Help Me Solve My Dilemma Of Which Solid Color Exterior Stain To Use On New Cedar

I'm building new front porch railings using red cedar 2 x 4 lumber to replace my old pine railings that have some decay forming and the paint flaking and peeling off.

Since the new railings are raw cedar wood it was suggested that I stain them with a solid color stain which would be white to match the porch columns and trim near and around the porch. In fact, I had purchased some SW Deckscapes solid color stain a month or so ago to use once I finished building the railings and the weather warmed up.

Now that I am building my last section of railing I decided to google how others rated SW Deckscapes stain and much to my surprise the feedback was almost universally negative. People stated that the product was peeling and fading very quickly and were extremely unhappy.

After reading the negative comments about SW Deckscapes, I returned it to the dealer. I said my primary reason for building the new railings with cedar and staining them instead of painting them was to get away from peeling and flaking paint. And due to the significant number of unhappy users of the product I wasn't going to take a chance after spending a lot of money on red cedar and a lot of time building the railings. I thought an oil based stain (not waterbourne like Deckscapes) would work best but the SW dealer said they no longer carry any for retail sale due to new environmental rulings.

I don't mind re-staining the railings every few years to keep them looking good but I really want to avoid having them peel or flake.

I need some expert advice on what product I can use on the new cedar railings that will last and not flake or peel?

Thank you

Dom

 

I've used a good bit of SWP's DeckScape stains over the years and have always been satisfied with the results I prefer the waterborne version but it does take longer to cure - be safe from rain.

The biggest issue I see is wanting to paint/stain the cedar white. Cedar has a lot of tannins that will bleed thru latex/waterborne coatings. It is especially noticeable with white and light colors. The only way to prevent the tannin bleed is to first use a good coat of a quality exterior oil base primer! While I've seen latex stain peel over oil base enamel, it doesn't happen often - at least not here in the southeast.

 

Thanks for your comments marksr.

Btw, have you had any experience with Benjamin Moore's Arborcoat Solid which seems like the same as the SWP's Deckscapes?

 

I've only used BM coatings occasionally and can't really comment any, other than most of BM's coating are of decent or better quality. Their bottom of the line coatings [like everyone else's] are junk.

That should have read while I've seen latex stain peel over oil base primer, it doesn't happen often