staining wood decks

[Banker]

We just got our decks pressure washed and are about to pick out our exterior stain now. Our pressure washer guy showed us color charts from Behr. They are exterior wood stains and are supposed to last 6-8 years. Our house is contemporary and is sided in cream(beige) colored vinyl siding. We have white trim around the windows and garage door. Any suggestions on color? I think they are all transparent. Thanks!

 

[Kal]

The Behr stains will not last more than 1 year at best. The first thing you need to do is get a very good waterproofing sealant. I have used many products and the best so far is Olympic Maximum. I'm sure there are other quality products, but Behr is not one of them.

The biggest problem is deterioration by UV sunlight.

 

[RuralEngineer]

Sold Stain

Solid stains will last longer then transparent stains. I personally use Cabot solid stains as they last a good 4-5 yrs. Cabot is available at Lowes.

 

[Kal]

Solid stains are always nice, but by formulation they are a thinned down paint. They are nice for vertical surfaces but solid stains will not stand up on a horizontal surface which gets lots of foot traffic. You end up with worn pathways.

For deck surfaces a light stain extends the life as it hinders UV deterioration.

 

[Big Matt]

I've had my solid stain on my deck for about five years and it's probably needed to be redone for about two. So figure three years.

As for color, I had a pretty dark stain with the same type of siding and trim as yours and it looked great. I think the other thing you should consider is the color of any of your plantings around the deck if it is closer to the ground (like mine).

 

[Passepartout]

After staining decks for several years, picking up splinters, sanding, pressure washing, Arrrgh! I'm not doing any more steeenking staining! My Trex decks are 9-10 years old and look the same as the day they were screwed down. Mine are the Madiera color (dark red). They come with woodgrain on one side and plain on the other, I put smooth side showing. Maybe it doesn't look as good as freshly sanded/stained clear #1 redwood, but I'll take no maintenance.

Seems to me that when I WAS staining, I used Olympic semi-transparent something-or-other from Home Depot. It lasted about 4 years, but would look better if re-done at 2.

Jim Ricks

 

[easyrider]

Solid stains will last longer then transparent stains. I personally use Cabot solid stains as they last a good 4-5 yrs. Cabot is available at Lowes.

Cabot Soild every 4 - 5 years works very well for us.

 

[RuralEngineer]

Good Reference

http://www.masterhandyman.com/downloads/DeckCarFastnEasy.pdf

 

[Kal]

The one product you need to avoid is Thompson's Water Seal. It's a wax based material that is fantastic the first day, but very quickly disappears within about 6 weeks.

 

[Autoeng]

If you do use Cabot's use a bursh to apply or back brush after rolling. I had peeling because I used a roller and didn't back brush.

 

[Blues]

Another enthusiastic vote for Cabot's. We've tried about a half dozen different brands in the 13 years we've owned our 1000 sq ft deck. We now have Cabot's on it, and it has outlasted the others by a factor of 2.