I’VE JUST INSTALLED SOME NEW WOOD – HOW LONG SHOULD I WAIT BEFORE COATING?
Apply coatings as soon as possible. Even two weeks of exposure to weather will degrade the bonding capability of the wood surface. For wood that was installed dry, you should try to coat within a few days. For wood that was installed wet, you have a more complicated situation. For example, pressure-treated wood is nearly always sold quite damp – too wet for most coatings to adhere well. For these cases, we recommend that you select a coating which is tolerant of wet wood (“damp-friendly”), and apply within two weeks of installing the wood. For other types of coatings, allow the wood to air dry but keep a careful eye on dirt and algae. If you don’t want to see any stains through your coating, scrub away dirt and especially algae before they become too difficult to remove.
