Deck Stain

[Kjonus]

If mine deck wasn't already stained with a semi-transparent I'd suggest going with just a Thompson's water seal or some sort of clear, nothing with a tint into it. Half of me over the years have been thinking of pulling mine all up just to go this route.

[Kloubek]

Originally posted by mix123
Use this method to save time...I actually tried it and it works quite well

That seems like a wicked idea. If I was ever inclined to take the risk to stain a deck again, I'd be all over that. The only issue I can see is where it comes to the areas you can't access due to the rail, or the fine-placement areas (like next to the rail post) you couldn't just slap it onto. I guess you could just use a brush in those areas, but then you risk overlapping (overapplication) or unevenness.

As mentioned by others - if it is only colour you are after, perhaps multiple applications of a dye would be a better choice. I don't really see a need to truly SEAL a deck if you are using PT wood. Giving it a subtle colour and letting the grain remain would probably look pretty awesome.

Edit: Just did a quick good search. Wood dye does exist. A little research seems to indicate while it does adhere well and actually soak into the wood, it is difficult to keep it stable under UV rays.

[Sonic]

Hmmmm very interesting, dye eh....I just built a ground deck (technically a patio it's called), just used the cheapest PT wood from Home Depot, wouldn't mind just darkening it wall, could care less if it looks professional, let me know how the dye goes Seth!

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by Sonic
Hmmmm very interesting, dye eh....I just built a ground deck (technically a patio it's called), just used the cheapest PT wood from Home Depot, wouldn't mind just darkening it wall, could care less if it looks professional, let me know how the dye goes Seth!

Will do.

My plan is to dye 2 pieces with one being left on the deck, and the other left in the shed (to see how much the sun has an effect with fading). I'll wait a day then cut one of them in half to see how much the dye penetrated.

EDIT: I'll do one section with 1 coat and the other 2 coats to see if it has any effect on fading and penetration.

[revelations]

Originally posted by Kjonus
If mine deck wasn't already stained with a semi-transparent I'd suggest going with just a Thompson's water seal or some sort of clear, nothing with a tint into it. Half of me over the years have been thinking of pulling mine all up just to go this route.

Absolutely do not do this. Forums and discussion groups all over North America are filled with people who did this and had it fail and ended up reparing, repeating, recoating. We have some of the harshest weather in the continent in terms of range and rapidity of that range.

Its clean with a chem cleaner, sand the deck, and then an oil based stain, or nothing for us up here.

[revelations]

Originally posted by mix123
Use this method to save time...I actually tried it and it works quite well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwaJcn5Q3kg

Thats what I used as well..... to clean it with the chem cleaner and to apply the stain. You want to FORCE the stain in. The coarser the plastic brush, the better.

[Matty_10]

Has anybody gone with the brown pressure treated wood, how does it fade? I haven't seen it in person only online and it looks not bad. I got about 500 feet of fence to do.

[ercchry]

Fuck stain

So many wasted hours fixing it up every damn year... we've used all the products over the years, even that fancy Australia oil that you apply with a cloth, anything facing the sun will fade

Natural grey, why fight it? Looks fine, zero maintenance

[streetdreams]

Thanks for all the feedback this is another product i am looking at i really like that there is just a few options.
http://www.pressurepluswood.com/

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by Toms-SC
As an owner of a composite deck, I do not recommend it for surfaces facing the sun. It becomes super heated and fades quickly.

Now I'm really disillusioned.

Anyway, I've got the dye and suspect that it will work better than the falsely advertised stains. Reason being, the dye can't possibly be worse than the stain which doesn't work at all.

[mix123]

Originally posted by Kloubek


That seems like a wicked idea. If I was ever inclined to take the risk to stain a deck again, I'd be all over that. The only issue I can see is where it comes to the areas you can't access due to the rail, or the fine-placement areas (like next to the rail post) you couldn't just slap it onto. I guess you could just use a brush in those areas, but then you risk overlapping (overapplication) or unevenness.

I brushed those sections. You cant tell the difference.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Toms-SC
As an owner of a composite deck, I do not recommend it for surfaces facing the sun. It becomes super heated and fades quickly.

Originally posted by Seth1968
Now I'm really disillusioned.

I've heard the same thing from multiple deck people when we were getting quotes for our expansion. Apparently, we get much longer periods of sunlight than average in the summer, and composite decking wears brutal in Calgary because of that. In some cases with cheaper planks, it can warp necessitating an expensive rebuild after a year or 2. That's how we ended up with treated lumber deck. Plus we didn't have to rip out our original deck as part of the upgrade, saving even more money.

After reading this thread, I think I'm set of just leaving the deck virgin just for low maintenance reasons. On to lighting, which is a completely different beast when it comes to outdoors with nothing to bounce the light off of.

[revelations]

Im going full "seth" mode here .... except that its regarding decks:

Here is the catch, in order to have a deck water repelling coat that lasts you MUST follow these steps:

NOTE ****

You will need about a WEEK of no rain and above 10c temperatures. If temps call below 10c shortly after the stain has been applied, all bets are off.

- clean with chemical cleaner, rinse with garden hose. You MUST then let deck dry for 2-4 days (2 if warm and sunny, 4 if cloudy and cool). DO NOT use a pressure washer as it will require WEEKS to properly dry the wood .

- sand with a pole sander. You MUST not have water or rain after this otherwise you will have to re-clean and re-sand

- apply the chosen, high quality stain with a pole BRUSH



This is why many people have issues up here (and other climates like ours). Each step has to be followed EXACTLY.

... OR just leave the deck alone and live with a grey finish after a few seasons

[craigcd]

Originally posted by Toms-SC
As an owner of a composite deck, I do not recommend it for surfaces facing the sun. It becomes super heated and fades quickly. Additionally, if you clear the snow off of it using a shovel you may damage the surface which then ends up peeling away.

It must depend on the make and colour. My deck is 7 years old and faces solar south with no shade. It has held up perfectly, that being said the colour is lighter than I would like but I am guessing a darker colour might have faded. I shovel it every snowfall without thought and seems to have more scratches from patio chairs than shovels. Regardless it still looks good.

Wood decks drive me NUTS. Sand, stain, repeat. They do look awesome when freshly done though!

[Seth1968]

Well I tried out the dye on some scrap pieces of PT wood.

I mixed the dye to a bucket of water about the size of a large paint can, and used a small foam roller to apply it. It took 4 coats to get the color that closely matched the box, so if I were to use this method, I'd get a dye twice as dark as needed.

The finished pieces look great, and unlike stain which doesn't penetrate at all, the dye penetrated to a depth of about 1 mm. The penetration was the same regardless of the amount of coats.

One finished piece will remain in the shed, and the other on my deck to see how much the sun fades it.

[JordanEG6]

Originally posted by revelations


You will need about a WEEK of no rain and above 10c temperatures. If temps call below 10c shortly after the stain has been applied, all bets are off.

Forecast says rain Wednesday.
So if I clean the deck today, I'd have to re-clean it the day after it rains?

It's almost impossible to get a week of no rain here. I'm wondering if it's even worth it to clean it today or tomorrow and stain Thursday.

[01RedDX]

.

[bspot]

We had some students do ours 3 years ago, and they used Dulux Flood. It has already lasted twice as long in the very high traffic areas than anything we had used previously.

[Seth1968]

Bspot, was that on PT wood and how much sun exposure does the deck get?

[revelations]

I waited until late summer, once the storms etc. die down and drought is full on.

However, looks like its going to dry up this week after Wed.