It’s where you will spend your warm-weather evenings hosting friends, family, and neighbors. It’s also the place you’ll want to retreat to for some personal time––a place to enjoy a quiet morning cup of coffee before a hectic day, or a glass of wine after you’ve conquered your day.
The best way to protect your deck is to have it stained on a regular basis––the same can be said for any wood elements in your yard, such as fences and railings.
Staining your home’s exterior surfaces may seem like a simple process, but there can be just as many options as when you’re going through a painting project. The main difference between a stain and a paint is that stains are designed to soak in and penetrate the wood to protect it from the UV rays. Over time it will tend to fade from the elements. Paint will form a film on top of the wood and act more like a shirt to protect you from the sun. When it starts to fail, it will peel and split away from the wood.
There are 4 main types of stains: A clear coat, a semi-transparent, a semi-solid, and finally a solid stain.
It is the amount of pigment in the stain that determines the look. The more pigment in the stain, the less transparent it is, allowing less of the beauty of the wood grain and texture to be visible, however the more pigment in the stain, the greater the protection from the UV rays.
So, a clear coat allows all of the natural wood color and texture to show, however it will only last 6 to 12 months before needing to be recoated.
A semi-transparent stain comes in many wood colors, such as cedar, redwood or oak, and adds some color to your wood. This can emphasis certain aspects of the wood and will generally last 12 to 24 months.
A semi-solid stain also comes in many different wood colors and will generally hide the variations of the natural grain in your wood, making the deck look more consistent. It will generally last 2 to 3 years.
A solid stain is completely opaque, allowing none of the wood grain or little of the wood texture to be visible. It comes in virtually any color. It will generally last 3 to 6 years.
Part of our discussion with you will focus on the type of wood, how worn it is, how much wood grain you want to see, what type of sun-exposure it will get, and the desired color when figuring out which type of stain to use on your staining project.
The process of properly staining a deck starts with complete washing of the surface. We then use a wood restorer that helps strip out any old stain as well as open the wood pores to allow our new product to completely penetrate the wood. The surface then needs to be rinsed clean and allowed to throughly dry, before applying one or two coats of stain.
Call CertaPro Painters to arrange for one of us to come out see how we can help you enjoy your deck this summer and for many years to come.
CertaPro Painters is the exclusive provider of painting contractor articles in Atherton Living. For more information, please visit certapro.com/san-mateo.
