What in the world is happening with this deck wood stain?

I have built a covered deck on the back of my house and I am trying to get it stained. I powerwashed it and started staining 2 or 3 days after. I am using Ready Seal Pecan Exterior Wood Stain and Sealer from home depot with a 6 inch stain roller. The entire flooring is made out of the exact same boards, I bought them all at the same time. Some abosrb the stain and look great, others do not. Like at all. The wood darkens, but doesn’t hold the color like the rest. I am on my second pass (24 hours after my irst coat) of stain and have used about 7-8 gallons but about 1/3 of these boards seem to be extra extra thirsty and are dry to the touch within a minute or so where the rest have a nice even coat sitting on the surface. Some boards exhibit this behavior for the entire wood, some only a section of the board, and one or two are right down the middle length wise. I am pulling my hair out. One board at the end, I went overkill and really soaked it in the stain and let it sit, and it still doesn’t look right, it is darkening, but not with the proper color. Please see pictures. Any help or advice would be appreciated. I am in Fort Worth Texas

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Did you use the deck bleach first to get rid of the black in the wood I see before you put the stain on?

This is actually the first time I have done anything like this. It is new wood from the store, I didn’t think I needed to do anything to prepare it for stain other than give it a good wash.

How new is new? What is probably occurring is that some of the wood was wet still or still green. Generally you want to apply when the moisture is less than 15%. You would need a moisture meter to know this. Your best bet is to live with it until next spring and then power wash the deck and reply after it has dried sufficiently. New wood still has its natural oils therefore it just wont take stain the same as a weathered deck.

Looks great compared to mine.

Justin riegel wrote:

How new is new? What is probably occurring is that some of the wood was wet still or still green. Generally you want to apply when the moisture is less than 15%. You would need a moisture meter to know this. Your best bet is to live with it until next spring and then power wash the deck and reply after it has dried sufficiently. New wood still has its natural oils therefore it just wont take stain the same as a weathered deck.

X2, especially if you bought pressure treated.

Wood likes like it was too new to soak it in. Eventually it should soak it up and dry. I had the same thing happen on my big trailer decking before

It took me about 2 or 3 months to build the whole deck with the cover and all, this section was the first piece I did, so it’s def not still green, that includes about 1.5 months in the sun and weather

So, a portion of my deck is uncovered for the grill/smoker, and check it out, this is what I wish the entire deck looked like, I guess, a few weeks isn’t long enough in the sun, looks like it’s as good as its going to get for now, needs more weathering and wear and tear, maybe this time next year it will be ready for powerwash and restain. Any tips for helping the process over the next year? It’s covered a majority of the deck, so it’s not going to get any sun or rain, any tips

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Wood takes many months to dry out especially if it’s green treated and has a roof over it.

Green treated=chemicals. Also could be multi species of wood. SPF=spruce, pine, fir. Different levels of moisture, grain, sap, oils. Give it plenty of time to weather in.

Here’s the deal, all wood isn’t created equal. Some is porous and some is dense. When staining for a uniform appearance, all the wood should be treated with a clear sealer to close the pores. That way one piece isn’t a sponge and another dense with sap.

I’m an old school carpenter. Green treated wood needs to weather/age in place for at least the first year. Treat it in the second year. Even then some of the closed grain areas may pool a little and take a while to dry down.

As Denny says. Treated wood manufactures say 1+ years before staining.

I’d let it go for a year before staining if possible

There can also be a huge difference between a tree’s interior heart wood and the outer sap wood. So how the log is cut can have a huge effect on the variations.

Sure looks like green treated, can’t touch it for a year.

What kind of wood is it ?

Assuming it’s pine…pine does not take stain well, especially treated construction grade stuff.
Replace the worst of the offending boards and try next year.
If you want it to look uniform then paint it or replace it all with better material.

Treated, whether it be green or brown is usually pressure treated Southern Yellow Pine.

Thanks everybody, I know for next time/next year. Didn’t turn out bad, just not what I envisioned. I will check in later when its time to hit it again

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What kind of wood is it? Just acq treated?

Pine I believe, I just went to home depot and got what they called Deck boards, 2×6 treated

Yes, as mentioned above, needs time to dry and weather, doesn’t hurt to do some extra prep after washing either, they aren’t necessarily ready for stain from the sawmill.

Dusty Gesinger wrote:

home depot

May I state again, it is made of southern yellow pine.

I didn’t type home depot.