REFRESH YOUR PAINT

Buffing works well on black cars; plus selecting the best stain for wooden deck

Q Can the buffing technique you showed on one of your videos for removing auto scratches work on a black car with lots of swirls and marks on the paint? A Yes, absolutely. Buffing works especially well on black cars.

It's the single best option for renewing the look of automotive paints and eliminating shallow scratches.

I use my six-inch random orbit sander outfitted with a foam pad instead of the usual sanding disk. Wash the car to remove dust and grit, then keep the hose around for later. You'll need it to wet the surface before buffing, and again to rinse off the old compound from the surface of the car. Squirt several tablespoons of finishing polish on the pad, then lay it on the car and switch it on.

As you work the spinning oscillating pad over the car, apply even pressure and pay particular attention to any spots with scratches or marks and give them more buffing time. Use a sponge and plenty of flowing water from a garden hose to rinse off all the finishing compound when you're done.

I use Mother's Finishing Polish for this job and it has always worked very well.

SI MPLE DECK STAIN

Q What's the best stain to use on my deck? It's six years old, 800 square feet, and after two years of the current finish it's peeling like crazy. I'm not fussy about colour. Even weathered wood is fine and I never want to sand again.

A Your last sentence clinched it for me. If you're OK with a weathered look, and want something that's pretty well maintenance-free forever, then you should use EcoWood Treatment. It comes as a powder that you mix with water to the consistency of weak tea. Applied to bare wood (it has to be bare!), the product triggers a chemical reaction that changes the wood to an even weathered grey/brown, beginning hours after application and continuing for several months.

The only hitch in your case is the need to completely strip the old finish. Like I said, EcoWood needs bare wood in order to work. Visit baileylineroad.com/36956 and watch a time lapse video of Eco Wood Treatment in action on some new cedar shingles I installed. It works just as well as a deck stain.

GLUING OUTDOOR WOOD

Q What's the best way to glue pieces of decorative cedar to a cement board substrate that

I'm using to make an outdoor patio table? I tried using screws, but they don't hold in the cement board.

A You're right about the need for glue in this application. Screws certainly won't hold well in cement board. One alternative is construction adhesive. It comes in tubes for use in caulking guns, but I wouldn't use just any old construction adhesive. Most are no good. I've tried many brands over the years, but the only one I've found that dries hard and strong is PL Premium. It's a polyurethane product and cures as hard as rock, even in the presence of moisture.

I'm sure PL Premium will secure your pieces of wood properly, at least at first. One challenge might be the expansion and contraction that happens to the wood with changes in the seasons. This could cause the wood to come loose from the substrate in time, but probably not.

Try some experiments with PL Premium, some cement board and some of the same kind of wood you're working with now. I think you'll find the combination works really well. A thinner, liquid-type glue such as Titebond III works well, too. It looks like ordinary wood glue, except that it becomes completely waterproof after curing.

Steve Maxwell The water resistance of wood glue has improved a lot over the years, but the glue itself doesn't look different. Today's best waterproof glues can even be cleaned up with water while the glue is still liquid, before it cures.

RoBeRt Maxwell Buffing the paint job on cars and trucks is an excellent way to restore shine and remove shallow scratches. Use a six-inch random orbit sander outfitted with a foam pad, not a sanding disk.

RoBeRt Maxwell After mixing the powder with water, Eco Wood Treatment looks like nearly-odourless weak tea. It's a non-toxic, non-sticky treatment that you only apply once to outdoor wood.

Steve Maxwell This is the kind of colour that Eco Wood Treatment creates on bright wood several weeks after application. In order to work, the wood must be completely bare.