Comments on: DIY Deck Stain Weekend the Sherwin-Williams Way

By: Deena

Deena — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:57:40 +0000

I had a contractor use Sherwin Williams deckscape solid stain on my front deck and within 2 months the deck is growing black mold. I’m being told it’s because I live near the water (2 blocks from the Long Island Sound) and the small shrubbery (which is 1-3 feet from the deck) is the cause. Sherwin Williams rep came out and told me it was improper prep of the deck…could have been wet when stain applied but is not blaming it on the proximity of the water and shrubs. The deck did NOT have a mold problem prior to this. Any suggestions on fighting this complaint?

By: Stripping and Staining Our Pressure Treated Deck | krisrzepkowski.com

Stripping and Staining Our Pressure Treated Deck | krisrzepkowski.com — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 03:48:23 +0000

[...] could consider this a follow-up post to the deck staining project I was so proud of 3 years ago. To review…I applied Sherwin-Williams Water Based [...]

By: Kris Rzepkowski

Kris Rzepkowski — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:39:57 +0000

@Dan, thanks for the post! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of good news to share. The playset I stained with the water based product looks just as bad or worse than the deck. It was similarly thirsty like yours was. The playset is in the sun and snow year round, and the product broke down VERY quickly. I just can’t get myself to spend the time to strip it and try again.

The lines that these salespeople are giving about one product vs the other are amazing. I have proven that the water-based junk that Sherwin Williams is selling isn’t worth the time, money and effort. I’ve moved onto an oil-based product from SuperDeck. I’ll be posting the process of applying that product. I hope I have better results to report from that product in 3 years.

Please do let us all know how yours holds up!

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 04:14:25 +0000

I just sanded and stained a three year old swing set that had never been treated after it was installed. I was going to use Olympic Redwood Naturaltone oil based stain but a friend convinced me that Sherwin Williams products last longer and are better quality. The manufacturer of the swingset (Sunray by Rainbow) also recommended water based and not oil based since young children will be playing on this and water based is believed to be safer. The salesman at SW was very friendly, helpful, and professional. He explained that it is basically 6 one way, half a dozen the other when it comes to oil based vs water based. The state of Ohio has restrictions for the chemicals that they can include in the stains so they are both equally safe. He said that old timers will insist on oil based, but with the technology that they use now, water based will work just as well and last just as long. I purchased Deckscapes Redwood Waterborne stain. When I brushed this onto the wood, it bubbled as the wood sucked it in. This is the thirstiest wood I’ve ever stained. I was thinking about taking a video of it. You could see the stain getting sucked into the wood. I was going to work on it outside, but I was advised to do it in the shade to allow the wood to slowly absorb the stain as it dried slowly, so I worked on it in the garage. I’m a little nervous after reading the comments on this page. The wood looks very nice now. Maybe I’ll bring some of the components indoors during winter time to possibly avoid some of the problems. I’ll try to remember to update this in a year or so. Good luck everyone!

By: Cassie

Cassie — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 21:37:58 +0000

I stained three waterfront decks in Maine in 1995 with Sherwin Williams Solid color, off the shelf, Lodge Brown. When I sold the house six years later the decks were still beautiful with slight peeling where I’d missed a thorough power wash. Last weekend I started staining my decks (waterfront in Michigan) with the new Sherwin Williams Solid color, not off the shelf, Lodge Brown. At my current “stain per second/spindle rate” of 1 hour per section with 24 sections and the floors on five huge decks I should have pictures by Fall. I use Behr interior and exterior but will always stick to Sherwin Williams for the decks.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 20:31:38 +0000

I had the exact problem with Sherwin Williams water-based stain and had the exact problem you had, what garbage! I had to spend a full 12 hours applying stripper pressure washing and then using Revive from SW. I just got done applying Sherwin Williams oil based semi-tansparent and it looks much better…hopefully it lasts

One word of caution, make sure you get rid of all the old stain…if you don’t it will show through the new stain as a very glossy texture. I chose pressure washer bc it is easier, but you could also sand.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Try one time stain. You’ll have to make sure you clean all the old product off. Suppose to last 7 years.

By: Danica

Danica — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:00:13 +0000

We just stained our deck with Sherwin Williams Deckscapes oil-based Semi-Transparent stain. Looks great so far. We have steered clear from the waterborne stains. Two of our neighbors used Behr waterborne stains and in just a few months they were peeling like they had painted them. They look horrible and now they’re either going to have to powerwash them real good or sand them down and start over. I think oil is the best way to go, it absorbs into the wood, fading gradually over time rather than peeling, looking more natural rather than a defective product. And like others have said if you use an oil-based stain all you should have to do after 2-3 years after it fades and is no longer water repellent, just wash it real good and reapply stain. No sanding is normally necessary. I made the mistake of first applying Thompson’s Waterseal, that stuff sucks, faded within a couple months, didn’t look like we did anything to the deck. Had to sand it all off before applying the Sherwin Williams oil-based stain. Looks like a brand new deck! I can understand why you’re not in a hurry to re-stain. The preparation is the worst yet most important part, unfortunately you’re probably going to have to sand the entire thing.

By: Kris Rzepkowski

Kris Rzepkowski — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:20:52 +0000

@pat, it’s nice when people come to my blog and leave links of use. Many people like to leave promotional links, which are annoying. Every once in a while though I get content of value from people that also happens to be promotional. I took a long look at your http://deckstainingtips.com site last night, and I really liked it. The articles are well-written and the design of the site is great. The forums don’t have a whole lot in there yet, but keep promoting them, and people will come.

The reason I went to your site is that I started looking at the options for redoing my stain this year. It was a nice March day. I went into Lowes and had a conversation with the paint guy there. He was a patronizing @sshole. He nearly threw me out of the department for even considering stripping the deck in March. I didn’t know…March and April is my time to do projects before I feel like doing a million other things in the only nice weather months. Nonetheless, apparently I should wait to do this until we get at least 50 degrees day and night. That would be sometime in June.

He also told me that oil based stains are worse than Latex based. He proceeded to berate me on something I must have done wrong for the Sherwin-Williams to fail so quickly. He narrowed it down to there must have been moisture in the wood.

He told me Olympic products are better than the Cabot stains they sell. They are all latex. I really don’t believe this guy. Every comment here so far has been to go with oil. Needless to say I’m going to cool my jets for a month or 2 and in the meantime I’m going to try to get some better advice and find just the right product.

By: jim carols

jim carols — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 23:31:54 +0000

we used eco wood treatment on our deck from sherwin williams. worked geat