Deck:Stain or Weatherproof?

I'm redoing my redwood deck and cannot decide whether to use a semi-transparant stain or a weather sealer that is color toned.

I am using behr products.

I want the best protection for the wood to keep it from fading while being able to see the nice wood grain.

Thanks.

Reply to
Tim S.
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I used semi-transparent Sikkens on my pressure treated deck. It looked fantastic and lasted 3+ years (with tons of snow sitting on it all winter long).

See if they make a clear penetrating oil.

I do not know if Behr is any good, but the Behr paint I 've used in my house is just as good as Benjamin Moore and a fraction of the price :)

Reply to
<BKS>

For what its worth: my 800+ SF deck was treated with Baere stain for the past 10-15 years every year. It still rotted from water damage.

This year it was completely torn down and a new one constructed with pressure treated supporting structure and white cedar decking and railings. I did ton's of research and finally selected Sikkens Cedol SDR desk stain which is a semi-transparent treatment and Alkyd-Resin based. When on well and looks great too.

According to Consumers Reports 5 year test, the rated Baere as "unacceptable" because it failed too soon. Their highest rated was Cabot solid (opaque) stain followed by Wolman's and Sikkens.

Just my $.02 worth.

Good luck.

Reply to
Bob Mariotti

Tim,

I applied Behr semi-transparent this past month to our new PT pine deck. Looks great, but it is too early to give a verdict on longevity.

Bob (et. al.):

One big problem I've heard with decks is that the wood needs to be applied the correct way: bark side up. Our builder did not do this with a lot of the planks, and said they did this because they wanted the "best looking" side up. However, unless the bark side is up, the water will puddle when the wood naturally warps. By building with the bark side up, the deck drains naturally and lasts much longer.

Good luck, Jim

PS: I plan to wait until my deck rots away, burn it in the fireplace, then install the paver patio I've always wanted. :+)

Bob Mariotti wrote:

Reply to
Jay

This has most likely nothing to do with the type of water seal you used This happens when you have wood on wood. It is not ventilated and the water just sits there. Fungae will bild up and penetrate into the wood at these intersections (it can happen also with pressure treated wood, only the mildew wont live in this wood and die as soon it goes into it.

Untreated cedar will last as long as treated cedar. True, it turns gray. This is because of the tanning acid.

To stop the rot you have to place a shield between the intersections of the beams/joists/decking. Some use tar paper (that works) other use some kind of plastic (works too, but slips easy while installing)

For what it is worth: I did not like any Alkyd Resin products. YMMV

Henning

Reply to
Henning Follmann

I was in the same boat 2 years back. Prior owners had used opaque stain, but put it on when the wood was still too "green." It was peeling everywhere. I used a belt sander and scraper to get up as much of the old stuff as I could, then used Behr opaque stain. I used Behr, but got their "Deck Plus" mix, not the "regular" mix. At the time the "plus" version was at least looking promising in Consumer Reports testing, and Sikkens / Moore cost a LOT more. I found it easy to apply and it held up very well so far. There are a couple of places where it flaked up, but I thing that was caused more by my incomplete stripping/sanding of some areas than by a problem with the stain. I just touched them up in about 20 minutes using leftover from the initial application. This experience and others tell me that preparation of the surface is at least as important, if not more important, than what stain you use.

Reply to
Alaspor

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