Recommend a Deck Sealant Please

[JOE.G]

I am redoing my porch this spring, Mine is 76x10 L Shape/Wrap around in the front and the rear I think is 14x10, I was going to do Trex but the price was crazy, SO I am doing wood, I have the railings and spindles in the shop drying now and will start to be stained with Cabots in another week or so. The floor boards and trim boards are going up unstained and Ill stain them towards the end of the summer, The entire porch has a roof over it.

 

[macperspectives]

I've used CWF-UV5. It's oil based and has worked great, keeps a good color but we make sure to seal it every 2 years

 

[ford33]

I believe PPG products usually runs a sale in the spring on their deck coverings. You may want to wait a couple weeks and see if you can save some money on the 5 gallon pails.

 

[Maiku]

Definite depends on where you are located and what you use the deck for.
I’m in FL and I use DEFY extreme wood stain products. You pretty much have to stain yearly here since the sun is brutal but it holds up nice. I re-stained mine recently after two years and it had held up nice. I like DEFY for the ease of application and their more environmentally friendly which is important since the deck is over water.

 

[Bretny]

I am redoing my porch this spring, Mine is 76x10 L Shape/Wrap around in the front and the rear I think is 14x10, I was going to do Trex but the price was crazy, SO I am doing wood, I have the railings and spindles in the shop drying now and will start to be stained with Cabots in another week or so. The floor boards and trim boards are going up unstained and Ill stain them towards the end of the summer, The entire porch has a roof over it.

I would make a smaller deck before I chose to go with PT decking. Your adding a whole other relm of maintenance to things.

 

[JOE.G]

The Deck is kind of built into the home, I would have to rework the whole roof and other things to make it smaller, I could swing the Trex deck but there is close to a $15,000 price difference. Being that my deck is completely covered a I don't belive I would have to stain it as often as an uncovered. I have painted my current deck 2 Times in the last ten years. I am only replacing the deck as I want to change the look and style, And don't like the painted look.

 

[In The Doghouse]

When I started this thread I had pressure washed the deck but because of the thick pollen at the time, and I was otherwise busy, I never applied any sealant.

Last Friday I again pressure washed the deck and today I applied a coating of Cabot Australian Timber Oil purchased at Lowe's in the Honey Teak color. The deck is 12 x 24 ft plus the steps and the bench on one end. I used 7 quarts of the two gallons purchased. I brushed it on using a 4" brush. I have some 4" rollers, but opted not to use them because the brush gets deeper into the cracks.

I'm attaching a few photos. I hope it retains the color without turning gray. Time will tell. Thank you all for your input.

https://m.cabotstain.com/home.php?ga=false

 

[JOE.G]

I like the color, Keep us posted on the long term durability.

 

[In The Doghouse]

Well two years later it looks like **** and I'm not feeling like pressure washing again.

I do have 2.5 gallons of Thompson's Water Seal clear on the shelf from some years ago. It seems a little jelled on the top layer but maybe it would roll on okay. I might apply this just to hold it together a little longer. If not used, how do I dispose of this stuff?

So, I checked Lowe's synthetic decking. I could replace the ~61 surface boards with the Trex brand for about $2,500 including the fasteners and all. A 12ft stick is $31.14. Yikes!

Have these materials increased in price in the recent past like almost everything else has? I understand the higher interest rates should be slowing down the housing market and we might see building supplies drop in price.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

DO NOT PUT Thompson’s on top of the Cabot’s.
Once you start with one product you should stay with it. Otherwise, just let it go for a couple of yrs then you can start all over with a better product like TWP!

 

[MarlynOC]

Different sealers are not compatible. You need to strip(HD-80) off the old finish and neutralize(Oxalic acid) the stripping before applying a new brand.

 

[suburban_dad]

Absolutely wait for pressure treated wood to stain the deck. I would also say you need to clean the deck with chemicals and pressure washer before any staining or sealing.

 

[dcg9381]

I’m finished with the wood deck. Concrete and stone coming up....not inexpensive but no more staining....

I'm with you there. I went steel and composite. Concrete porch, but with concrete at $150/yard+ and the cost of steel now... I get it.

I agree with others, what product you use depends on your environment. Here it's the UV beat down and heat the really kills wood. The other critical factor that I found on my last wood deck was making sure that the deck hardware screws were in good shape. Mine were starting to degrade, letting in water. I ended up removing all of them and installed stainless.

 

[Mike65]

I just finished sealing our deck frame & railings. I did not have to do the deck boards since they are trex. We used Olympic water guard clear waterproofing sealer. I have a garden sprayer that I put the sealer in & sprayed it on the all the exposed wood.

Olympic WaterGuard 1 gal. Clear Multi-Surface Exterior Wood Sealer 55548XIA-01 - The Home Depot

WaterGuard Multi-Surface Waterproofing Clear Sealant offers convenience and value. Penetrating, advanced multi-surface sealant protects against water damage and creates a mildew-resistant coating. Perfect

www.homedepot.com

 

[cgall]

Remove deck boards and flip them over.

 

[kwb]

I don't like decks. Stone and concrete are the right answers for anything close to grade.

That said - I have a small deck area remaining that was built with one of the first wood/composite deck boards - they were falling apart at about 10yrs. That was 20yrs ago. I cut off most of this deck when I added onto the house. When I got around to redoing that remaining area I sheeted it with 3/4" ACX T&G plywood and coated with Sherwin Williams "Super Deck" -Technically it was "Duck Back" at the time and has been rebranded. It is an elastomeric paint similar to roof coatings. I think I got about 5yrs out of the first application. Gentle power-washing annually, touched up a couple of small spots when I did the first recoat a couple years ago.

I did have to put a bit of pitch to the deck for water to shed off better but as far as decks go - it is the only way I would surface one. Individual boards ****. Where I am with trees dropping needles or helicopters are perpetually caught between the boards and gaps to let them fully pass are too big to look good. I can take a push-broom and clean off the surface in no time flat, garden hose quickly gets rid of pollen that sticks after a rain, not slippery when wet.