Here's a recent case study article written up by Castagra for re-post.
Millions of homes in North America have decks for entertaining and generally enjoying the summer months. Like the home itself, they are exposed to the elements and the decking has the additional wear burden of foot traffic, chairs and loungers as well as BBQs sitting on them.
This case study concerns a small 140 square foot, L-shaped front porch and a 150 square foot backyard deck at a 20-year-old home in Langley, British Columbia, Canada, where the client wanted a highly durable, long term solution for his ‘tired’ deck but with a fine finish.
Problem The original coating was a product called Duradek which was at the end of its useful life with a number of holes. It was important to keep the costs down, so the applicator had to make sure that as much of the Duradek substrate was still fit for purpose as a base layer.
The preliminary inspection had revealed that it needed repair for a number of holes and an overall cleaning to maximize adhesion to a dry surface. But even closer inspection was done to ensure there were no loose areas that might become detached in the future.
Aside from a low cost, the homeowner also wanted minimum VOCs and a coating that would retain its looks over time.
Solution VOC-free, non-toxic Ecodur provided the perfect solution for overcoating the Duredek as it retains its extremely high adhesion levels for its lifetime, as well as its ability to take any repairs with new Ecodur at some stage in the future as there is no time limit on its ability to re-bond to original Ecodur layers.
Plain white Ecodur was manually applied to an average depth of 30 mils over the Duradek layer. Before the Ecodur fully cured, the applicator flood-coated the surface with color chips. After the Ecodur cured, he swept off the excess chips and then scraped the top surface to smooth out the bits that were sticking out.
Finally, he added a finishing layer of anti-UV clear coat to resist degradation in the whiteness. The whole process took two days.
Application Results With the original Duradek being in relatively good condition for its age with only minor repairs required, the job was completed on budget and on time. However, its standout feature was the high level of cosmetic appeal with the color chips that was further enhanced by the clear coating. Ecodur has been widely used in garages where owners want a showroom finish that goes well beyond cosmetic considerations. This has also been the case with major US stadiums wanting their amenities to be hard wearing for high traffic while being able to withstand rigorous cleaning regimes.
Great work by Eric Boycott (https://www.ebuildt.com/) and Dave Assimes!