How To Stain A Deck – What Stain To Use | Josh Brown – 252-314-8284

One of the biggest questions when staining a deck is, “What stain do I use?” Or, “What’s the best stain to use for my deck?”

Before we get to that you must first prep the wood for staining. In the picture below the deck had a stain already on there, and since we were changing the color we had to first strip the old stain off. We did this by using a specially formulated mix that works to completely remove old stain with the use of light pressure from a pressure washer.

The next step is very important and that is to brighten the wood. Brightener isn’t for “brightening,” it is for restoring the PH balance. When you strip deck stain with a caustic, the PH balance is disrupted and a brightener needs to be applied to restore the wood to a neutral PH level. This will in fact brighten the wood, but more importantly, it will restore the PH levels so the new stain will adhere properly.

After all of that, then you’re ready to choose a stain, of which I would like to make a suggestion.

I’ve done a lot of research and have even spoken with an individual who has done meetings with Benjamin Moore, and the best stain that I have seen experientially and through study – that you can buy locally – is Olympic Elite from Lowes. I know that Home Depot carries a good stain as well called Ready Seal. However, Olympic Elite takes the cake in my opinion because they use woodland oils in their solution which protects the wood very well.

They have a very large range of colors to choose from which is another plus. Some are vibrate such as the picture below, others are mild, but all do what they are intended and that is to protect the wood so you don’t have to replace it. The color is completely up to the creativity of the homeowner, so have fun choosing a color!

Josh Brown
President
Clean Pro Exteriors
252-314-8284
josh@cleanproexteriors.com
www.CleanProExteriors.com