Which exterior semi-transparent stain is best

nbtqh61

My deck needs to be restained and I want to know which exterior wood semi-transparent stain is best - I used Flood and am not at all satisfied with it.

joecaption

Sherwin Williams Deck scapes, Cabit and Olympic are also top rated stains.

Gymschu

Let me say this about decks...........they are a CONSTANT maintenance issue for any homeowner.........some decks require yearly restraining, some can go 2 years. No matter what high quality product you use, you are going to be maintaining it on a regular basis. Like Joe said Deckscapes from SW is good, Cabot is good, Sikkens is good...........stay away from Thompsons and any other cheap box store brands.

CaptRandy

Whatever product you go with you will need to strip off all the old sealer and use a neutralizer/brightener before you seal it. I prefer Ready Seal an oil based sealer that is easy to recoat once applied. You may also want to check on Wolman's Durastain semi trans.

Faron79

Yep....in a way....BRAND doesn't matter!

The previous posters are on the right track.

* Your results depend largely on your prep, age of decking, previous coatings, etc.
* If it's an older deck, and never been sanded...DO IT.
* There does come a point where decking needs to be sanded. If your surface is 20yrs. old, you can strip & brighten all you want, but the wood itself is still waaaaayyyyy to degraded to hold S/T stain EVEN REMOTELY as good as a sanded deck.
* The final call is yours obviously, but I can pretty much guarantee that if you did the stripping/brightening/drying on half your deck....and did a thorough sanding on the other half.....you'd be doing more sanding.
* I have a 16y/o Redwood deck, and have sanded the floor twice. I've taken my steps off 3 times (18 Redwood 2x6's) and sanded them too.
* Since you can't buy Redwood anymore (unless you pay DEARLY for it), I'm DAMN fussy.
* That's exactly why I sand.

It just depends on YOUR priorities!


Faron

chrisn

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sdsester

Olympic was my go to brand for semi-transparent stain in California to the point I had the complete color chart memorized. I wouldn't touch the box store crap it is now. Greed has ruined it.

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Expert Paint

Rymar xtreme weather. best on the market. Sikkens SRD would be 2nd place

henrylarry6

I agree, I think Sherwin Williams and Olympic (especially) are overrated for the price. California Paints just introduced a new line of exterior finishes called Storm System .They have a really nice semi-transparent stain at an affordable price.

shasta37

I use Messemers on my Ipe front deck, primarily because that's what the builder recommended.

Not often mentioned, but I also do the sides of the deck boards, and the top of the joists that show between the board gaps. For that, disposable foam brushes, maybe 1.5".

I use Olympic on another redwood deck covered with an overhang. It's OK, but caution that its "semi-trans" is closer to "barely trans".