool/cold days it looks pretty hard - but is still noticeable. Should we try to sand them down first? it's a little gooey in places!

A: It is very difficult to get rid of sap that is still flowing. The sap expands when heated by the sun and needs somewhere to expand to and will find a fisher in the sealing or paint and come through. Clean off as much of the sap as possible using alcohol or mineral spirits, try to flush the sap out of the crack, then wash that off with soap and water. Apply the shellac, wait at least 24 hours and apply another coat. Wait another 24 hours and you can then paint using any high quality porch and floor paint. It's not a guaranteed cure, but it should work.

Another trick that can be used is to drill a 1/4" hole into the bottom of the stair tread, into the sap pocket. This should allow the sap to drain down rather than up. This only works if the dripping sap will fall in a place where it won't be stepped on.

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