I'd also like to know the answer to this. I've been researching what to do with my new redwood deck and am confused and sick of all of the differing opinions and shills peddling products. Wish there were just a few normal joes out there who could share their real-life experiences.

Hello ~ This past week I stained a brand new con-hart redwood deck with the Defy Extreme Pine Stain. The visual result were stunning.

However, I am sad to report that 2 days after it was stained we had a light rain and a major issue developed. The water did indeed bead up perfectly on the deck, but as it evaporated it left leopard spots and water stains over a majority of the surface area of the deck.

I called the manufacturer (SaverSystems) and to their credit they immediately called me back and requested photos, which I sent. Within an hour a 'chemist' called me back and said he felt the spotting was due to acid rain (I live in LA, so it could be plausible). However, not ALL of the deck spotted and stained - so the acid rain explanation doesn't quite solve everything.

The chemist relayed to me to wash the entire surface of the deck with Dawn and water and that would remove the spotting and stains. It did remove some of the stains, lightened others and had minimal effect on some. I was disappointed.

I am willing to admit in my haste and thinking it was fresh wood, that i that I did not use their cleaner and brighten before the staining process and indeed this could be part of the problem as they relayed if the PH of the wood is off it may not take the stain properly.

As of now the deck is still spotted and stained to some degree and the only recourse I will have is to remove the stain via sanding or chemical and restain the entire surface.

I'm not familiar with Defy, which, I believe is a water based product, but something similar happened to me a couple of years ago on my Ipe deck which was stained with Cabot ATO, an oil based semi-transparent finish. The person staining it didn't wipe up all of the excess stain leaving some areas shiny and tacky. It rained a couple of days later and a good part of the deck had "leopard spots." I was advised to wipe them down with mineral spirits on a rag, which did help but did not eliminate them. Over time the spotting faded and became less noticeable.

I would wait a few weeks to see if you can live with it. By next year you will probably need to re-stain and you can start over. What kind of wood is it and how many coats did you put on?

Marty