Hello All,

Darned if I know why this question has been so hard to find an answer for...

I want an old fashioned stain I can use on my deck. I do not want the "water sealing" types, just a plain old stain, like what I would have used years ago when buying a raw wood bookshelf, etc. The last I used was given to me, and I do not have the can, but it worked fine. No peeling of any kind, it just fades with age. This is what I am looking for. I don't want anything that is like paint, or has the potential of peeling.

There must still be such a product out there?

If anyone knows of such a product, I would appreciate hearing about it.

Many thanks!

 

Why? Any deck stain that's not water repelling would be useless and the deck will fail faster.
Any stain other then a soild stain is not going to peel.
Cabot, Sherwin Williams, Sikkens all make top of the line sealers.

 

Welcome to the forums!

There might be a few exterior stains out there that only color the wood but I fail to see a good reason to use them. The main purpose of a deck stain is to protect the wood from moisture! A quality stain applied over a properly prepared deck shouldn't peel although it will wear away with time/traffic.

That sounds like an interior penetrating stain which is meant to have a poly/varnish top coat. It would color the wood and slightly protect it but would be short lived when exposed to the elements.

 

http://www.deckstainhelp.com/why-pen...ains-are-best/

The above link describes it pretty well. I may well be not understanding exactly what defines a "penetrating stain". When looking over products at the hardware store, what manufacturers call penetrating, and what the above website calls penetrating stains appear to be different.

I have used Thompson's Water Seal over my stain with no problems for several years.

If all I have to do is avoid is using a solid stain product, then my question is answered, but certainly there are many people that have posted reviews on various store sites, that had issues with transparent and semi-transparent stains.

I understand that prep is important. I have also read much about wear patterns, peeling, and the difficulty of touching up when it is needed, which of course it will eventually need.

Hopefully I am worrying too much about it, but I have read of people ending up with decks that they have to completely strip when wear and/or elements take their toll. I seriously do not want to end up with a situation such as that!

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate them.

 

While TWS does a decent job of protecting wood from moisture it has a short life and often needs to be recoated every 6-12 months to continue that protection. Any good toner/translucent or semi-transparent stain will both penetrate and provide a protective film. How well it penetrates the wood depends on how old/weathered the wood is and whether or not there is any existing coating on it.

Deck stains are generally the shortest life coatings you will use, not because of poor quality but because a deck generally receives more sun and moisture than any other wood on your house. Most decks need to be cleaned and recoated every 2-3 yrs. I recommend a translucent or semi-gloss deck stain for new or good condition decks and will switch to a solid deck stain once the deck is weather enough where a semi-transparent stain no longer looks good. While it is uncommon for solid stain to peel it will show wear quicker than semi-transparent. Any stain that peels is indicative of improper prep or an inferior stain.

 

I've never had to strip a deck to recoat, that's typically the process only for painted decks.

 

A lot of the waterborne stains require that they either be stripped or weathered away before you can recoat them - usually mother nature does a good job

 

Exactly - even if you recoat every year, the stain is weathered enough stripping isn't required.

 

Thanks all!

I don't mind giving my deck a good cleaning and re-coating every year or two, so that shouldn't be a problem. I scrubbed it down very well over the weekend, and there are some small spots I will do some sanding on, but I think it is prepped pretty well.

Now we are due for some rain here in Utah, so I may not be doing anything with it until next weekend anyway.

I will go with a transparent, or semi-transparent.

I appreciate all the input, it is most welcome.

 

Assuming they are both of the same quality - a semi-transparent stain will out last a transparent stain.