We need to re-stain our deck. It is 11 years old. We have always used Cabot semi-solid decking stain (New Redwood). For prep we have sanded the horizontal surfaces (just to smooth out), washed(mild cleaner), dried and stained. We do this every 3 years. It is time to do it again. We rented a sander this past weekend and sanded the horizontal surfaces. I bought the Cabot stain at Lowes so when it is dry (rained today) we are ready to go. Our swing set needs staining so I figure we could use the Cabot for this too and checked to see if Lowes sold in 5 gal. containers. That is when I came across some negative reviews and after doing more research saw that there are a lot of negative reviews of the Cabot stain peeling (sometimes within days of application), fading, etc. The complaints seems to be after the Cabot stain was reformulated to lower VOCs. So now I am afraid to use the Cabot stain even though we have had no problems with it in the past (last application was prior to reformulation). I live in Pennsylvania, which appears to be a low VOC state. What could I use (something I could apply over the old Cabot semi-solid stain that is on the deck now)?
Not sure what is compatible but you are correct that the formula is different then what you used in the past.
I called a local paint store that I really like and they suggested Zar solid stain. They used to carry Cabot but do not anymore because of the complaints. They said they have been selling Zar for about 8 yrs with good results. Is anyone familiar with Zar?
Never used or heard of it.