Need Advice on New Deck, Oil or Water-based Stain?

Hello Ladies:

I love this group of moms, everyone is so helpful. I'm looking for feedback on what to use for our deck built in July of this year. We need to stain it within the next week or so. It's so confusing with all the different products. We want to use a stain that comes tinted with a color OTHER THAN BROWN WOOD TONES. Our house is white/gray, so we want to use a semi-transparent tinted with gray. All tinted products are water based, not oil based. Oil based products only come in wood tones or natural. We're afraid the water based stain won't hold up as well. Has anyone used a water based deck stain and had good results? Has it lasted 2 or 3 years? We're looking at Wolman brand stains. Thank you.

Respond to Question

What can I do next?

Add your own comment
Ask your own question
Join the Mamapedia community
Report this as inappropriate
Share this with your friends

Write J.B. a private message
Read more that J.B. has written
Browse local questions
Is this helpful? Yes | No

More Answers

T.L. answers from Detroit on October 11, 2008

Don't waste your time with the color stains-as tempting as it may be to match your deck to your house-they just do not last. We just powerwashed our "color stain" off after a couple of years and re-stained it with a wood color. We chose the Behr Premium-it's guaranteed to last 5 years. It looks great and repells the water so I think it really will last. The 5 gallon buckets are around $135.00 at Home Depot.
Good Luck!

Helpful? Yes | No Report This Share

P.D. answers from Detroit on October 10, 2008

I am a professional painter.

I prefer latex products on exteriors b/c they breathe better. Having that said, product quality varies greatly from manufactures. DO NOT trust big box stores. I've had guys behind their counters admit that they have NEVER painted... which is why I'm faithful to Benjamin Moore. Their stores are independently owned which means they are usually retired painters. They can answer any of your questions, and you can trust their answers.

I go to Northville Paints on 7 Mile east of Northville Rd. Very helpful. The brothers who own that store also own Brighton Paints (Grand River east of Old US 23).

Helpful? Yes | No Report This Share

M.O. answers from Detroit on October 10, 2008

Hi J.,

We also used the latex because clean up is so much easier, but also because it was highly recommended by our friendly Ace Hardware expert. Randy owns and runs the Ace Hardware in Garden City and has proven to be extremely knowledgeable on most matters.

We've been quite happy with the results and they do carry some nice gray deck tones.

Hope this helps!

M. Overly
Proud Member of the Mom Team
Working From Home & Loving It!
www.ThisFamilyCounts.com
Visit www.concernedmoms.com to learn about what may be
lurking under your cabinet.
"Live your life so that your children can tell their
children that you not only stood for something
wonderful-you acted on it."
Without Him I am weak and inadequate...
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall
give thee the desires of thine heart. Ps 37:4

Helpful? Yes | No Report This Share

B.P. answers from Kalamazoo on October 10, 2008

On stuff like this, I like to refer to Consumer Reports. They had an article in June 2008 about exterior paint and stain. The two highest rated semi-transparent stains were Thompson's Water Seal Deck and House and Olympic Oil Stain. Thompson's appearance was rated very good after three years and Olympic's was good but does resist mildew more than some others. It does not appear that they rated Wolman. Quite a few opaque stains rated a lot better than the semi-transparent ones.

Hope this helps!

Helpful? Yes | No Report This Share

signup