It has to be tinted for UV protection from graying. If not, it will gray in months.

Any of these hardwood coatings work well:/p>

Yes, it will still fail. You will have to remove 100% down to the bare wood.

Try TWP 100 Series or Armstrong Clark Stains for this deck. Both are excellent penetrating oil-based semi-transparent stains.

Varnish never works on outside wood. It will fail. You will need a stain for proper protection from the elements and those will enhance the grain...

You have a solid stain on the play set so you will need a solid stain again. Not oil-based as they do not make solid stains in oil-based anymore. Pres...

You did not remove all the gray oxidation. Redo the prep but use a deck cleaner while pressure washing. Finish with a wood brightener:/p> Then you c...

Kiln dried and heat-treated. Wait at least 2 months.

See here about new wood:/p>

SW makes poor stains. All of the stains we suggest can be cleaned and reapplied as needed since they are penetrating stains. They will last much longe...

Defy makes much better products than Olympic does. We would still get a semi-transparent stain as they will last 2-3 times longer than a true clear se...

Your contract is wrong, you have to wait and prep:/p> Use one of these stains:/p> Semi-solids will hide the grain more than semi-transparents.

You will have to fully remove it. Strip what you can and then sand the rest off.

Clean and brighten the wood for prep. New wood tips here:

Strip and brighten for prep, much easier than sanding.