Recommend a Deck Stain

[bookman51]

Like to say I have a deck right off my garage so this is relevant, but I do not. Nevertheless, I do have a deck and I probably need to do something with it. So, I am looking for recommendations. It is a treated lumber pine deck (12x25 or so). It is about six years old. I would like to put a semitransparent stain on it (do not want it to look painted).

Any recommendations as to brands of stains? And any recommendations for techniques for cleaning it in preparation for staining it?

Thanks

Bookman

 

[gcan]

I highly recommend Olympic Maximum cedar stain......we bought it in a green 5 gallon can.

I bought it at lowes and used on two decks and also a split rail fence....holds up well and goes on with a sprayer

 

[dreamingmuscle]

I like Behr Natural stain sealer from Home depot
________
Ferrari F2002 history

 

[bookman51]

So how long have your stains lasted and looked okay?

Bookman

 

[Da Bull]

I second, the Olympic Stain. I always have great success with this product!

 

[Scotto]

I just cleaned and stained my PT pine deck, that's about as old as yours. I went with a semi-transparent stain because the transparent stain doesn't hold up nearly as long. Solid stain will last the longest, but we didn't want to go for that look. I've always had luck with Behr stains/paint so I used the Behr Premium stain. Just did it a month ago so I don't know how it'll hold up, but it looks great and went down nicely and evenly.

As far as prepping the deck, I'd suggest spraying on a oxygenated bleach cleaner and then scrubbing or pressure washing it off. The oxygenated bleach is a lot easier on surrounding plants and it actually brightens the wood. Plus it's a lot cheaper than other cleaners because it's in granular form, like OxyClean, so you just mix it with water. Here's the brand I used:

http://www.wolman.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=3

They don't carry it in Home Depot by be anymore, most likely because its competition for Behr's deck cleaning products (which are more expensive). You'll probably have to go to a paint store for it.

 

[Costner]

I've used a Behr oil based stain from Home Depot - stained it back in 2004 and the railings still look as good as new. The flat surfaces were starting to look faded so I put a new coat on about a month ago and it looks great. I figure anything that lasts five years is pretty good, so I bought the exact same type again.

The water will not even soak into the wood - it just beads up and sits on top, so clearly it works as a sealer in addition to a stain.

 

[jmack]

Check out Flood. Their website is here.

Flood is the best product out there for sealing and/or staining decks, siding fences and such. I just used their solid stain product to seal a new pergola.

Here is a link to an article that references a consumer reports test of stains.

"The top-rated opaque stain, Flood Solid Color Deck and Siding performed head and shoulders above the competition. After three years outdoors, the editors say Flood's finish "looked and protected the best."

You can Flood stains at some Home Depot stores, but that is generally not the case, so use their dealer locator on the website.

As an aside, I am surprised that you let a pressure treated deck go untreated for 6 years. Generally you want to get it treated within a couple months.

 

[cwolfley]

http://www.floodco.com/img/products/product-photo-002.jpg-
i second the flood stuff just built my 8X48 foot deck last month and that stuff just looks awesome and should hold up great...

 

[cwolfley]

http://www.floodco.com/wood-care-solutions/products/view-product.jsp?productId=2
try this link.


you can also find it at ace , or true value