Everyone, who has a deck, enjoys spending time and relaxing on it. What most deck owners don’t enjoy is maintaining their decks. Understanding deck stain can go a long way in doing the least amount of maintenance a deck. Too much water and too much light are the main reasons why stains don’t hold up on decks. Most decks are put on the sunny side of a house, so they receive a large amount of sunlight. Stains, with light pigments, deteriorate quickly in the sunlight. For this reason, it is best to get a stain with a darker pigment. Generally, the more color a stain has the longer it will last. Rain, snow, and dew will damage a deck over time. These elements cause deck wood to splint and crack over time. When this happens water can easily soak into the deck wood. Choosing a stain that is water resistant is a critical part of choosing a stain.
When trying to choose the best deck stain, deck owners need to understand the transparency of stain. The transparency of deck stain will directly related to how long the stain will last. Transparent deck stains will allow the wood grain show though the stain with little color. These stains generally last about a year. Semi transparent stains will allow a good bit of wood grain to show through, but they also have a well defined color. Generally these stains last about two years. Solid color decking stains give a deck a painted looked. With this kind of stain the grain of the wood is covered completely. Solid color decking stains can last up to four years.
Deck owners can choose to use water based or oil based deck stain. While oil based stain has a strong odor and is flammable, most deck owners prefer using it. Oil based stain is less likely to peel than water based stains. Oil based stains also penetrated into the wood better, and therefore offer more protection to a deck than water based stains.
A good way to choose a good deck stain is to look for reviews of stains on the Internet. Looking at what others, who have used stain, have to say about a certain stain will give a deck owner an idea of what kind of stain they would like to use. This will also give a deck owner an idea of which stains a lot of people are unhappy with. Learning which stains. a large number of people are happy with, will allow a deck owner to chose a stain they can feel confident in.
