I've got a 1 year old Port Orford cedar deck that I foolishly put epoxy coated screws in. Of course the epoxy came off, and since the deck is exposed to salt water spray a few months a year, I ended up with medium-dark gray stains (I assume iron) usually around the screw holes. I have since replaced all screws with 316 grade stainless. I have sanded the decks down to bare wood, and tried to used 3 different types of oxalic acid brighteners, only undiluted impacts the stains, but within a few days the stain wicks back up and re-emerges. I assume the stain is throughout the depth of the wood. On top of that some boards seem to have a similar grey tint to them - it's lighter than the stains around the screws but still noticable even after completely sanding them. Adding insult to injury, I have many lighter areas where the oxalic acid went into the non-stained wood.

I tried staining the upstairs deck with TWP, it looks like hell - the stain accentuates the flaws, rather than conceals.

Soooo - I am going to have to go with a solid color stain, over a primer. I just believe that no matter what I do, my deck is so flawed that with anything less than a solid stain the flaws of the deck will overpower the niceness of the grain. For two 150 sq. ft decks I have put around 80 hours into them, which is ridiculous. I am quite concerned about the iron stains coming through, perhaps after the BIN, the first coat should be B.M. 024, then another coat of 094.

Here is my plan at this point:

1. Re-sand the upstairs deck (I tried using Jasco stain stripper twice, with minimal effects and the area was still water-tight!). I tried re-sanding an area and it worked (allowed drops of water to be absorbed). The downstairs deck has most of the stains, but is sanded down at this point.

2. Spot prime grey areas with BIN

3. Use primer -either Cabots problem-solver 8511 (we're in Calif) or Ben Moore alkyd exterior primer (either 024 or 094.

4 Then go with probably a Cabot's solid color stain.

Please tell me if there are any flaws in my approach, any better approaches, any ideas.

Thanks!