Why You Must Stain Your Deck

Staining the deck can not only make it look new, but also help your deck stay in good shape for longer. Staining can revive old wood with a fresh colour, or change the colour of wood on your deck to better match your décor. Painting your deck brings out the natural beauty of the wood by adding colour and highlighting the texture of the wood.

If the wood deck is peeling and frayed, you will need to remove old stains. Hard and semi-hard stains can even cover the wood on the deck, if it’s not a wood known for its beauty, such as green wood veneer. If the wood is not porous enough for the stain to penetrate, the stain can also become very dry in some areas.

Clear stains will absorb the deck boards, while solid stains are more like paint and will sit on top of the deck boards. You can always paint another layer of stain under certain conditions. If you want to finish your decking boards with a different type of stain or colour, consider removing the old finish and sanding the strips lightly before applying a new coat.

If these stains are left on the old deck, they will show through the new finish and ruin the final look of the deck. On old patios, dust, sun-grey, mildew and old stains must be removed before painting.

Your professional deck builder will advise you not to paint your deck every year, but to allow the wood to naturally grey over time. Staining a new deck with deck coating will make the wood more even in colour or tone, and sealing will help maintain its natural colour.

Sealing the deck will protect the wood from cracking, cracking, moisture, mould and rot while maintaining the colour and grain of the wood. Wood deck sealant is not the same as wood stain, although both will protect the wood from the weather. 

Because deck stains penetrate deep into the wood, they prevent moisture build-up and protect your deck from UV rays, mould and rot. Staining your deck enhances the look of your wood and helps prevent moisture from being absorbed into the wood or decking structure, providing much-needed protection from mould, rot and decay.

A quality wood stain will seal the wood structure, so moisture doesn’t seep into the wood deck and cause it to rot. If your deck is made of beautiful wood, the right shade and finish will make it look better. 

Wood porosity is the main problem that parquet and other wood stains face when it comes to new wood. Both paint and wood stain can increase the lifespan of your outdoor wood deck.

For an aged deck with chipped wood, applying a hard stain can get you a few more years. More important than decorating your deck is that painting and sealing your deck will help protect your deck from UV rays and solar moisture that shorten the life of outdoor wood. Staining the deck protects the wood from mould, fungus, moisture and rot, UV rays and sunlight. 

Wood stain helps protect your deck from both moisture and pest ingress, helping to avoid costly problems like mould, mildew, and wood rot that can otherwise cause your deck to sag, crack, and even collapse if the damage is severe enough. As we said above, the right wood paint is important to help keep the wood in your deck dry.

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