(I also posted this in Woodworking)
Our back porch (1000sf) has beaded board tongue and groove cypress ceiling. There are also 8-12x12 large cypress rough cut posts. The house was built 2 years ago and we are not sure what the painter stained/treated them with but the posts especially had mildewed so badly that you could no longer see the wood grain and the ceiling also had started mildewing on many boards in several places. I used Jomax/bleach to clean off the mildew and used a pressure washer to rinse. I did not notice any beading of water anywhere. The color lightened a little but still looks pretty good. We would prefer a dull natural finish opposed to a shiny finish. What should I do with this now to try to prevent mildew and/or make it easier to clean next time? A sealer or a stain/sealer? What brand? Oil base? Water base? Unbelievably I really cant find a whole lot of consistent info online. Thanks in advance.