Deck Paint for Longevity Not Appearance

[ncbill]

As everybody else has pointed out, a stain that is as opaque (paint-like) as possible.

Before I replaced the 25 year old deck boards I used a dark brown stain...and grew to hate it (full sun, got very hot)

After replacement I went with brick red...looks good, but still too hot.

In retrospect with new deck boards I should have gone with a "honey" color and resigned myself to re-applying much more often.

 

[Montecfo]

I love wood decks and always cleaned and stained mine about every 3 years here in Virginia. If you use an electric power washer it is easy to not damage it as they are lower power.

When it was time to replace I bought Trex since home buyers seem to expect that in this area. I just power wash it once in spring.

Unlike a wood deck, a trex deck is like a piece of furniture but does look nice.

 

[pacergal]

Our two decks are about 20 years old. Every 2 years or so we use a deck cleaner, then an oil based stain. Still in good condition.
Although, we have discussed next replacement might be Trex or similar.

 

[Bamaman]

Sometimes it's just time to redeck. Wood deteriorates to the point where it's gotta go. My deck is at that point, and it's on my list of honey do's. All it takes for me is 22 12' and 22 16' boards--applied with decking screws. That's a 1 day job. Worse part will be taking up the old decking piece by piece as I put them down.

 

[skipro33]

I have a wooded decked flat bed trailer that measures 6.5' x 20'. I stained once when new and since then I've never put anything on it and it's over 20 years old in perfect shape. It's made of hard doug fir, not soft redwood. I stained it with the cheapest stain I could find at the time. If you decide to replace the deck, go with doug fir, not redwood and stain to look what ever color you'd like. Better than the redwood lasts hype anyways.

 

[Kwirk]

Used PVC (XLM) flooring for a screened porch 6+ years ago. Still looks like new. We hose it off when the pollen or dust builds up. Reading all of this makes me happy that we didn't go with wood.

 

[Lsbcal]

One of these days I'm going to replace the decking with a hardscape surface. Much easier maintenance but more up front cost. Plus no creatures under the deck.

 

[NW-Bound]

I had a thread on deck repair 2 years ago, where I posted the result of the DIY project.

I don't have a recent photo, but believe me when I say the deck still looks just like the following original photo after 2 years.

The extra cost for the top-grade Trex boards was worth it. My own sweat equity was not cheap, and I don't know if I can do the same thing over again.

 

[Livefree]

My pressure treated deck has had it, and i'm sick of painting it. I'm going to use a product called Azek. It's PVC and is pricey, ($66 per 16 foot) but the deck is only 10X15

 

[RetireBy90]

In the twenty years we've owned our house, I've stained the redwood deck a few times. I've always used something that lets the grain show through (a stain).

Now, I'm not as concerned with the appearance. I just want to paint it a dark brown with something that will make it last as long as possible.

Suggestions?

So if I may ask, what did you decide on?

 

[TromboneAl]

Still putting it off.

 

[TromboneAl]

Okay, I couldn't resist doing myself. We have plenty of good quality Cabot stain left over from staining the house.

First job was to scrape out all the pine needles between the boards (with help from DW).

It's a crime that they put them too close together. With our last house, I used a circular saw to make all the slots wider.

Then I washed it. When it dries, I'll stain it.

 

[FreeBear]

Behr solid color stain mentioned earlier over neglected pressure treated wood (previous owner). Looks great for a year, small peeled areas where we dragged heavy planters (our fault) and over some small rotten parts that just need replacement. Maybe retouch such areas by brush every 1-2 years, roll the entire deck every 3 years over existing, after power sanding just the worst spots. Not too much w*rk since it's only 10x18 ft without any railing or stairs.

I've gradually redecking a few boards at a time as needed. Too cheap and lazy to do everything at once, especially with the fancy new materials.

 

[NW-Bound]

The tight spacing was what I noticed in the first photo, and was going to comment on it. I think the common practice is to use a 10D nail as the spacer between boards.

 

[RetireBy90]

Behr solid color stain mentioned earlier over neglected pressure treated wood (previous owner). Looks great for a year, small peeled areas where we dragged heavy planters (our fault) and over some small rotten parts that just need replacement. Maybe retouch such areas by brush every 1-2 years, roll the entire deck every 3 years over existing, after power sanding just the worst spots. Not too much w*rk since it's only 10x18 ft without any railing or stairs.

.

Anyone know the difference in performance with Behr and Olympic? Been using Olympic due to a recommendation, and they both are about same price. Wonder if the Behr is made by Olympic? At 2 of our local HD they are the only brands on the shelf. Hrmmm

 

[JackJester]

I have 2 types of wood on my large deck: Ironwood and Cedar. The Ironwood requires Teak Oil (stuff you use on a boat); it is expensive but it lasts 3 years in the PNW heavy rains. I am slowly replacing the Cedar with Trek. I dislike using non-natural stuff like Trek, but sometimes you can't fight/accommodate mother nature. At least there's no oils or petroleum by-products running into our rivers with Treks.

 

[target2019]

Okay, I couldn't resist doing myself. We have plenty of good quality Cabot stain left over from staining the house.

First job was to scrape out all the pine needles between the boards (with help from DW).

It's a crime that they put them too close together. With our last house, I used a circular saw to make all the slots wider.

Then I washed it. When it dries, I'll stain it.

Al,
Are you using a tree pruner to get between the boards? I have a similar deck, where the older boards were too close together.

When I redid the upper deck, I used nails for spacing, as someone else mentioned.

 

[ERD50]

The tight spacing was what I noticed in the first photo, and was going to comment on it. I think the common practice is to use a 10D nail as the spacer between boards.

Al,
Are you using a tree pruner to get between the boards? I have a similar deck, where the older boards were too close together.

When I redid the upper deck, I used nails for spacing, as someone else mentioned.

When I had a deck built in the previous home, I was concerned that they were not using nails as spacers, like I had seen on "This Old House". Then the builder explained that this wood was still wet (pressure treated), and would shrink as it dried, and if he did the nail-spacer trick, we'd end up with huge gaps that we would not like.

He was right, after a few months it had the expected/desired gap. So as almost always - "it depends".

-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

Perhaps T-Al's location was humid (he talked about this a lot), and the wood never shrinks.

 

[TromboneAl]

Al,
Are you using a tree pruner to get between the boards? I have a similar deck, where the older boards were too close together.

When I redid the upper deck, I used nails for spacing, as someone else mentioned.

Yes, a tree pruner saw on a stick. Much better, however, turned out to be a regular hand saw--stick it in, slide it back and forth between joists, and gently remove the duff on the top of the joists.

When I mentioned the close spacing to the builder who did out last house, he said that bigger spaces were trouble for spike high heels. But I rarely wear those. Seriously, that's not a real problem.

If I were putting in a new deck, I'd make the cracks really wide, and the deck would last longer without the rot-inducing pine needles.

 

[ERD50]

Perhaps T-Al's location was humid (he talked about this a lot), and the wood never shrinks.

And a local builder should take that into account. Sounds like T-Al's builder intentionally went for narrow though (or it was an excuse).

-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

Well, when the water gets trapped, the wood swells further.

With the Trex boards that I installed using clips, the spacing is defined by the clips. It looks awfully wide (more than a 10D nail), and composite boards do not shrink nor expand with change in moisture. Weird, but that's what the manufacturer wants.

 

[Bir48die]

I use this:

BEHR[emoji768] DECKplus[emoji769] Solid Color Waterproofing Wood Stain



You can get it mixed in just about any color and I think it does an amazingly good job. Last time DW chose a green color and it looks terrific. I've always been very happy with Behr paint products.

God Bless You for saying this. I am in the middle of a total deck restoration. Got the railing sanded and painted. Used BEHR solid on the railing. Now have to sand and use solid on the deck. Huge deck and I’m going all out in prep on this one. Full steam ahead!

 

[Lsbcal]

Anyone know the difference in performance with Behr and Olympic? Been using Olympic due to a recommendation, and they both are about same price. Wonder if the Behr is made by Olympic? At 2 of our local HD they are the only brands on the shelf. Hrmmm

You might check Consumer Reports. They had a review of deck paints a few years back.

 

[RetireBy90]

I’m in the middle of cleaning and staining our fence, about 250 feet long, 6’ high and 2 gates. Taking me a long time, but finished portions look great. Using Olympic semi transparent stain, HD says better cause you can see the grain of the wood ??

Found stain is made by PPG industries, anyone with Behr that can look at can to see if made by PPG ?