I have a deck on the east side of my house that I need to refinish this year. In the past I have just used a power washer, cleaned it and put on a clear sealer. This type of protection only last a year at best, and I am wondering if a water based semi transparant stain would be any better ? or am I going to have to redo that every year also ? I don't want an oil based stain, nor do I want to put on a solid color stain, after doing some research, those two are asking for trouble and a lot more work in a year or two. So, for any of you people who have a deck, just pressure treated pine when new, what have you used to protect it from year to year and what have you had success with, or no success, to prevent me from buying the wrong product. I could sure use some help on this one. Thanks
Many stains need to be reapplied every-other year for the first few years, then 3-5 years after that. I've had good luck with Cabot Stains (red cedar in particular).
I don't know about stain, but we put Thompson water sealer on our bale/rock trailers and decks/picnic tables every year and it does wonders.
One thing I have not had luck with are traditional sold based stains. Used mostly Cabot and it never seemed to hold up. Thankfully I no longer own that property ..... I had our deck restrained all spring on our shore house, it's cedar They used a transparent stain an water seal ...it was a Benjamin More product and it came out super. Time will tell how it holds up as the saltwater beats it up...
I used Flood CWF-UV natural on my deck. I used the appropriate cleaners/scrubbed, and then applied (about 9 months after we built the deck). Two years later, the full sun portion is weathering, and the larger portion (thankfully) that is under the roof looks brand new. I'm not sold on the product really because it left a few weathered areas looking like they've took on a black tint. Either way, I know Benjamin Moore gets great reviews when I was researching back before I did mine. Be careful with the pressure washer. Too much PSI or too close to the wood and you can damage the fibers pretty badly. I will try a cleaner/stripper with scrubbing when I'm reading to re-do mine. If that doesn't work, I'll sand it down some (although I've heard mixed thoughts on that affecting stain absorption down the road as well).
