Staining deck

[Donald]

My deck is stained with Behr solid color stain. I even think its one that rated high on Consumer Reports. But its peeling. I looked at reviews on HomeDepot and Consumer Reports (they have reader reviews) and I am not sure anyone has good luck with solid color stains on a deck exposed to the weather.

Looked on Lowes website for Cabot solid color deck stain and even their stain did not get great reviews except from 2 people who stain decks for a living. One said to not pressure wash nor use deck cleaner as it changes the composition of the wood and causes peeling, etc.

Will I be able to get all the solid color stain so I can stain with semi-transparent. I assume that will not peel/flake.

I hate the current redwood color.

Maybe the railings a solid color and deck surface semi-transparent.

My goal now is to treat the 5 or 6 pieces I wood I replaced this year (old ones were rotted). Then stain it all next year. Do not care if it looks odd for the winter.

 

[kkreit01]

I hate solid stain. Several years ago, I did the same, and used Olympic solid stain. It started peeling the next summer. Luckily, I did get reimbursed for the product (through Lowes). Hang on to receipts, proff of purchases, and take pictures. Most companies stand behind their products. I sanded everything down to bare wood, and then switched to Cabot semi-solid. I love that stuff. You only need 1 coat. I got 4-5 years every time. My deck sees the most extreme KS conditions: summer heat with no shade, winter snow/ice, dog, etc. My deck is now 18 yrs old, and some boards are getting bad. As a last ditch effort, I used Behr DeckOver this Fall. I'm pleased with the results. I hope it lasts.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: kkreit01
I hate solid stain. Several years ago, I did the same, and used Olympic solid stain. It started peeling the next summer. Luckily, I did get reimbursed for the product (through Lowes). Hang on to receipts, proff of purchases, and take pictures. Most companies stand behind their products. I sanded everything down to bare wood, and then switched to Cabot semi-solid. I love that stuff. You only need 1 coat. I got 4-5 years every time. My deck sees the most extreme KS conditions: summer heat with no shade, winter snow/ice, dog, etc. My deck is now 18 yrs old, and some boards are getting bad. As a last ditch effort, I used Behr DeckOver this Fall. I'm pleased with the results. I hope it lasts.


I am thinking I may do that next summer.

 

[demarpaint]

Once the deck has been stained with solid stain in order to use a semi transparent stain all the old solid stain must be removed. Semi transparent stains must penetrate into the wood to properly adhere. They penetrate much deeper and do not lay on the top like porch and floor, deck paints, or solid stains do. Solid stain has its place, it provides uniform color, and is better than painting a deck. It also has its major drawbacks, one of which the one the paint stores and many painters won't tell you is it constantly has to be redone. In many cases yearly.

Another major problem with solid coatings, in fact just about all deck coatings is moisture. Any wood that comes in contact with the ground is prone to quick failure. Ground water under the wood is wicked up into the wood. Now if you coat that wood when the sun comes out the moisture from the ground that wicked into the wood is pulled upward through the wood and evaporates. Over time this causes the coating to fail, and you'll actually see it peel right down to raw wood. Other times you have failures between coats, usually that's from a lousy prep job.