Deck staining advice

If anyone needs a deck stained in the metro, my son and his friend started a summer business staining decks, docks and fences. They provide full service wash, prep and stain. Their business is really rocking, they are doing a great job for a job no one wants to do. Let me know if you have interest I can share their number.

PS they are big time fishermen and junior/college hockey players. They take the business seriously, the income will helps support them in college. They hav built the business on referrals and they are super busy.

Ok shameless plug is over.

Having a natural wood deck sounds like having a high maintenance wife that eventually cheats on you. Composite decking seems like a no brainer.

6 years ago up at the cabin, I built my deck, and a smaller deck at the entrance. I used the in house composite decking from Home Depot. After all this time the deck was getting pretty dirty, so last summer I pressure washed it, took me about 2 hours. Looks like the day I built it. Best investment I’ve ever made, as far as decking goes. I’ve had my share of wooden deck maintenance, never again.

troutbum wrote:

Having a natural wood deck sounds like having a high maintenance wife that eventually cheats on you. Composite decking seems like a no brainer.

Haven’t experienced that, but I feel like that analogy is correct. Not so far off from boat ownership either…

I agree composite is the way to go, but this isn’t our forever home and I can’t really justify the cost for maybe another 5 years.

Thompson’s Waterseal has always worked for me.

I live in Metro Detroit. The deck is about 7 years old. I stained it last summer using Thompson’s Waterseal and it is already peeling (it was power-washed, then cleaned with Valspar deck cleaner before being stained). I decided to re-do it again this summer. I power-washed it and then cleaned it with a deck cleaner. I am considering an oil-based stain this time (Cabot). I am wondering if I should do anything before I stain it.

I am attaching some pictures (after it has been power-washed and cleaned with a deck cleaner)

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John, you will have plochy issues to come in your future due to the prior stains releasing and lifting underneath it at different rates.

I maybe old school but turpentine and a linseed oil mix the first time around might be my first preference.

Composite.

No matter what you do you will not get 100% of it off. you probably could get 90% or so off using a highly concentrated deck stripper. I would apply this straight to the wood and maybe misting for 30 minutes or so to keep it activated. Then power wash and use a deck brightener. this can be dangerous to your plants and other painted surfaces though. if it were me, I would either live with it or go with what EPG said.

Justin riegel wrote:

No matter what you do you will not get 100% of it off. you probably could get 90% or so off using a highly concentrated deck stripper. I would apply this straight to the wood and maybe misting for 30 minutes or so to keep it activated. Then power wash and use a deck brightener. this can be dangerous to your plants and other painted surfaces though. if it were me, I would either live with it or go with what EPG said.

I used Pittsburgh deck stripper and used it as you mentioned. Keep it wet and let it work. This was on a deck that I took the old decking off and stripped the frame and put new decking back on. Just don’t get crazy with the pressure washer.

If I may weigh in once again.

Composite Pro
Visually maybe the best way to go for the visual,
Might be the best for over all lasting visual effect,

That is on the Pro side.

The con side Composite,
Is smelly in the heat,
Really Hot on the feet
Hot to sit above in the sun
Redictulessly expensive to purchase and to install

I got other Pro/Con thoughts too.

What about my old fashion thought?
Combining turpentine and linseed oil?

Denny O wrote:

If I may weigh in once again.

Composite Pro
Visually maybe the best way to go for the visual,
Might be the best for over all lasting visual effect,

That is on the Pro side.

The con side Composite,
Is smelly in the heat,
Really Hot on the feet
Hot to sit above in the sun
Redictulessly expensive to purchase and to install

I got other Pro/Con thoughts too.

What about my old fashion thought?
Combining turpentine and linseed oil?

We sell tons of it at our yard despite the high costs. You need to step away from the Menards type department store grades of the junk and buy higher end composite decking from true lumber yards if it stinks. It is hotter, but heat is a function of color as well. Some are worse than others. My favorite is when customers get a nearly slate color then complain about it in 100 degree sun.

I’d never personally put down the true high end composite decking unless it was a forever home. Our next home will be and I’ll be damned if I’m ever going to fight staining/oiling/sanding horizontal surfaces that are walked on every other year for the rest of my life.

buckybadger wrote:

I’d never personally put down the true high end composite decking unless it was a forever home. Our next home will be and I’ll be damned if I’m ever going to fight staining/oiling/sanding horizontal surfaces that are walked on every other year for the rest of my life.

I’m with you. I have a treated 14 x 14 deck that was built in 2015 and I have to re-stain it every year. I used the Cabot brand oil-based deck stain too that is pretty good quality. Last year I used a belt sander to grind off all the old stain and apply a brand new coat on floor boards. That really sucked. I am currently not in a long term home so I will have to deal with this until I move.

I have two decks that are about 7 or 8 years old. I had it stained in October 2019 with Vermont Natural Coatings Polywhey Almond brown (I have health problems and need something with low VC’s). It worked well but with the last couple really hard winters here the deck was needing it again so I had ordered the same stuff and had it applied again by a professional last September. He did a wonderful job and the deck looked great. The water beaded as it should.

The problem is this spring I noticed white areas under the eves (among other places) that looked as though they were never treated at all. Also one board looks as though it is oozing pitch. I have never had that happen before, let alone on a deck that is 7 or 8 years old. A new deck perhaps but one that is this old?

I am thinking I got a bad batch of stain. Has anyone else ever seen this before? Below are pictures of one deck and the board that is oozing. Another odd thing, one deck has heavy rubber traction mats on the steps and landing. Under them the deck still looks much better/stained.

Suggestions? Thoughts? Should I have that one board replaced?

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Gave my jug of One Time to a friend after I moved to a place with a composite deck. Love my composite deck. My friend has had good luck with the One Time, makes me happy stuff was not cheap.

Denny O wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>onestout wrote:</div>
wayer based stain

Did you mean “Water based Stain”?

Maybe a new product

I only use oil penetrating. Sickens (now ppg)or Cabot. Does not peel but wears away. Simple wash and recoat 2-3 years. Bad part is all old stain must be removed prior to initial coating.

BDR wrote:

I only use oil penetrating. Sickens (now ppg)or Cabot. Does not peel but wears away. Simple wash and recoat 2-3 years. Bad part is all old stain must be removed prior to initial coating.

I’ve been using the Sikkens (PPG) deck stain on my ceder decks at my cabin for 20 plus years now. I think the stain works as well as most stains on the market. But would disagree that it is a simple wash and recoat every 2 – 3 years. I did that initially and it worked fine. But after stacking up the stain for about 10 years, it started to peel in some spots but stayed coated in the spots that didn’t peel. It looked like crap being 2 toned. I finally used a belt sander to remove the old stain and started over. It sucked sanding off all the old stain. Now every 2-3 years, I sand it prior to restaining. It is much easier to sand if you are only taking off 1 coat. The decks that I have in the shade (not direct sunlight most of the day) could go 10 plus years without needing to be restained. But my upper deck that gets direct sunlight requires staining every 2-3 years if you want it to look decent. I just bought a gallon of the Sikkens log siding stain and holy crap the price has gone up. It was 110.00. I imagine their deck stain is close to that too.

Anyone have better luck trying deck paint w/ sealer instead of stain? The house I bought in May has a dark brown deck paint on the wood. I really have no idea when it was last painted either. Its in good shape for now but I am interested in other’s experience with deck paint instead of a stain if there is more durability to it.

I would vote TWP as well!!!!!!

I use this on my privacy fence, deck and all my outdoor chainsaw carvings. As said you will have to apply again. I usually do two applications the 1st year and then every other year after on the deck and fence.

I like to mix the clear tone and cedar tone 50/50. The cedar tone is a nice color but can get a bit heavy on the color if you apply it to fresh wood. By mixing 50/50 it applies much more even color to the wood on the first coat. You can always use 100% cedar tone to get more color on the second run but cannot take it away. This is why I start with the 50/50 mix on the first coat.