I wouldn't spend a lot of energy on this. No matter what you use, weather will be more powerful and will do its thing.

When I rebuilt my deck, using pressure-treaded wood, I was told - by everyone - to not seal it for one year, then to wash it and seal it every two-three years. So it is likely that you should do anything for a year.

I'm assuming that goes for stain as well. I didn't stain mine, just let it weather, and used Wolman Rancoat clear water repellant, a water-based repellant. I've read that Olympic is very good and was going to switch to it this year except that I had some Wolman left over, so I went with Wolman again. In two years, I'll probably switch to Olympic based on what I read.

Thanks, Tibbrix. I had called Cabot before I found out it was virtually unavailable. The advice person said to wait 30-45 days before staining. I had mentioned to him what you had heard - to wait a year - but apparently that advice only needs to be heeded for the real oil stains, which are not available here.

The new low voc stains are basically an acrylic. They are soap and water cleanup unlike the real oil stains. Therein lies the problem - the new low voc stains no longer behave like the old oil based stains so the old reveiws no longer apply.

I'm willing to redo the deck every two years but what I don't want is to find that this new stuff peels every winter and makes a major project every spring...if it ever actually gets here.

Helene

Stain doesn't peel. Paint peels and, IMO, should never be used on a deck. The maintenance is terrible for painted decks.

Stain, if anything, fades. Personally, I like naturally weathered wood, protected by clear water repellant only, esp. since wood is only going to weather anyway. You could, for example, use cedar and just let it weather naturally, and then just every two years wash it and seal it. So easy. If a board rots, you just take it up and put a new one down and let it weather naturally to match the others rather than having to stain and yada yada yada.

This post was edited by Tibbrix on Wed, May 28, 14 at 9:24

Tibbrix, I guess you haven't seen these new low voc 'stains'. You are correct that stain doesn't peel, but these new stains are more like a paint, as they're acrylic with very little real oil in the formulation, apparently. Much of the criticism which I have uncovered complains about the peeling of these stains.

We had just removed our old cedar decrepit deck - the carpenter bees were having a field day with it. We did some research and found that carpenter bees like PT less than cedar (we hope that's true). So the PT is not a beautiful wood like cedar and we'd like a little deeper color - hence the semi-transparent search.

Even the sealer type stuff which is now low VOC is having the same issue with durability.

Alas....is there no decent solution to my problem? ;-)

I use Behr Waterproofing transparent finish in Cedar color as the house's fundamental wood color, both as an exterior color and for all the oak interior doors. it weathers well. I've used it on raw RS T-111, S4S posts, CD plywood, a satin painted door, and more. It's no good on metal (such as framing ties and post bases) unless you build it up to an opaque thickness.

Unless it's way too hot, a common problem around here, it goes on well and dries evenly. One drawback is it readily shows brush marks and runs; this can be eased by thinning. It (airless) sprays very well with a relatively fine tip but, again, avoid hot weather.

If I had to start all over again, I'd pick it again. No hesitation.

I wouldn't go with anything that peels. That becomes the nightmare, because the only way to deal with peeling is by sanding.

The stuff I use:

Well...it's my Redwood steps, after sanding & using Sikkens SRD. The steps were 12 y/o in this pic...

Faron

Faron, I did see the older conversation regarding Sikkens on the porches and decks board, but recent questions re stains have lingered.

Your redwood is gorgeous, but have you worked with the new formulations yet? I understand that not every state is low voc compliant as is mine, NJ, so how well does the low voc version of Sikkens in a semi-transparent stain hold up?

I would love to have my PTL be half as gorgeous as yours.

Helene

blubird, did you ever find a decent stain to use? I am having the exact same issue.

Well our deck is now a year old and we had stained it a few weeks after install. We used a Behr semi transparent stain. We had a miserably snowy winter here in NJ, but the deck looks great. It needs to be washed, especially after our 'pollen tsunami', but it looks like it won't need to be restained on the horizontal surfaces until next year. So far it's performing just as we hoped.

Do you guys have a 5 yr update? Also live in NJ and about to replace my deck with mahogany, I've heard a lot of positive reviews on Australian Timber Oil and found both the old and low-VOC versions (low VOC version is cheaper). Any other recommendations? Thanks!

Actually, as the OP I have a 6 year update with the Behr semi transparent. We have had to redo only the horizontal surfaces every two years. This year will be the third time.

There has been no peeling and it actually doesn’t look bad at all except the color is a little less bright than when freshly done. We do have a few areas of wear as we let the dog out of the house from the deck, but nothing that a good cleaning and a new coat of stain won’t cure.

We are very happy with our choice.