Deck stain

[Kevin]

What's on the market that's a great stain? I trust this group, more than I trust advice from HD or Lowes. If I scat on over to Sherwin Williams or Benny Moore, they of course are going to try to sell me their products.

I finally got my deck cleaned after 3 days of pressure washing & bleaching. I had a lot of algae on it.

Some of the old stain, didn't come off, and I didn't want to pressure _blast_ it. The old stain was a semi transparent oil.

I'm thinking about going solid stain. I stained my house with Benny Moore solid latex, and real pleased with the results, even after 7 years.

Can I use latex stain on the deck? I'm hesitant to go a solid oil, because oil doesn't contract/expand with the wood. So, I'm told anyways.

Recommendations truly appreciated.

[ransley]

Oil Cabots has always been good, Consumers Reports has an ongoing test of stains, maybe its 7 years or so.

[jack]

Ha, that's a good one!

[tbasc]

Cabots is doing fine for me in Charleston SC. T

[KLS]

I second this recommendation for Cabots: it has worked the best for us on our south-facing deck. We use a semi-solid stain, and it lasts about 3 summers before needing reapplication (we walk on this deck a lot, plus we have dogs running around on it, so there's a lot of traffic in addition to the intense weather). Go with the oil, not latex.

[Phisherman]

I have using using Cabot Decking stain for over 12 years and it looks great. It comes in various colors and is semi-transparent, never peeled nor cracked. It gets re-applied every 3-4 years. About $32 a gallon.

[h]

We make our own milk paint (Shaker paint) and use that on the deck. You can add any pigment you want for color. It holds up great. After 10 years it still hasn't faded, even in the high traffic walkway areas. It's made with skim milk, lime, linseed oil, and maybe salt, I think. You can google for the recipe. It's very easy.