I am staining an exterior gazeebo with a Frazee linseed oil based exterior semi transparent stain. I am not very experienced in this field. I have noticed that this stuff is fairly thick and doesn't readily soak into the wood right away like I had expected. A friend said to mix turpentine with the oil stain in order for it to penetrate the wood better. Is this right? Could it ruin the composition of the stain? If it is right, how much would I mix per part of stain? Any thoughts or experiences?

 

Although not familiar with that particular brand of stain if paint [and possibly stain] is too thick to work well it is common to thin it. You don't want to thin the material anymore than necessary. There should be directions on the can/label regarding thinning.

Has the stain been mixed well? Sometimes that is all that is needed to make the material workable. Also temp and humidity will play a part in how long it takes for the material to dry and be obsorbed by the wood.

Often 2 thin coats are better than 1 heavy coat. Again it would be good to refer to the manufactures recomendations which should be on the label.