Being that it is new wood I am starting with a blank slate the wood is pre-dried so the moisture content is pretty low I can get an exact reading with my Wagner moisture meter I'm willing to take advice on whatever product would be best for longevity and ease of maintenance maintaining the wood grain is not something that I am terribly concerned with it's only Southern yellow pine however something I am concerned with is the color palette. Aesthetically to match the house and the current surroundings we are really wanting a very light gray color I ordered a sample of the Armstrong Clark semi-transparent driftwood and tried it on a piece of spirit decking board that I had I haven't either me or my wife was totally happy with the color when the grave mixes with the very strong Amber undertones of the Southern yellow pine it becomes very bluish and was looking for advice on what we could do or possible other products. 

I looked at the semi opaque from TWP however reading on the website it didn't seem like it was a very good fit for brand new boards so just looking for some advice and help.

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba and about 4 years ago after researching your site, I bought a 5 gallon pail of Armstrong Clark Wood Stain - Sierra Redwood colour to stain my PT wood deck. I ran into some health issues and am only now ready to get to work! I cleaned and pressure washed the deck, sanded off the fuzzy bits but am wondering if the stain will still be good after all that time? It's still in the sealed original container and has been kept inside during that time. 

Thanks for your advice in advance

Steve

Deck was Gemini Restore a Deck kit cleaned and brightened on Thursday the 20th, Stained with TWP1500 on Tuesday the 25th, job was done by 5PM. No rain until 7:30PM the following day there was a brief rain that soaked the deck 26 hours after finishing. The rain flooded the splits and knots, the oil floated out and dried on the surface leaving shiny streaks all over the deck at just about every split. It was still slightly tacky when I checked it out, tried buffing a test spot with mineral spirits with no improvement in the sheen.

Any recommendations?

Thank you sir,

Jon

If you were in my shoes and would be hiring a contractor to stain the new deck (about 10 months old), would you go with the TWP 1500 stain (TWP 100 is not allowed in Virginia) or the Restore-A-Deck semi-transparent water based stain? I read your reviews and you rated both stains very highly. However, I would appreciate it if you can tell me why you would choose one of these over the other.

Thank you!

More questions...should I use the cleaner and brightener with power washing prior to staining?Thanks a million

Kathy