[Sticky] Deck Staining Help

Restaurant owner has outside decking area for dining. Partial shade, very high traffic area, drink spills and grease on the wood. Previously stained with Sikkens SRD in Natural. The decking is pressure treated pine about 5 years old located on VA/NC border. Owner wants a semi- trans in a chestnut brown or something similar to help mask the spills. If he can get 1 year out of the product before he has to redo it he would be happy. So a product that will hold up to high traffic and in a semi-trans color. I know this isn't a normal request but any help would be appreciated.

This is a difficult situation. Nothing will stop the spills as you would need a filming stain to do that and that would be slippery. I would look for a very deep penetrating stain. This way there will be less chance of wearing or scuffing. The problem is with this high of traffic, the actual wood will be worn down from daily use. If you wear away the wood you will wear away the stain. Armstrong Clark wood stain is what we would use. It can be cleaned and re coated as needed.

Thank You for your help. Will order the product now.

If you get a chance post some before and after pictures and your opinion of the stain application.

Thanks

I live in Colorado, in a suburb of Denver. My deck is East-facing and receives partial shade. It is made out of Alaskan Pine, but I don't know if it's considered pressure-treated. It's 7 years old, and I used Behr stain about three years ago which is almost completely worn off. I'm considering heavily your recommendations on Restore-a-deck stripper and brightener, and then restaining with TWP 100 Honeytone. What are your thoughts?

gmeyerco, I think you are on the right track. Only thing is that the Honeytone is the lightest color of the TWP and lighter colors will fade faster then darker or richer colors.

Thanks. My thoughts on the Honeytone are because of the original stain used was almost a clear so you can see the natural "yellow" of the Alaskan pine. Follow-up question, my friend who is somewhat of a wood-officianado, is suggesting we sand down the deck, rinse well, dry and then stain. Because I'd like to see the natural yellow of the pine restored, can I use a brightener without using anything else first?

If you want to sand then do this in order:

1. Sand off all old stain
2. Clean and prep wood with a deck cleaner to remove sand dust and open pores
3. Apply brightener to neutralize
4. Apply stain after drying for a couple of days.

Quote from administrator on February 20, 2013, 10:53
If you get a chance post some before and after pictures and your opinion of the stain application.

Thanks

Sorry no before and after pictures but so far product has worked well. I put the A/C Rustic brown color on the floor to help with the foot traffic and spills. Put the A/C Cedar on the rails. Owner is happy and people are talking about it. Thanks Again.

Customer has Flood CWF Natural on their deck, walkway and dock 5 years old all full sun near border of VA/NC on a lake. Customer doesn't want to 2 pay to strip the CWF off. The CWF has turned DARK the color of semi-trans red cedar is a close comparison, Around the deck and dock some areas of the stain are still smooth, shiney and holding well other place you can rub it off with your hand. I know after I wash it all the shiney areas will still be there and the other areas will be back to bare wood. What is your recommendation for a product that is a film former that can blend the two areas back together. She doesn't want a reddish color. Its over 2300 sqft or I would have just bite the bullet and stripped it myself. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

quinn, You can't blend this with a film former. You would need to remove this CWF to fix. If it was us and she did not want to pay to do it right, we would walk from the job.

1. Michigan (weather extremes: hot in summer; snowy & cold in winter)
2. Full sun part of the day; partial sun/shade the rest of the day (deck on west side of house)
3. New cedar decking installed last fall
4. No mold/mildew issues
5. Used "eco-friendly", water-based, low VOC Seal Once (2 coats last fall 4 weeks after after decking installed). It was a cedar color stain.
This product did not seal our deck, as evidenced by a lack of water beading, etc. Very disappointed: paid a small fortune for it & fell for all the glossy videos on-line.
Questions: 1. Obviously we need to clean our deck before re-staining; however, does it need to also be stripped?; 2. Can an oil-based stain be applied over the Seal Once water-based stain, or should it be another water-based stain?; 3. If either a water or oil-based stain is used, does the deck still need to be stripped?; 4. Generally speaking, is an oil-based stain better at penetration & longer-lasting?; 5. What are your recommendations for a cleaner (& stripper, if necessary) & stain(s)?
Footnote: I am concerned about excessive VOC's because I do have allergies. I noticed one comment in the forum by someone who used the Armstrong product & said it had little odor. I also read a comment about the Defy being very watery & tricky to apply. We had that experience with Seal Once also.
Your feedback is much appreciated.
Thank you.

jbha, You need to strip off the Seal Once it you want to switch brands otherwise your new stain will perform properly. In general oil based stains will penetrate better into wood then a water based stain. I would look at the Restore A Deck products for the prep. For the stain, Defy Hardwood Stain or Armstrong Clark for lower VOC's. Armstrong will apply much easier though.

BTW, beading water is a myth and not important. You want the wood to breathe therefore a stain that "sheds" water is the way to go.

I am going to seal our deck and am looking for a recommendation for what product to use. We dont want to change the color of the wood so we are not planning on staining it, just sealing it. We installed the deck in July of 2012 so it had been 8 months.

Here are my 5 answers:
1. Live in philadelphia, PA
2. Partial shade, bc we are in the city the backyard doesn't get sun all say long
3. Pressure treated pine (#1 high grade very few knots)
4. No mildew or mold issues so far
5. N/A. This is the first time we are sealing it

Thanks

Jessefs, by not having a tint or color in your stain/sealer, you will have little or no UV protection and the wood will gray rapidly. If you are okay with that then use the Defy Extreme in the Clear.