Deck is not over and water.
Totally NDR - removing White Pine tree Sap from wooden decking
- Thread starter Mark W
- Start date
roy brewington
Well-known member
Amazing. Thats the only thing that will remove pine sap from my pickup. Unfortunately Where I park in driveway has a large pine over head. Sucker drips sap year round . Guess it bonds better on wood than metal.
Pete McMiller
Well-known member
Interesting, it's worked for me. Maybe on fresh sap but not dried?
Heat gun and scraper. Failing that you could flip the boards over like Dave recommended, paint the fresh surface with Wetlander and equip the whole family with Steve Sanford's boots to prevent slips and falls. RM
I'll be back there in a week or so and will take some pictures. There are literally thousands of sap drippings on the deck. I've never measures the but would guess just the side facing the water is 12' X 40'. The n the deck taps around both sides. Doing a spot at a time would be painful.
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Matt Mahoney
Active member
Removing sap sounds like a lot of effort and won't remedy the problem (dripping white pines). If it were enough of an issue, you may want to consider removing the culprit/s before you attempt to clean the deck.
Pete McMiller
Well-known member
This is an off-the-wall comment that occurred to me in the middle of the night (of course). For the past year I've had a glop of tree sap in the middle of my windshield that I always forgot to scrape off. Just yesterday I realized that it's gone - just vanished without a trace. The ONLY thing I've done different lately is to refill my empty windshield washer tank with Rain-X brand washer fluid.
I wonder how many windshield wipers it might take to cover the area in question? How large of a step down convertor would be needed? Should they all come on with a single switch or would zone coverage be more effective? Perhaps they could be programmed to automatically clean the deck, during off peak hours. Pete, you may be on to something intriguing.
EngineerinDave at work!
He'll be back next fall asking how to get pine sap out of fabric.
In the long run, I think addressing the trees is your best bet--unless you like strong solvents applied with elbow grease. It sounded like the issue might be limbs hanging over the deck, rather than the entire tree. Maybe some selective trimming would help.
Dave is too old to appreciate the robot revolution. We have a new use for this device. https://www.consumerreports.org/hom...atic-grill-cleaning-robot-review-a1170489056/
I thought for sure I'd seen the epitome of laziness, then this. Oh my.
Mark W
Well-known member
I've looked at selective trimming but don't think I could eliminate the sap issue. These trees are huge. While I could get to the lower branches, there are still those over 100 feet tall I couldn't ge to. I may have to call our tree expert to come and see what he could do.He'll be back next fall asking how to get pine sap out of fabric.
In the long run, I think addressing the trees is your best bet--unless you like strong solvents applied with elbow grease. It sounded like the issue might be limbs hanging over the deck, rather than the entire tree. Maybe some selective trimming would help.
In no way helping your cause, but your thread reminds me of the trouble other trees cause. Coniferous trees are well known for shedding sap, but in my yard the oaks make a mess. They spit a dark brown sap every year. I don't know exactly what it's caused by, I assume some function of leaf or acorn drop but perhaps it's honeydew from insect infestation. Anyway, the sap rains down in 1/8" droplets that are barely noticeable individually but make a car, boat or trailer look like it's been shot with a load of #9's. Tough as nails to get off.
Mark W
Well-known member
Got one worse. Was driving my truck home a fews weeks back. Could not avoid the freeway paint strippers. Got all over my truck. I tried everything I could think of with zero luck. Took it to my favorite shop. They tried everything with no luck. Ended up having to paint every panel except the hood, roof, and bumpers. $13,000 covered by insurance (new wheels as well and a comsmetic allowance as they couldn't get the paint off the indercarriage).
Pick the truck up at 5:00 and start driving to the cabin. 20 miles down the road a rock flies up and chips the window. Not wanting a 3rd claim in a summer just paid the $100 to fix the window. Paranoid to drive anywhere now.
Thats no good. That road striping paint is tough stuff. It has to be to tolerate thousands of vehicles every day. After all that, I'd be tempted to count the sap on the deck as a win.
...Does it come in Dull Dead Grass?
Is there any reason why you could not just cover it with a cheap Harbor Freight tarp? You used to be able to pick those up for free during certain times of the year or special deals. These are usually the smaller ones but a couple would work. Or just find a cheap one that fits the whole boat. I got them free years ago and have a small stock pile of them still in the bag. When they get too much sap on them, throw away and put new ones on? If you are worried about putting them directly on the surface of the boat you could build a frame around the boat to keep them off the boat some to allow air to circulate. I just think this would be the most economical and easiest way to keep that sap off. Even a roll of thick poly film plastic would work as well.
Mark W
Well-known member
Thanks for the suggestion. WE have 15 chairs, 3 tables, a firepit, a smokerand a Blackstone on the deck. It would be a pain to move them everytime we come and go. And I would think that I would still have to walk on the atrp with say which would stick to my feet. I don't know. Something to consider.