Need deck refinish advice


 
Bob Correll

Bob Correll

R.I.P. 3/31/2022
Our pressure treated lumber deck is about 22 years old.
I've tried to keep it covered with stain over the years, but that isn't going to happen now or in the future.
I'm not sure what would be the most durable on older wood. One estimate I got was $1,800 total using Sherman Williams semi-solid, about 6 gallons needed.
A friend recommended one of his friends, that does power washing and refinishing, he gave me a price of $300 labor, we buy material. I'm not sure what product would be best.
Advice and/or experience welcome.
Here's what was put on the last few times:

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If I am not specifying synthetic decking (Trex, et.al.) then I call out Superdeck; it is what I use on my projects too... but this is for redwood decking material or non treated woods. I am not sure how the preservatives in PT decking will react with this particular stain. I know that this brand has all types of preparation products that can be used prior to application.

Home - Duckback

www.superdeck.com www.superdeck.com

I know the prep products do work on redwood decking that had previous opaque stains applied. A brother's deck had the opaque stain (coulda' killed him for doing that!)... he power washed and then used the prep products to then apply the transparent stains.

I would check with a professional paint store such as a Sherwin Williams on what they recommend for PT wood. Perhaps because of the age of your wood then it has sufficient tooth to accept a stain such as this.

Most products now are being made as water based applications. If you can find oil-based stains they are much better for overall life. I bought 10, 5-gallon containers of the SD heartwood for my use before it become non-available.

I am not a fan of semi-solid or opaque stains. Might as well paint the deck. These do not look good when wear patterns from traffic happens over time... I prefer transparent stains because the prep (usually just hosing down, depending on condition) is much easier. Wear patterns on it look more "natural" over the solids.

In my opinion, see if a paint store has a recommendation for PT... if not, use a transparent, it think this will be accepted much better by the lumber over a semi-solid finish.
 
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I have done mine twice now with Sikkens transparent oil stain. Nice stuff, hard to find and expensive
 
Lew Newby said:
If you're satisfied with the Kilz look and performance then why change.
Click to expand...
Durability hasn't been very good, I kept using it because it color matched.
Our son's father-in-law is a painter, he recommends Sherwin Williams Super Deck, same as the deck company we got a bid from. We'll probably go with that.
 
Good advice, trust the professionals. One I would be leery of is a deckover/refinisher paint.
You have a 50/50 chance of it sticking or peeling.
I used it on my 25yr old PT deck and most of it bonded but the high traffic areas didn't.
 
Yeah once you have a solid color or semi solid on a deck no way you can go back to transparent oil stain. I did my deck from the start with transparent oil from Sikkens. Will never use anything else
 
Crazy snow in the Midwest, Bob and I haven't met but we live about 30 minutes apart, in the St. Louis area, looks like we both had about the same amount of snow - here are my snow on April 20th pics

Snow on yellow tulips, you don't see this every spring!

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White on white dogwood blossoms

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