Deck Staining and Painting

Deck staining means cleaning, prepping and coating a wood deck so the boards resist sun and water. Safe Choice Painting stains, seals or paints wood decks, rails, stairs and attached pergolas. Deck boards take more sun and water than any other wood on a house, so they need a penetrating finish and refresh coats more often.

Stain, sealer or paint for a deck?

• Penetrating stain. Soaks into the wood, adds color and blocks some sun, and wears away slowly instead of peeling. Semitransparent stains show the grain.
• Clear sealer or water repellent. Keeps water out and lets the natural wood color weather.
• Solid stain or deck paint. Covers the wood like paint. Lasts longer between coats on rails and stairs, but on flat boards it can peel when it fails.

The USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Wood Handbook gives a clear steer on this. It says many fully exposed decks are more effectively finished with a water-repellent preservative or a penetrating semitransparent stain. Those finishes need refinishing more often than paint, but redoing them is easy, because there is no peeling paint to scrape. The handbook also warns that solid-color stains, unless they are made for decks, should not go on horizontal surfaces, since they lack abrasion resistance and tend to flake. For most decks in full sun, we recommend a penetrating stain.

How a deck is prepped

1. Clear the deck. Chairs, grills and planters come off.
2. Clean. Dirt, mildew and gray weathered fibers come off with a deck cleaner and a careful rinse. Our pressure washing page explains why wood gets low pressure.
3. Dry. The wood has to dry fully, often a day or more after washing.
4. Check the boards. We walk every board and point out any that feel soft, split or loose, so you can decide what to do before they are stained.
5. Sand where needed. Raised grain and rough spots are sanded smooth.
6. Protect. Siding, the house wall and plants nearby are covered.
7. Stain. Applied by brush or pad and worked into the boards, with extra attention to cut ends and gaps.

Why decks need restaining sooner than fences

A fence stands up, so rain runs off. A deck lies flat, so water sits on it, sun hits it all day and feet wear the finish off. Summer afternoons in North Texas and southern Oklahoma are hot, by NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, and May brings the most rain. Expect a deck to show wear on the sunniest boards and the stairs first. When water stops beading on the boards and the color has faded, it is time for a refresh coat. Our fence staining page covers fences.

New pressure-treated decks

New treated lumber often arrives wet from the treatment. Stain will not soak into wood that is still full of water. The simple test is to sprinkle water on a board: if it beads, wait; if it soaks in, the wood is ready. The stain maker's label gives the wait for its product.

Stain colors that hold up

Mid-tone browns and cedar tones hide dirt and wear better than very light or very dark colors. Lighter stains show more of the wood and need refreshing sooner. Darker stains run hotter underfoot in summer sun. We brush a sample on a spare board or a hidden spot so you can see the color on your own wood, which changes with species and age.

Railings, stairs and pergolas

Rails and balusters take the most brush time, since every side is stained. Stair treads wear fastest and may need a second coat. Pergolas and shade structures attached to the deck are stained in the same visit, and their tops are done first so drips do not land on finished boards.

Decks and HOA rules

Many HOAs have rules on deck and fence colors. We help with HOA color approvals by giving you product and color details for the board. At Lake Kiowa, the property owners association handbook says exterior painting and staining need no permit. See exterior painting at Lake Kiowa.

Soft boards and rot

Stain does not fix soft wood. We point out boards that are soft or rotted before any stain goes on. Deck boards and framing are not part of our wood rot repair, which covers trim, siding, fascia and soffit. For covered porches, see porch floor painting.

Nearby

• Exterior painting
• Fence staining
• Pressure washing