Exterior Siding Stain

[Jeff May]

Gathering opinions on what type of latex solid color stain to purchase for my shop building.
It's covered with T-111 siding. It has been stained before but is due for a refreshening.
I was looking at Behr brand at Home Depot.
I was hoping for opinions and suggestions before I purchase, I'm going to need approximately 15 gallons.
The last stain lasted about 6 years, I think it was Valspar from Lowe's. I didn't see that brand the other day when I was looking.
Thanks everyone....
Jeff in Hagerstown

 

[gregtwojeeps]

If you want quality long lasting stain for siding, go with the pro products. Sherwin Williams, Porter Paints, Benjamin Moore...etc. Not big box store. JMO

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I used Behr on my deck, as it was nearly the only kind I could get at the time. Now, this was transparent stain, not latex solid, so YMMV. To me, it was no better than Thompson's or Olympic, both of which I used at my previous house. Decking must be done every two years, uprights at least every four. Yours is upright, so it may last 4, but I wouldn't expect it to last 6. You need far better stuff to do that. IMO, of course.

 

[Shiftless]

I used Behr on my deck, as it was nearly the only kind I could get at the time. Now, this was transparent stain, not latex solid, so YMMV. To me, it was no better than Thompson's or Olympic, both of which I used at my previous house. Decking must be done every two years, uprights at least every four. Yours is upright, so it may last 4, but I wouldn't expect it to last 6. You need far better stuff to do that. IMO, of course.

There is a huge difference between transparent stain and solid. Solid color stain is almost like paint. Transparent is just that...very little pigment. If you want the beauty of the wood to show through with just a hint of color, go with the transparent. There are a couple of stages in between these extremes. Semi transparent and semi solid comes to mind.
So much depends on the current condition of the wood and your weather exposure. Find somebody to look at the job and advise you. "Your results may vary"

I'm with Greg on the recommendation to use pro grade products. Go to a real paint store and talk to the people there.
I have a small deck that I installed almost 20 years ago. Clear redwood over PT framing.
I used a penetrating oil finish and am still happy with the appearance.
IMHO, any film forming finish on a deck will fail.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Big difference in stain for siding and stain for use on decking !

 

[Eric Commarato]

I'm an architect, and I specify paint for my projects and have used all of the name brands. My favorite for many years was Benjamin Moore. All major manufactures have product line that range in quality and price. However, I just painted the entire inside of my house with Behr from HD. It was about $15 less than a comparable Benjamin Moore, but I was very impressed with the product. As far as deck stains go, I used BM Deck stain for about 15 years. Then about 2 years ago I was sprucing up the deck for a family function and went back with Behr's semi-transparent deck stain. 2 Years later, it looks as good as the day I put it down. Twice impressed with a Behr product. I still like BM for certain types of coatings, but Behr is really good in my opinion.

 

[mechanic217]

I used Behr about ten years ago to coat the T111 on my shop . The coating still looks ok on the north side but needs another coat on the others, will use it again without a doubt, this was applied with a Graco airless sprayer, only way to fly.

 

[T_R]

I just stained my new T1-11 garage with Behr solid. It's a nice product goes on real easy and looks good.

 

[Jeff May]

Thanks everyone for the input.
I got a price yesterday from Sherwin-Williams.
On sale 5 gal. buckets are $179.00 each.
I'm heading out today to look at Behr stains.

 

[ct03911]

Just did another home in Sherwin solid stain. This time the Woodscapes solid stain.
Painter swears I'll get 12 years out of it. I do believe a good ten anyways.
Good stuff and I think it is on sale.

I am building a detached garage with verticle cedar. I just went to look at a nice barn that was painter in Cabot Barn Red. Great color but the owner said every two years they have to touch it up.

Today I'll be going to a SherwinbWilliams store - they sell the stain, big box stores only sell their paint I just found out.

I'm going to ask them to make their Barn Red SW 7591 solid stain for me (which is a very authentic color) just a bit more shaded like the Cabot Barn Red.

Whatever they come up with is what I'm using. I like both colors really but want the Sherwin quality.

 

[Davefr]

Behr is garbage. The pros have a saying, "it's better to have bare walls, then Behr on the walls". Have you ever seen a professional painter shop at Home Crapo??

Go with SW Woodscapes.

 

[Red05GT]

We built our home 17 yrs ago and used SW Woodscapes solid stain. We have 6" lap cedar and cedar trim. We coated all sides with two coats before installing. First time lasted 10 yrs. Just finished staining South and west sides again. North side is still good this time around. Going to do the east end although it could probably wait another year or two. SW runs sales from time to time. Had a 40% off sale when we bought the stain this time. The
big box stores will have products made to hit a certain price point. They are not concerned
with you getting 6 or more years out of their product. You definitely get what you pay for
in this category!

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Behr is garbage. The pros have a saying, "it's better to have bare walls, then Behr on the walls". Have you ever seen a professional painter shop at Home Crapo??

Go with SW Woodscapes.

I would have to agree. After all their touting about being the "best" and my experience with them is no better than cheaper ****, I'll never use them again, despite the "differences" in transparent, solid, semi-solid, whatever.

 

[Jeff May]

Well,
Home Depot has Behr Professional for $167.00 per 5 gal.
That small of a difference I guess I'll go with Sherwin Williams.

 

[ct03911]

Just found out Sherwin bought Cabot. You can order any SW or Cabot color from a full Sherwin Williams store in the Woodscapes semi or full solid stain.

I also found out SW does not make a Barn Red stain, that was in the paint only line at Lowe's or HD.

I now have a sample pint of SW Cape Cod Red and a SW "Cabot" Barn Red color.
Both full acrylic solid stains.

They said the sale ends Monday night. Basically 30% off their "normal" discount price, so for a garage - 5-7 gallons for 2 coats - not a ton of $ but $50-75 bucks probably.

 

[gregtwojeeps]

Well,
Home Depot has Behr Professional for $167.00 per 5 gal.
That small of a difference I guess I'll go with Sherwin Williams.

Be sure and tell the SW salesperson what your project is. So many paint/stain projects fail prematurely because of the lack of the proper preparation of the substrates/materials, installation of the product...rather than the failure of the product of itself. Good luck on your project. JMO

 

[BillK]

Jeff,
When I built my garage I used Olympic oil based stain on the T-111. That was almost 30 years ago. I have not re-stained it since and most of it looks real good. I had a problem with water getting on the lower foot or so of the sides and because of that I am going to be replacing 8 sheets of the T111 and I plan on using Olympic oil based stain again if it is available. Mine is a dark chocolate brown.

If yours was originally done with oil based, I would stick with the same. If it has acrylic on it now, I would use acrylic.