I redid my deck (10x10) recently. sanded it down nice. cleaned it. let it dry. used two coats of Olympic solid stain. I can look when I get home as to which one. But am pretty sure it was stain + sealer "all in one." 26 bucks or so at Lowes.

looked great for about 4 weeks. here in the Carolinas, leaves are starting to fall. And acorns and such. believe it or not...the leaves and nuts (and rust from bottom of one chair; I can sort that out) are staining the finish. and they don't come off without a lot of elbow grease. they elave little leaf outlines. its odd.

so a guy came to pressure wash my home/gutters. he asked me casually if I "topcoated" it with a clear finish. Should I have done that? would that have helped? can I still do that? I guess I am naive and just believed what the can said about its durability and sealer being incorporated. again this is solid stain...not paint.

can post some photos when I get home. do I need to start again and go with a different product or finishing technique? or can I give it a real good wash (and then apply some extra "layer" of clear protection?

any help is appreciated. thanks

 

Exterior stains are different than interior stains and do not require or need a clear top coat. Hopefully you used a deck stain and not a siding stain. Some leaves are more prone to staining paint/stain than others. The best remedy is to keep the leaves swept or blown off of the deck.

 

thanks Mark. I just used an Olympic product from Lowes that said exterior stain "for decks and siding." Olympic Maximum. actually is 36/galling. pricey.

didn't know there was stain specifically for decks. any brand/line you'd recommend for my do-over? thanks

 

If your stain stated for decks and siding it's a deck stain. Deck stains can be used on siding but if you apply a siding stain to a deck it won't last very long. SuperDeck, Silkens, Cabot, SWP's DeckScapes and Ben Moore are a few of the good brands of deck stains. The issue you have with the leaves would likely happen with any brand of solid stain that's the same color. Leave staining usually isn't as noticeable with darker colors but then the decking is hotter in the summer.