# Best exterior stain



## smokeator (Apr 20, 2006)

Whats your favorite stain? If you were gonna restain YOUR high traffic deck (dogs and kids) you would use..... cost doesnt matter.


----------



## BMAN (Aug 21, 2006)

Well for solid I like SW Deckscapes but for clears and toners I like Cabot. I am always upfront about decks and porches though. I tell customers that there isnt a product on the market that doesnt need a little touch up after each summer due to traffic, furniture scuffs, pets and anything else that comes along.


----------



## Brushslingers (Jul 28, 2006)

I agree with the deackscapes for solid body, clears I would go with porter and stains, cwf... but I normally use what is avalible in town.


----------



## Squrtgun (Aug 27, 2006)

Ready Seal is a great semi-transparent,as well as,Bakers Grey away.Both are long lasting and offer a nice line of colors.Clears offer a little more protection than un-stained,but most will fail within a year.

I'm not a beleiver in solids on new decks,they aren't good for the wood and promote rot from underneath.If a deck has existing solid I will refer the job to a painting contractor.I have yet to find a homeowner willing to pay what it cost to strip a deck back to bare wood when it has a solid existing.

Most decks we restore will need a light cleaning and recoat in 2 yrs.We have never had to recoat one yearly,but in certain situations I can see the need.


----------



## AAPaint (Apr 18, 2005)

I'll second the ready seal. Personally, I think solid stains are ugly. Might as well paint it, but I wouldn't recommend either.


----------



## smokeator (Apr 20, 2006)

Yes I'm looking for a semi red cedar color. Everything except the traffic areas looks really good and have no knowledge of quality of stains. All that is in the house is some Behr crap that I would rather let the deck rot as oppose to using a Behr product.


----------



## Squrtgun (Aug 27, 2006)

While it's not my 1st pick Olympic Max natural cedar is one of the best home owner grade stains I have tried.We used it on a few deck when we started out and they still look great after 2 1/2 yrs.We have yet to recoat any of them.All receive direct sun and see a lot of foot traffic and are still holding their own.
TWP is a nice product also,I get it through ICI paints and it has done well,but hands down ready seal the easiest to work with.


----------



## slickshift (Jun 14, 2005)

Sikkens and/or Cabots
I did just stain _my_ deck with Cabots
I wanted their "Natural" on my deck


----------



## FCPWLLC (Jun 1, 2006)

Sikkens SRD is probably your best bet as it is more readily availabe most places. Ready Seal or the Baker Gray Away great products if you don't mind paying for shipping if you can't find it locally.

No matter what you choose, the one single consistant thing that will lead to premature failure is the prep. A good prep/cleaning is the key to making even the worst stain/sealers lasting longer.

Stay far away from solids. In my experience, I have seen it used as a tool for the hacks to do subpar work and then hide it with the solid and customer thinks it looks great.


----------



## bigchaz (Jun 17, 2006)

For the color you want check out Cabot "red cedar" or even "new redwood" if you want a little darker color

I can get some job pictures of new redwood if you want. Dont have any with red cedar


----------

