Solid Color Deck Stain Guidance

Built a deck for a neighbor 12 years ago. House has been through 3 owners since. The deck saw little maintenance and the wood was quite weathered by the time the current owner contacted me last year for assistance. 11 years ago it received 1 coat of Thompsons Waterseal applied by owner #1. Since then, there has been zero maintenance done on the deck.

I came in, replaced 1500 screws that had rusted out (homeowner screwed the boards down to save money - obviously used wrong type of screws), Replaced damaged boards, Power washed the deck rather aggressively, let dry, sanded the whole deck with a belt sander and a course grit paper. Then we coated it in a solid color stain of the premium variety from a box store (slap my hands).

After one year, here is what the deck looks like after relatively light use.



Give me some suggestions - this is an warranty claim and I am out of pocket on the repair. I hired a buddy who is a lifelong painter to put the stain on as I was busy at the time. So I can't really answer any questions on application.

Do I roll on another coat and hope for the best? The wood soaked it up pretty well as I had to buy a ton of extra stain at the time. Do I hit the voids with a semi-transparent in the hopes of the stain penetrating the wood and then over that put another coat of solid? Hope to not have to do this out of pocket each year. I also want a happy neighbor.

 

Nothing lasts forever outside. I would coat it again and move on.

That said, you could spring for better stain this time.

 

Well, I spent over $200 in stain initially, maybe it needed another coat to get full penetration. Said it had a 10 year deck warranty. Oh well, will try again, we are only as good as the products we use.

Solid Color Waterproofing Wood Stain & Sealer | BEHR PREMIUM® | Behr

 

Do you know if the wood dried out well from washing before the stain was applied? What were the weather conditions? extra hot or sunny? 2-4 yrs is normal for a deck stain. I don't recall ever using that brand of stain.

For future reference, I wouldn't aggressively pressure wash the wood! That tends to rough up the wood. I also rarely do any sanding other than maybe the tops of the railing. Generally washing with a bleach/water solution and/or TSP is sufficient.

Have you talked to your painter about this stain job's short life?

 

There was quite a time between PWing and staining. Just as we were about to stain, the leaves started falling off the trees in such quantity that it was impossible for us to keep them off the deck. So we waited until all leaves had fallen. I sanded the deck down to rid it of excessive splinters that had developed in the checked wood. I also wanted to rough it up to better accept the stain. Deck gets a quite a bit of afternoon sun as a good many trees have been removed.

 

Lack of morning sun is probably the hardest on a deck finish as it often takes longer for the dew to dry up. If it is the result of an inferior stain - the fix is easy! Otherwise it sounds like everything was done right. A deck stain shouldn't look that bad after just one year.

 

I've done a decent amount of research over the years for deck staining.

High pressure power washing is not good for the wood. Not only for the damage to the outside, but it can drive moisture deep into the pores. I would skip the bleach clean before a recoat and use a sodium precabonate deck cleaner. I like Penofin's. Have to spray it on with a garden sprayer and make sure it stays wet for 10-15 min to properly clean. Some bristle brush it in. And power wash with medium pressure or even simply hose off if bristle brushed.

I would use a semi-trans or anything beforehand, just a quality solid stain. A tried and true painter trick is to use Emulsa Bond in the first coat. It adds adhesion and will most definitely add years to the longevity.

The old Flood Solid stain was the absolute best. I have done decks 5 years and still look great. Flood is the same company that makes Emulsa Bond and they used to already have the Emulsa in the solid stain. They switched formulas last year though.

The new Flood solid is still pretty good, it's the old Sun-Proof Solid Stain. Just with a Flood label now on it. Has urethane.

Sikkens Pro Luxe is another good solid stain. It's oil modified.

The best is Storm System Enduradeck. It's also oil modified. Great for heavy winters, can take a beating.