Comments on: How do you remove sap from a deck?

Question: How do you remove sap from a deck?

agropyron — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:44:10 -0800

We have an enormous [pine|spruce] tree dripping sap all over our deck. What's the best way to get the sap off?

I googled a bit and some people recommended mineral spirits. That got a bit off, but not much. Hopefully someone here knows the magic secret.

(I noticed that the previous owners actually painted over some old sap! Apparently they didn't know the secret either.)

By: 517

517 — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:56:06 -0800

Use a propane blow torch to heat the sap until it turn to a liquid and then wipe it off with a paper towel. But it will stain the deck, you can't paint over it and you have to be careful not to scorch the wood. The sap stain will seal the wood, so if you can get a nice even coating... Also having a fire extinguisher or a big bucket of water around is a good idea because the stuff is flammable.

If you are looking for a way to make you deck look new again after sap gets on it, I have no idea.

By: ptm

ptm — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:44:43 -0800

I use contact cement cleaner (Wilsonart etc)- the kind you use for cleaning up formica installations. Works better than any of the dozen products I've tried to remove sap without letting it soak into the wood. Especially good for taking sap off of car finishes, too.

By: RMALCOLM

RMALCOLM — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 20:21:07 -0800

I've used a high pressure water sprayer (the kind with a gasoline engine that develops about 2000 psi) to strip everything down to the wood. It leaves even weathered wood looking like it was brand new lumber.

You must be really careful using these as they can spray right through a shoe and do terrible damage to your foot.

By: bubukaba

bubukaba — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 20:31:24 -0800

Turpentine always works for getting it off hands, I don't know about decks...

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 04:05:12 -0800

Alcohol or turpentine.

If you want to try heat, get a heat gun. Applying a flame from a torch to pine pitch is a recipe for a fire.

By: unrepentanthippie

unrepentanthippie — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 08:35:12 -0800

Isn't turpentine some kind of pine/fir product anyway? If so, it makes sense it would dissolve the sap. Anybody who knows more about this than I do, jump right in.

By: agropyron

agropyron — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 08:56:44 -0800

Turpentine will be pretty bad for the existing paintjob, right? ptm, will contact cement cleaner be ok on the paint? Since we're constantly getting more sap, it would be nice to be able to take it off every couple of weeks without having to repaint.

Sounds like sap is a major problem. :|

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 11:21:02 -0800

Seriously, try soaking it with alcohol. If the paint is anything you should have on a deck, alcohol won't touch it. Isopropyl alcohol, at least 90%.

By: agropyron

agropyron — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 12:28:43 -0800

I'll give it a try, thanks.

By: The Monkey

The Monkey — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 03:47:00 -0800

If you've got any orange-oil based cleaner in the house you should give that a try.