Coatings For A Wooden Deck ?

[Bob]

Hello,

If this is an duplicate, I apologize. I think my Post on this a way back never made it, so will try again.

Have an older wooden Deck, the surface of which is pretty splintered and not too smooth anymore. But the wood itself, seems good; just a miserable surface now.

I've seen several ads now for these Deck refinishing coatings. There's one by Behr (Home Depot), and I think Rust Oleum has one also. Probably others too ?

Anybody have any experiences with any of these ?

Particularly, which are "good," and which to avoid ?

Any negatives to their usage ? Good approach ? Or, just forget and replace the entire wood Deck floor ?

BTW: Are these coatings used on the railings of the Deck also ?

Any thoughts, caveats, pros and cons, etc. on using any of them would be most appreciated.

Thanks, Bob

[Ed Pawlowski]

Flip the boards?

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Bob:

No but...

Place where I windsurf, they painted the raw wood deck after about 20 years of weathering.

Raised the ambient temperature of the area at least five degrees and made it painful to walk barefoot on a summer day.

Viz:

(that's a post-Sandy pic... so things are pretty messed up.)

[gonjah]

I've used Rustoleum Deck & Concrete Restore and if you follow the instructions exactly according to the directions it works wonders on concrete. I've thought that it would work well on wood siding and thought about using it but it doesn't come in unlimited color selections. Your deck looks really rough but if I had a wooden deck I'd give it a try after repairs. It says you have to use a special applicator but it makes the finish very rough. I'm thinking about finishing my entire painted pool deck with Restore but I want to use a smoother roller for a smoother finish.

As a side note: The trick to concrete is to etch the concrete first. I'm not sure if etching is in the instructions but Restore is TOUGH. Where I used Restore on painted concrete it adhered well. I have no reason to believe it wouldn't work as advertised on a wooden deck.

[gonjah]

Oops....One big draw back is it's not cheap because you should use two coats and because it's so thick it doesn't cover a whole lot. For a deck your size you'd have to buy it in the 4 gallon buckets. Be sure to check your measurements and do the math first.