Last year, I stained my deck. It was a small project, but one that was a few years overdue. Can you relate? I spent a significant amount of time on the prep work, as expected the stain went on without issue and I was happy with the end result. It looked like an all new deck. Mission accomplished.
Not even a year later, the deck looks worse than when I started. The reason it looks worse is that previous to staining, it was uniformly faded. Now, the high traffic area–the curved line from the backdoor to the deck stairs–is completely worn. I have an energetic dog that is mostly to blame, but I also have two kids and my wife and I out there using the deck. The wood isn’t damaged to the point that I’d wager no stain would have worked, but I am really disappointed that the stain I used just didn’t seem to penetrate.
This has led me to the conclusion that I need to do some research. I’m going to stain the deck again this year, but I’m going to make sure this isn’t an annual project.
Check out the articles I found via Fine Homebuilding on deck stains.
Choosing the Right Deck Finish Justin Fink, senior editor, wrote this article and Green Home Advisor’s Scott Gibson contributed. This article is comprehensive and covers everything from chemical makeup to price considerations.
What’s the Difference: Deck Stain Need a bit more information or maybe just a quicker look at the deck stain subject. Check out this What’s the Difference? article by Matthew Teague.
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A superb stain product that is often overlooked, even in national tests by Consumer Reports, is Penofin stain. I've been using Penofin since 1997 on both my own decks and those of my customers. Yes, it is expensive, especially compared with the $20/gallon products pushed by the big box stores, but under most conditions it will outlast them (and who doesn't want that?). The darker colors have the most pigment in them and my experience has been that they last longer than the lighter, more transparent colors. That said, you can still see the grain of the wood clearly. Preparation is normal-sand the deck clean. If needed, use a wood-brightener product (also from Penofin) but that should only be required on the worst decks that have been ignored for far too long. I re-coat my decks every 3-4 years with minimal sanding. I bought Penofin last summer at Ace Hardware for around $45/gallon for their top grade.