It's time to refinish my deck. About two third of the finish of the deck is gone. The other one third, being under shade, is still stubbornly adhered to the deck.
How do I tell whether the finish is stain or paint? I think stain should go into wood and paint is only on the surface of the wood.
Other than this, is there a definite way to tell?
"solid colour stain" is a lot like paint. especially on the closed grain areas. John T.
Can you scrape some of the coating off? If so, paint. Stain gets absorbed by the wood fibers. Post a photo and it may be easier to tell.
Yes, it depends on the type of stain. It goes from transparent to solid, the latter looks like paint. Transparent shows of the wood features, solid covers it up. If what's there looks like paint, I would go with a solid stain.
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