Semi-Transparent Deck Stain

[Matt Meiser]

I power washed our deck last night and hope to stain it next week since its going to rain Saturday. We are using a semi-transparent stain because that's what was on it when we bought the house. We did it about 4 years ago and it took forever using a roller and brushing it out. Hoping to make it go faster this time. The girl in the paint department at Lowes says you can spray even the semi-transparent stains with a deck sprayer (same thing as a chemical sprayer for gardening) and brush it out.

Last time we had trouble with it drying too fast due to the sun so I'm planning to do it over a few evenings since its shaded in the evening. Does that sound like a good plan. It wasn't soaking in before drying last time and ended up more like paint, which quickly failed. Except the vertical railing surfaces which are all in great shape still. But they are more shaded.

Need to get all these household projects taken care of so I can do some real woodworking!

[Phil Phelps]

Matt, visit a pro at a real paint store. There are many good products available, as well as professional help.

[Jason Roehl]

Matt, it sounds like you have a couple different things going on there.

One, if the stain is not being absorbed, there is an existing finish in the way, and it will never work well. Semi-transparent stains need to soak into the wood fibers to have any amount of longevity. There are chemical strippers available that do an excellent job of removing the old (I think the last time I used one it was made by Flood, now owned by Akzo-Nobel, which is up in your neck of the woods, I believe). Also, don't rule out running over the deck with 80- or 100-grit on a random orbit sander to open up the wood fibers a bit.

Two, as you noticed, hot sun is a no-no, and is related to the above point as well--the stain's liquid carriers flash off before it can penetrate the wood, leaving the pigment and binders solely on the surface.

Remember: Pigment + Penetration + Polymers = Protection. ;)

As for product, I'm with Phil--avoid the big boxes and go to a real paint store. You at least have a shot at talking to someone knowledgeable.

[Joe Shinall]

Matt, when you find out let me know. I've got the same stain and the sprayer and haven't gotten around to doing it yet and would like to know how it turns out so I can do the same. So if you dont mind being my guinea pig, please let me know how it turns out ;)

[Matt Meiser]

Well, I took a vacation day yesterday and did it. The key is definitely no hot sun. I worked for a little bit late morning, then went on to work on other projects. By late afternoon the house was starting to shade the deck so I went back to it and worked in about 4' strips chasing the shadow across the deck. The finished application looks totally different than last time because the finish soaked in before drying.

The sprayer worked great. I got the 2gal one which has a wide fan tip. Within seconds I could spray a 2x4-ish area, then brush it out and work it in with a 4" brush. I just masked the house and other areas with large pieces of cardboard from old boxes we had in the basement.

I have to go back tonight and touch up some areas on the railings. Because they are generally more shaded they took the stain much better the first time and are in decent shape. Looking at it this morning the newly stained deck surface matches them.

Now on to my next spring project -- RV skylight replacement :eek: