May 31, 2025 • 39 mins
In this episode of the RepcoLite Home Improvement Show, host Dan Hansen dedicates the entire episode to deck projects. Dan discusses how such projects can feel overwhelming due to the numerous steps involved and the plethora of products on the market. He shares personal anecdotes, such as refurbishing his own deck, and outlines essential preliminary steps including inspecting the deck's structural integrity and cleaning it before applying stain. Dan also compares different types of stains—translucent, semi-transparent, semi-solid, and solid—highlighting their unique benefits and best-use scenarios. Additionally, he distinguishes between the processes and advantages of using oil-based versus water-based stains. The episode includes insights on using tools like the Wooster Bravo stain brush and renting an on-floor machine. Lastly, listeners are informed about the ongoing sale on deck staining products available at Repco Light until June 16.00:00 Introduction and Overview01:18 Common Deck Problems and Solutions03:30 Personal Deck Project Experience04:02 Important Considerations Before Starting08:51 Cleaning Your Deck: Why and How11:01 Chemical Cleaning Methods16:21 Using the On-Floor Machine18:51 Applying the Stain19:01 Introduction to Deck Staining19:41 Applying the Stain: Methods and Tools23:18 Important Tips for Stain Application24:36 Drying and Final Steps26:05 Choosing the Right Deck Stain28:56 Understanding Deck Stain Types36:36 Oil-Based vs. Water-Based Stains38:36 Conclusion and Final Advice
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Well, good morning, everybody, Happy Saturday. You're listening to the
Repco Light Home improvement show sponsored by Benjamin Moore, and
today the entire episode, all of it, all thirty nine
minutes and thirty seconds or whatever I get out of this,
all of it is dedicated to deck projects because really,
when you think about it, deck projects they can feel overwhelming.
(00:25):
You know, there just seems to be a ton of
different steps involved, and if you've never done one before,
or you know, maybe even if you have done one before,
it's easy to feel a little bit lost in the process.
And on top of all of that, on top of
all these what seem like complicated steps. They're not complicated steps,
but maybe they seem that way. They seem like a
(00:45):
lot of them. On top of that, there's an absolute mountain,
a boat load of products that you get to choose from,
you know, deck products to choose from, and the marketing
on these products can really make the whole thing quite confusing.
The marketers, you know, marketing people, they make bold promises,
(01:06):
and maybe you've done your deck in the past, maybe
you've trusted some of those claims, and then you've been
so let down when the products didn't hold up or
do exactly what the people on TV said they were
going to do. When that happens, you start to wonder,
did I do something wrong? At least that's how I am.
Did I do something wrong is kind of my default position,
(01:27):
I think, if I would really be honest and think
this through, if something goes wrong anywhere, like for this,
like this, if a horn honks anywhere around me, anywhere
I can just vaguely hear it, it could be I
don't know, one hundred yards in another direction, and I
still assume they're honking at me, and that I've done
(01:48):
something wrong. Right, Normally, people with me will say that's ridiculous,
because I'll ask what did I do? What did I do?
And they'll say that's ridiculous. They're way over there, And
I don't even answer them anymore because within about thirty seconds,
sometimes way less than that, we find out Now, no
matter how ridiculous it seems, turns out, YEP, it really
(02:08):
was something I did wrong. Normally, I'm right to assume
that I've done something wrong. So that's my default position.
Maybe that's yours. Maybe maybe you're healthier than that, you know,
emotionally or psychologically, healthier than that. Oh, please let you
be healthier emotionally and psychologically than I am. But maybe
(02:28):
you are, and you question that the failings on your deck.
Maybe it was the product that you chose, you know,
maybe you assume it wasn't you. Maybe it was the product.
Who knows, who knows? Who knows? All I know is
that people who have decks are generally in the boat
where they're frustrated all the time because they've got to
(02:48):
redo them more often than they want to redo them.
They have them looking good for what feels like twenty
minutes and they're right back to looking at Okay, when
am I going to have to redo this again? Always
frustrated with products that don't seem to hold up, with
work that seems just more work than they want to tackle.
So that's deck projects. That's the fun of deck projects.
(03:10):
And I get all of that. So today I want
to help you out. I want to get all of
the information in your hands so you know what you're
looking at if you're going to jump into a deck project,
and you know what to expect out of the deck product.
You know, I don't want you disappointed. Nobody wins when
you're disappointed. So let's talk about all of that, and
I guess really to get us moving on that, I
(03:31):
just did my own deck and I'm going to use
that kind of as a springboard to talk about So
by the end of the show today, you're going to
know exactly what you're getting into if you take this
on for yourself. You're also going to know about the
products that are out there, the different products that you
can choose from, and why you would choose this product
over another product or you know whatever. You're going to
(03:51):
get all of that information. We'll cover it all. Okay,
to get started. Before I get into the actual nitty
gritty of what a deck project looks like step by step,
I want to highlight a few important things that you
should keep in mind. First. One is this, if your
deck isn't rotting away into a pile of sawdust, it
(04:12):
can be improved. Now, I know that sounds kind of
like a throwaway comment, but I mean it. If you've
got a wood deck that still structurally sound, even if
it looks rough, even if it looks like it's seen
its best years and they were a long time ago.
If it structurally sound, even if it looks rough, it
can look better. Okay, it can look better, often way better.
(04:33):
Now I'm not saying it's gonna look brand new, but
it's gonna look better than what you've got. Now here's
my deal. I can demonstrate this a little bit with
a personal anecdote. My deck had built in flower boxes.
Previous owner built these flower boxes right onto the deck,
and I lived with them for a long time. They
were very nice, but they started to deteriorate. They started
(04:55):
to just break down, and I needed to get them off,
so I tore them a the deck, and that's when
I realized that over the years they had held a
lot of moisture, and that moisture had really really damaged
a lot of sections of wood on the deck itself
that was underneath these boxes. It was kind of hidden
to me until I pulled them off. Well, once I
got them off and I see all this damaged wood,
(05:17):
I start to think, how in the world am I
going to fix this? It looked like all of these
boards needed to be replaced. But that is expensive work.
That's an expensive undertaking, and for somebody as cheap as me,
I wasn't ready to spend that money at this point.
So I'm trying to think, what am I going to
do to make these look good. I've got rotting sections
(05:39):
of board. I can't imagine that it's going to look good. Well,
what I decided to try was I rented or brought home.
Let's put all the chips on the table. When you
work at Repcolite, I'm not renting anything from Repcolite. It's
a perk I get to take that home. So I
took home the on floor machine. It's a sanding machine
we rented out. I'll talk more about it later, but
(06:01):
I brought it home, got it on the deck, and
went to work and I sanded it off the rotted
surface layer around all these boards. I applied a new stain,
and I was really surprised at how good the whole
thing looked. Now, if you get up close, you can
see the dips in the boards where you know they're
just well, there's dips in the boards. I don't know
how else to explain it. I had sanded it away
a fair amount of rot, you know, maybe a quarter
(06:23):
of an inch or so of rot from the tops
of these boards. But I did get down to solid
wood underneath, and you can see that dip. You can
see that there's a little bit of a color variance
because those sections took the stain a little bit darker.
But from a distance, you know, just a few steps back,
the deck looks really, really good. Even up close, it
looks pretty good, you know, way better than it had,
(06:45):
Way better than I thought it was going to. So
if you're in that bad case category like I was,
just remember it can look way better than what it
looks now. No matter what it looks like, it's going
to look better. Okay, first thing to remember. Second thing,
it's not too late in the season to tackle a project.
I know, June's right around the corner and you might
be thinking that you missed your window. But this spring
(07:05):
has been weird. You know, it's cold, it's rainy, it's
not been great for outdoor work. Everybody's a little bit behind,
and we've got a wide range of products that are
suited for all kinds of different conditions. And whether you're
starting this weekend or next month, you've still got time
to get it done and enjoy your deck all summer,
So keep that in mind. Third thing, third important thing
(07:26):
to keep in mind is this one set realistic expectations,
and this is a big one. A lot of deck
stains say that they're going to last three years, five
years longer. You know, they make a lot of big claims.
And maybe in some parts of the country, you know,
maybe in Arizona, if you know you've got great, big
shade trees around your deck, maybe that deck stain is
(07:47):
going to last three years, five years longer. But we
live in Michigan, and our decks take an absolute beating.
You know. We've got long winters, we've got snow, rain,
hot summers, and the deck it's a horizontal surface. It
holds that no, it holds that water. It's baked by
the sun. We walk on it all the time. So
no matter what the label says, most products in our environment,
(08:08):
they're going to need some touch up or maintenance every
year to probably a year and a half. Now, I
know that's not what you want to hear. That sounds discouraging,
But if you plan on it, it's not as big
of a deal. Right, It's kind of a mental war.
You've got to win with yourself. Win it now, and
in a couple of years you're just kind of used
to it. It'll just become part of the natural spring cleanup.
(08:31):
And one thing I should say to make sure that
we're all on the same page here, I'm talking mostly
about the deck boards themselves. Maybe the railings, the spindles,
you know, all the vertical stuff that might be able
to go to or three years maybe more before it
needs anything. But the deck boards. Just plan on regular
maintenance and you're not going to be frustrated. All right,
With all of that said, let's start walking through a
(08:53):
typical deck restaining project. And let's start here. You've got
to clean it. And this cleaning isn't optional. Cleaning the
deck is absolutely essential for a couple of big reasons.
First off, the esthetic reasons. Most of the deck stains
that we recommend always look better on a clean deck,
depending on the opacity of the deck product that you choose.
If there's dirt, if there's grime, mildew, even just pollen
(09:16):
or footsteps, you know, footprints on the surface, your final
look is going to be underwhelming. You're going to be
a little disappointed. You're going to see those things through
a translucent or a semi transparent stain. If the boards
are naturally graad or dull, that tone is going to
dramatically affect the final color of the stain you pick,
so cleaning it gives you a better look in the end.
(09:39):
So that's one reason. The second reason, which is maybe
even more important than the first one, is based on function.
You know, the first one was esthetic. This one's function.
When you clean the deck properly, you open up the
woods pores and that allows the stain to penetrate more deeply,
which means better durability and longer lasting protection down the road. Really,
it just makes all the work that you're going to
(09:59):
do go further. So you've got to clean the deck.
How do you clean it? Well, we're going to get
to that on the other side of the break. So
let's take a break right now, and then we'll talk
about what the cleaning process looks like. And I've got
that on floor machine we're going to talk about that's
a quick way to get it cleaned. We'll talk about
all of that in just a minute. Stick around, and
(10:23):
we're back. You're listening to the Repco Light Home Improvement Show,
The Deck Project one on one edition of the Repco
Light Home Improvement Show sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And already,
I mean we're flying. We've already covered a bunch of
stuff but now we're starting to get into the actual
nitty gritty of the work. And we ended last segment
talking about why the deck needs to be cleaned before
(10:44):
you stain it. To recap very briefly, you clean it
because it will look better and it will hold up better.
That's the long and the short of it. That's why
you clean it. Now let's talk about how you go
about doing that, and there are a lot of different options.
I've got two main options that I'm going to look at.
The most common route is to use a chemical deck
cleaning system and the one that we carry, the one
(11:05):
I love, I love to recommend, is from Benjamin Moore.
But there is another method, and I already hinted at
it earlier in the show. You could rent the on
floor machine from Repcolite and use that to prep the boards.
It's fast and crazy effective. Generally speaking, it's going to
make the deck look almost like new. And I'm going
to talk more about that in a little bit. It
(11:27):
really is a game changer when it comes to this
deck project. That's the on floor machine. We'll get to that,
but right now, let's focus on those Benjamin war cleaning products,
and the system is a little bit. I guess you
could say it's customizable based on your situation. There's different
products you would use, and it's all dependent upon the
(11:47):
condition of the deck that you're working on. So, for example,
if your deck is brand new, first thing you need
to do if it's brand new is check with the
supplier of the wood regarding how long it should weather
before you stain it. So I'm talking if it's new,
you just put it down. Check with the people who
sold you the wood or the people who put it in,
and find out how long it should sit. Sometimes that
(12:09):
can vary depending on a number of different things, so
look into that regardless. Once it's ready to be stained,
even though it's a brand new deck, it still should
be cleaned, and you need to clean it because you
need to break the mill glaze that's on the surface
with new boards. You probably noticed how smooth and shiny
some of the boards can look. That slick, almost glossy
(12:29):
surface If you catch an angle when you see that,
that's mill glaze. Milglaze happens during the milling process when
the lumber is playing down, you know, planed down. Hard
to say that and make it sound like a word
when it's playing down the heat and the pressure from
the big steel blades can actually compress the wood fibers
and it brings the natural oils to the surface and
that results in this kind of hard, shiny layer on
(12:52):
the top of the board. And that matters because stain
generally isn't going to soak through mill glaze. It's just
going to sit on top. It's not going to penetrate
the wood in the way it's supposed to. You're going
to end up potentially with poor color. You're not going
to get as rich a color as you were thinking.
More importantly, you're going to have poor adhesion and most
likely you're going to deal with some peeling or flaking
(13:13):
down the road. So if you've got brand new boards,
would that smooth, slick feel or look to them, you
really should clean them. And the product that you'd use
for that is Benjamin Moore's Brightener slash Neutralizer. It's just
basically a deck cleaner. So you would hit it with
that and you're good to go. I'll talk about what
that looks like using all these products. We'll get to
that in a minute. I'm just just going to give
(13:33):
you the products for the different scenarios. Right now. So
that's new deck. Benjamin Moore's Brightener neutralizer. Use that. If
the deck is bare gray weathered wood, you know most
of the old coating is gone. If you've got that situation,
use Benjamin Moore's Restore and that's going to clean off
the loose dead fibers and get it ready for new stain.
(13:53):
After you've done that restore, you'd immediately hit the deck
with that brightener neutralizer and then rinse that as well.
That brightener neutralizer that we just talked about that is
applied after using the restore. If the wood on your
deck is still holding onto a previous stain or an
old coating and you need to remove it completely, you're
going to want to use Benjamin Moore's Remove, different product
(14:14):
than restore restores for grade decks to bring them back.
Remove is to remove, you know, an older coating that's
down there, and just as in the previous scenario, you'll
hit the surface with Benjamin Moore's Remove. Once you've rinsed
that off, you hit it again with that brightener neutralizer.
That brightener neutralizer is important in both of those instances
because it neutralizes the chemicals that you just put down
(14:37):
and it also brightens the wood so that the stain
looks vibrant when you apply it. All right, now, the
process for using all of these products is pretty much
the same, and it's simple. Here's how it works. You
mix the cleaner, whichever one you're working with. You mix
it out with water according to the directions on the container.
You put it in a standard garden pump up sprayer
(14:57):
and put it onto the deck, you know, put it
on the deck board, and then let it sit usually
ten to thirty minutes something like that. You've got to
keep it wet, so you may need to reapply that product,
you know, just as you're waiting. So let it sit,
let it wait, let it cook, you know, let it
do its thing. Don't get on it too fast. Once
that time is up, then you're going to scrub that
(15:17):
surface with a good stiff scrub brush. And then once
you've done that, go ahead and rinse everything with a
hose or ideally with a power washer. Now, a word
of caution, whenever we're talking about using power washers on wood,
you want to make sure you're careful. It's easy to
damage that wood if you get too aggressive. So if
you're using a power washer. Just use it with some care.
All right. Once you've done all the proper cleaning steps
(15:39):
and you've got it rinsed, the next thing that you
need to do is just wait. Probably the easiest and
hardest part of the whole process, you know, waiting, it's
the hardest part. I'm not going to sing. I'm not
going to hurt everybody's ears. You do need to let
that deck drive for probably two to three good drying
days before you stain it. And when I say good
drying days, what I'm talking about are good sunny days
(16:00):
without rain, you know, and low humidity. If you can
get it all right, that drying time matters. The cleaner
is going to open the pores of the wood, but
if you stain it too soon, the moisture in the
wood can actually prevent that stain from penetrating properly. So
wait it out. Be patient. It's it's worth it. It's kind
of an essential step. We don't like to wait, but
it's really important in this situation. All right, that's what
(16:22):
the cleaning looks like using the cleaners from Benjamin Moore.
But I did mention that we have another way to go,
and that's the on floor machine rental that we've got
at Repcolite. Now, this thing is super cool. I've talked
about it a Pheromount on the show. You're probably familiar.
But it's going to sand your deck and get it
ready for stain in the same day, So no waiting.
(16:43):
In this instance, you don't have to wait for the
wood to dry because you're not introducing any water to
it at all. You just sand it down. We've got
one available for rent at Repcolite. Like I said, I've
got more info in the show notes if you do
want to check that out after the show. Now, to
give you an idea of what it's like, imagine, you know,
kind of a big drum sander, but without the drum. Oh,
(17:03):
that's ridiculous. That doesn't make any sense at all. It
doesn't look like a sander like you would picture, not
like a belt sander or anything like that. It looks
more like a giant electric shaver, you know, with the
three rotating heads. It's got three rotating heads. They're fitted
with carbide impregnated sanding brushes. And these brushes they're really
cool because that means you can cruise right over uneven
(17:26):
boards instill sand them. You can go right over raised
nail heads, you can go into deep grain, you know,
like I was dealing with with the rotted sections. And
you can do all of that without tearing up your
sandpaper or catching your paper on anything, because there's no
sandpaper at all to rip or even replace. It's just
those sanding heads. Now, another thing about it that I
love is that you can literally run it with one hand.
(17:48):
It's super easy to control. If you've ever used a drumsander,
you know, or a big belt sander on a deck
or a floor, wood floor or something like that, you
know it's like trying to rein in horses. This is
not like that at all. You can use one hand
control it very easily. It can stop in one spot
and it's not going to sand through or cause a
visual problem later. Try that with a drum sand or
(18:12):
a belt sander, and you're gonna end up with a
lot of different issues on the surface that you're sanding.
You can't let it sit for even just a few seconds.
With the on floor machine, there's none of that to
worry about, so it's really easy to work with. We
rent it out with a vacuum system so there's no
dust and again The best part, like I mentioned already,
is when you're done, the wood looks pretty much brand
(18:34):
new and it's ready for stain at that point. Now,
I've got all that information in the show notes if
you want to check that out, or just head to
Repcolight dot com and click the on floor machine banner
right on the homepage. All right, that's cleaning the deck.
Whether you use the chemical cleaners, whether you use the
on floor machine, you've got to get the deck cleaned.
Once you've got that done, now it's time for the
fun part, putting the stain on. We're going to get
(18:56):
to that in just a minute. Stick around and we're back.
You're listening to the Repcolite Home Improvement Show sponsored by
Benjamin Moore, and we're walking our way through a deck project.
And so far I've covered pretty much everything you need
to know about cleaning the wood, cleaning the deck. Now
it's time to talk about putting the actual stain on.
(19:17):
And you know, this is the fun part. This is
the part that actually makes a big visual difference. The
cleaning actually can make a pretty good visual difference, but
you know this is the fun part. Now in the
next segment. The last segments of the show, I'm going
to walk you through the different types of products that
you can choose from, because there are a ton of them,
but no matter what you end up using, the actual
(19:38):
application process is going to be pretty similar. So that's
what we're going to talk about right now, actually applying
the stain. And I've got a couple of different methods
that I like to use when I stain a deck,
and both work really well in my experience. The first
one is great for decks that are in good condition.
You know, the boards are relatively smooth, they're flat, they're
not cupped, they're not heavily weathered. And here's how that works.
(20:02):
I'll usually recruit one of the kids to help out,
and they take a paint roller on an extension poll
and they work out of a paint tray, and they
basically just roll the stain on, you know, maybe two,
one or two or three boards at a time, you know,
the entire length of the board, probably one or two
at a time, the length all the way down. And
then as they're moving along and starting to get out
(20:23):
of my way, I get right behind them and follow
with what I considered to be an absolute must have
tool for any deck project. The Wooster Bravo stain brush.
Have no idea why they call it a Bravo stainbrush,
unless it's just because you want to stand up a
cheer when you're using it, I don't know. But this
(20:43):
thing really is cool. I mean, as far as brushes go,
this is one of the cooler brushes out there. And
like I said, you've got to have it if you're
doing a deck project. What makes it different is this
it's like four inches wide, four and a half inches wide.
There's a couple of different ones. It's really so it'll
hold a lot of product. It fits easily into the
can and all that's cool. But the best part is
(21:06):
that the handle itself screws right off and then you
can attach that brush head to an extension pole, all right,
and that means that you can brush the deck from
a standing position. You don't have to be hunched over,
no sore knees, no sore back, You're just standing up
and brushing it on. That way. It is so much fun.
(21:27):
You'll have such a feeling of power doing this. It
saves time, saves your back, gives you a much more
even finish. It's really really cool. So as my kid's
rolling the product on, not getting too far ahead, but
a little bit ahead. I come behind with that brush
and backbrush the stain in again. I'm standing up while
I'm doing it. I'm smoothing out all the roller marks.
(21:48):
I'm making sure that the stain penetrates deeply and that
it all looks even. That goes really fast. That's one
way to do it, and it works well. I like it.
But lately I've kind of moved away from the roller
method and I've gone simpler. I just brush the stain
on directly using that Bravo brush. I work straight out
of the gallon can, so I'm not pouring into a tray.
Just shake up the can, pop the lid on it,
(22:10):
and I'm working straight out of that. And I found
that it's pretty much just as fast, sometimes even faster
than that roller and brush combo. Plus I don't have
to time my work to match somebody else's pace, and
that lets me get into a rhythm and just move
through the project at my own speed. And I like that.
So those are just two methods for getting that stain
(22:32):
on the deck, and there are a lot of different
ways to apply stain. You know, some people use staining pads.
Other people swear by pump sprayers, like a little garden sprayer.
They'll spray it on and then backbrush it. There's just
a million different ways, you know, as many people as
there are, there's somebody you know, a different version or
a different way to apply stain to the deck. For me,
I like the two methods that I mentioned, and if
(22:54):
you're new to this, I'd recommend just starting straight off
with that Bravo stain brush and an extension poll. Skip
the rolling, skip all of those things. Go straight to
that brush on an extension pole, and brush the stain
onto the deck, taking one board from one side of
the deck all the way to the other and completing
it before you move on to the next one. It's
(23:14):
going to move fast, it's simple, it's effective, it's going
to give you great results. And when you do apply
the stain, here's something really important to remember. Most of
the time, I would say most of the time, let's
just say it that way. You're applying one coat in
one coat only. You know, unless the product label explicitly
says that a second coat is okay or recommended, don't
(23:36):
do it all right, I'm going to say that one
more time, because this is radio you can't just go
back and read it. Most of the time, when you're
applying deck stain, you're applying one coat and one coat only.
Unless the product tells you to use a second coat,
don't apply a second coat. This is especially true for
translucent and semi transparent stains, which again we're going to
(23:57):
talk about next segment. They're specifically formulated for single code application.
Trying to force a second coat to you know, maybe
deepen the color. That's usually why people try to do that.
When you do that, If you do that, it can
backfire big time. You can end up with tacky spots,
poor drying, unevenchene, or even peeling down the road. Now,
(24:17):
if you're using a semi solid or a solid stain,
some of those allow for two coats. But again, read
the label carefully. That's the best thing you can do.
Or ask questions in the store. Always follow the manufacturers instructions.
Don't just assume more is better. In the world of
deck stains, it's rarely the case. All right, that's applying
the stain. Once you've done that, you just need to
(24:39):
let it dry. That's step four. And this is the
part where you walk away, and I know that's hard,
especially when the deck looks really good and you're ready
to move furniture back and start enjoying it. But drying
time matters. Now, how long you have to wait depends
on the type of product that you used. In general,
water based stains are going to drive faster and they're
going to have a shorter back to use time. Oil
(24:59):
based stain so they're going to take longer, sometimes significantly longer,
to fully cure and get the deck back to you.
So check the label, follow the recommendations, and don't rush it.
You know, give that finished time to set up properly,
and you're going to have much better performance and durability
down the road. All Right, there you go. That's the
deck project in a nutshell. Now. I know I moved
(25:20):
through it kind of quickly and I probably didn't drill
into every single detail that you might have been wondering about.
But hopefully it should give you a solid idea of
what the process looks like. You know what kind of
works involved, and how you can tackle it step by step.
It's a surprisingly straightforward project with a huge payoff having
a beautiful, refreshed deck to enjoy all. Summer really does
(25:40):
transform your outdoor space. And like I said at the
very beginning, no matter what condition your deck is in
right now, as long as it's not rotting and falling apart,
no matter what condition it's in right now, no matter
what it looks like, there's always a way to make
it look better. All right, If you've got questions, stop
out at any Repcolite location, tell us what you're working on,
and we'll help you figure out exactly what you need.
(26:01):
The tools, the products, the guidance, everything you need. You know,
we've got you covered. All right. Let's take a quick
break and when we come back, I'm going to demystify,
at least do my best to demystify deck codings. There
are a lot of different options out there, and it
can get confusing fast. But by the end of next segment,
you're going to know exactly what to look for and
how to choose the right product for your specific situation.
(26:23):
That's all coming up next. Stick around and we're back.
You're listening to the Repcolite Home Improvement Show sponsored by
Benjamin Moore, and it's officially deck Season. I have so
christened it and over the last few segments, we've been
talking about a deck project in glorious minute detail. I've
(26:49):
covered every aspect of it that I could think of.
We've talked about the prep work. We've talked about cleaning it,
talked about the different options for cleaning it, whether you
use some water soluble chemic like Benjamin Moore's cleaning system,
or you maybe rent a sander. We've got an on
floor machine we rent at Repcolite. We can get it
to whichever location is nearest you on the west side
(27:10):
of the state. We've got that option that will get
the deck cleaned. We talked about all of that. We
talked about applying the stain that was last segment, how
to do it, a couple of different methods to get
the stain on there, and some things you need to know.
We've covered all of it. Right now, I want to
get to something that I think is pretty confusing for
a lot of people. You know, the project itself can
(27:31):
be confusing just because it's steps we don't do or
things we don't do on a regular basis. So we
covered that part. Now let's get to the other part
of this that I think is confusing, and that's the
products themselves. You know the deck stains, and I think
they're confusing because there's just so many options out there,
so many different types, so many different opacities, so many
(27:51):
different maintenance requirements for them. You know what's best for
your situation, and how do you know? How do you
pick the right one? Well, the good news is it's
not complicated. I'm going to break it down. I'm going
to simplify it. And one thing before we get to
all of that, just to make sure that everybody's on
the same page here. If you're lost, if you can't
remember everything that I'm walking through, don't worry so much
(28:14):
about that. Just stop out at any Repcolite store. Every
single person in any of the Repcolite locations can walk
you through everything that I'm talking about right now and
everything that I've talked about earlier. We do a lot
of decks. We help people with a lot of decks
all summer long. We're here to help so you don't
have to remember it all. Just remember to come to Repcolite.
(28:35):
We'll help you figure out what you've got going on.
Bring pictures of your deck with you, bring pictures of
the product that's on the deck. If you've got stain
on the deck already. If you've got a can in
the basement, even if it didn't come from us, bring
that in. Anything that you bring in can help us
figure out what you've got going on, and it will
help us help you get the right product and the
right process to make your deck look great. All right,
(28:57):
let's talk about these different deck stains, and the one
to start with is the most transparent option, the translucent stains.
These are often called wood protectors or toner coats or
something like that, and these products come in a smaller
selection of colors, so there's not as many color options available,
and it's important to realize that with these they're translucent,
(29:18):
so there's not a lot of pigmentation with these and
because of that, because they don't have a lot of pigmentation,
these finishes are going to give you maximum visibility of
the wood grain. So if you've got a beautiful new
deck or a deck that's been cleaned or prepped really well,
these are a great way to showcase the wood's natural beauty.
If you're trying to picture what they might look like,
just think interior stains. For the most part, that's the
(29:40):
look you get out of a translucent deck stain. Now,
besides really highlighting the natural beauty of the wood, another
benefit of translucent stains is that they're a relatively low
maintenance option. When they're applied correctly, they're not going to
appeal and they're not going to show tons of traffic
patterns like some of the other products will not. Because
of their nature, you're most likely going to have to
redo that a little more often, and I would think
(30:03):
you're probably going to be redoing these once every year
to year and a half in Michigan. But when you
do have to redo them, the maintenance is much easier.
There's not a lot of heavy stripping to do or sanding.
You really just need to clean them and recoat them.
So that's why I think they're a relatively low maintenance product.
There may be other products that you put on that
(30:23):
can go a little longer before they need to be redone,
but when they need to be redone, the work is heavier.
You know, there's more heavy lifting to do, there's more
that you've got to accomplish before you can just put
another coat on. These are about as easy as it gets. Now.
On the downside, they provide less UV protection than some
of the other deck stains that we're going to talk
about now. The color options, Like I said earlier, they're
(30:44):
more limited and the condition of the wood is really
apparent through the stains. So if you're going to use
a translucent stain, you really need to make sure you
do that prep work, that cleaning, otherwise you're going to
see that through there. You see any imperfections or flaws,
you're going to see it through the decks. Going back
to that UV protection for just a minute, in the
translucent product category, there is a clear option. You know,
(31:08):
we've got some different tone or colors, a ceeder color,
a butternut and stuff like that, but there is a
clear And often people will come in and they've got
this desire to keep a new deck looking just like
it is. You know, they just put it up. They
love that look and that's what they want it to
look like. They don't want an additional color on there.
They don't want it to look like a brown tone
or anything like that. They love how it looks just
(31:30):
like it is, and so they want to clear. Well,
here's the scoop on clears. We've got one, but they
offer pretty much little to know. UV protection and that
means that the deck boards are not going to look
new for very long. Even though you're putting a clear on,
it's still going to gray. You know, that stain that
you're putting on is going to protect it from moisture
(31:51):
and all of that, but it's not going to stop
it from grain. It's not going to give you the
UV protection that you need. If your goal is to
keep that new wood look, you're probably going to want
to stop out at Repcolite and ask about our Decandock
Spruce color. And that's the color that we formulated so
that it would look like new wood while still providing
that UV protection that will keep it from graying. So
that's Decandock spruce. Ask about that and we can help you.
(32:15):
If that's the color that you want, we can help
you get there. All right, those are translucent stains, and
at Repcolite we've got a couple options. I've already mentioned
our Port City deck and dock. It comes in both
a waterborne and an oil based version, and we also
carry Benjamin Moore's Woodlux line, which also comes in a
water based in an oil based option. All Right, translucent
stains the most transparent of all the options you can
(32:37):
put on your deck, all right. Next step up from
that is semi transparent stains. Now, these stains will show
a fair amount of wood grain yet it's still going
to allow that to come through, but they do have
more pigment than the translucent products, and this increased pigment
means that you've got more color options and better UV protection. Now,
if you're wondering what they look like, you still see
(32:57):
the wood texture and a fair amount of variation in
the woods good, but the graining is going to be
masked a little bit more than the translucent coatings. For products.
Repcolite has wood Master semi transparent stain. That's one option.
Benjamin Moore's Woodlux line has an oil and a water
based semi transparent option as well. These are ideal for
soft woods like pine or cedar decks, and for decks
(33:18):
that are perhaps a little bit more weathered and you're
struggling to get the wood back to that near new shape.
Semi transparent stains give you a color refresh without going
too opaque. They're also good for decks if you're really
looking to have more color options, you know you want
to get a little bit away from you know just
the natural wood tones that the translucent stains will give,
(33:39):
but you're not ready to completely, you know, start hiding
that grain of the wood. Semi transparent stains might give
you what you're looking for, a little more color option,
but still allowing a lot of that natural wood graining
to show through. Just know that over time, especially if
you don't strip off that old layer before restaining, the
pigment canon will build up and it's going to start
to hide more and more of that wood grain, and
(34:00):
eventually the build up will completely mask the wood and
it can lead to peeling. So you're gonna have some
work to do down the road at some point. It's
usually a fair distance off in the future, but if
you don't remove the coatings and get down to berewood
at some point, it's bound to happen. Keep that in mind.
Those are semi transparent stains. Now semi solid stains the
next step up the ladder. These offer even more pigman
(34:23):
and UV protection than semi transparents, but you still get
a hint of the grain and the texture underneath. Now
they're great for older decks that may have you know,
some more significant visual flaws that you want to mask,
but not completely hide. These are a nice way to
restore some richness to the woods color while still keeping
a somewhat somewhat natural look. For product Benjamin Moore's oil
(34:46):
and water based versions of Woodlucks. They all come in
semi solid stains as well, so check that out semi
solid stains. Finally, last one that I'm going to talk
about solid color stains, and these are for this situation.
Let's say your deck has been through a lot. You know,
it's seen stuff. It's older, it's wrinkled, it's shriveled, it's
(35:09):
the grampa of decks. You know, maybe it's had multiple
layers of stain, maybe even some paint in the past.
It's not pretty, and you're looking for a way to
make it look better just a little bit longer before
you eventually replace it. Well, if that's the case, your
answer might be a solid color stain. These are going
to look more like paint, so you're not going to
see any wood grain at all, but you'll definitely get
(35:30):
maximum color options and maximum UV protection. They can hide
a lot of flaws, but on the downside, solid color
stains also tend to show traffic patterns more quickly. And
they're more susceptible to peeling. You can touch them up,
but the results may not be perfect. And depending on
the color that you pick, they can also be a
lot hotter to walk on than some of the other
less pigmented options out there. Still, in certain situations, this
(35:54):
can buy you some time before you replace your deck,
And really I shouldn't just say they're for that situation.
And in many situations we run into people who really
do just want a certain color on the deck and
by all means never paint the deck. This is the
way to get color on your deck. And some people
will choose that, They'll choose a solid color stain and
they'll live with it happily for years and years, just
(36:15):
doing the touch ups as they need to. Just be
aware you're going to have to do touch ups at
some point, probably yearly, if you go with a solid
color stain. It's just the nature of the beast with
that kind of a product, all right. So those are
the main opacities of deck products out there. Translucents, semi transparents,
semi solids, and solid color stains. Now let's talk about
(36:37):
the two main types, oil based versus water based stains.
No oil based stains like those I've already mentioned are
traditional deck and dock or Benjamin Moore's woodlocks oil, they're
going to have a longer working time and that means
that they're going to be easier to work with. They're
not going to dry as fast, so you're going to
have more time to apply them evenly and smoothly and
make them look great. The downside is clean up. Of course,
(36:59):
you're gonna need mineral spirits to get your hands and
your tools clean. Another downside is that they don't dry
as fast. Now it was just a positive a minute ago.
Now it's a negative. And it's a negative because you know,
once we get it on the deck, once we get
the deck stained, generally speaking, we want to kind of
put it back to use and get you know, living
and enjoying it. And with an oil based product, you've
(37:19):
got to give it longer before you can actually put
it back to use. So that's oil based products. Water
based stains, they've come a long way, you know, the
technology has really advanced. Of course, they clean up with
soap and water. They've got lower VOCs. They're going to
dry quickly so you can get the deck back in use.
Very quickly compared to oil based products. But on the downside,
(37:40):
again we're hung up on that dry time thing. They
dry quickly, and that makes them sometimes trickier to apply,
especially in the sun or in warm temperatures, So be
aware that's the downside to water based stains. Which one's
best for you, Which one's best for your situation. Really,
it's going to boil down to your skill, your situation.
You know what you've got going on with the deck
(38:01):
and the time of year that you're doing it. If
you're comfortable working quickly to get the product on the deck,
if you're eager to get the deck back into use sooner,
if you really need to have soap and water cleanup,
then water based is a great way to go. If
you're new to staining decks, or you're working in high
temperatures without much shade, then oil based products are going
to give you your best chance of beautiful results by
(38:22):
all means. The best way to go forward is to
stop out at any repcolite location. Tell us what you're
working on, show us some pictures, tell us what you
want to get to, and we'll help you make the
right decisions, find the right products and go from there,
all right, that's going to do it. Last thing I
want to leave you with is this Repcolites deck and
Doc and Benjamin Moore's Woodlux products. All the products that
(38:43):
I just talked about, they're all on sale until June sixteenth. Also,
that really cool Wooster Bravo stainer brush that I talked
about earlier, that's on sale during the same time period.
So pretty much everything that I talked about, you know,
with the deck stains and the tool to apply them,
the brush to apply them, all of that's on sale
until June sixteenth. So if you do have a deck
(39:03):
project coming up, now's the time to grab those products.
All right. If you want to catch this episode again,
you can find it online at repcolit dot com. Whatever
you do today makes your paints a part of it.
And remember your next project is way easier than you think.
Step out at your nearest Rep Callite and let us help.
Have a great weekend everybody, and I'll see you next week.
I'm Dan Hansen, and thanks for listening.
Well, good morning, everybody, Happy Saturday. You're listening to the
Repco Light Home improvement show sponsored by Benjamin Moore, and
today the entire episode, all of it, all thirty nine
minutes and thirty seconds or whatever I get out of this,
all of it is dedicated to deck projects because really,
when you think about it, deck projects they can feel overwhelming.
(00:25):
You know, there just seems to be a ton of
different steps involved, and if you've never done one before,
or you know, maybe even if you have done one before,
it's easy to feel a little bit lost in the process.
And on top of all of that, on top of
all these what seem like complicated steps. They're not complicated steps,
but maybe they seem that way. They seem like a
(00:45):
lot of them. On top of that, there's an absolute mountain,
a boat load of products that you get to choose from,
you know, deck products to choose from, and the marketing
on these products can really make the whole thing quite confusing.
The marketers, you know, marketing people, they make bold promises,
(01:06):
and maybe you've done your deck in the past, maybe
you've trusted some of those claims, and then you've been
so let down when the products didn't hold up or
do exactly what the people on TV said they were
going to do. When that happens, you start to wonder,
did I do something wrong? At least that's how I am.
Did I do something wrong is kind of my default position,
(01:27):
I think, if I would really be honest and think
this through, if something goes wrong anywhere, like for this,
like this, if a horn honks anywhere around me, anywhere
I can just vaguely hear it, it could be I
don't know, one hundred yards in another direction, and I
still assume they're honking at me, and that I've done
(01:48):
something wrong. Right, Normally, people with me will say that's ridiculous,
because I'll ask what did I do? What did I do?
And they'll say that's ridiculous. They're way over there, And
I don't even answer them anymore because within about thirty seconds,
sometimes way less than that, we find out Now, no
matter how ridiculous it seems, turns out, YEP, it really
(02:08):
was something I did wrong. Normally, I'm right to assume
that I've done something wrong. So that's my default position.
Maybe that's yours. Maybe maybe you're healthier than that, you know,
emotionally or psychologically, healthier than that. Oh, please let you
be healthier emotionally and psychologically than I am. But maybe
(02:28):
you are, and you question that the failings on your deck.
Maybe it was the product that you chose, you know,
maybe you assume it wasn't you. Maybe it was the product.
Who knows, who knows? Who knows? All I know is
that people who have decks are generally in the boat
where they're frustrated all the time because they've got to
(02:48):
redo them more often than they want to redo them.
They have them looking good for what feels like twenty
minutes and they're right back to looking at Okay, when
am I going to have to redo this again? Always
frustrated with products that don't seem to hold up, with
work that seems just more work than they want to tackle.
So that's deck projects. That's the fun of deck projects.
(03:10):
And I get all of that. So today I want
to help you out. I want to get all of
the information in your hands so you know what you're
looking at if you're going to jump into a deck project,
and you know what to expect out of the deck product.
You know, I don't want you disappointed. Nobody wins when
you're disappointed. So let's talk about all of that, and
I guess really to get us moving on that, I
(03:31):
just did my own deck and I'm going to use
that kind of as a springboard to talk about So
by the end of the show today, you're going to
know exactly what you're getting into if you take this
on for yourself. You're also going to know about the
products that are out there, the different products that you
can choose from, and why you would choose this product
over another product or you know whatever. You're going to
(03:51):
get all of that information. We'll cover it all. Okay,
to get started. Before I get into the actual nitty
gritty of what a deck project looks like step by step,
I want to highlight a few important things that you
should keep in mind. First. One is this, if your
deck isn't rotting away into a pile of sawdust, it
(04:12):
can be improved. Now, I know that sounds kind of
like a throwaway comment, but I mean it. If you've
got a wood deck that still structurally sound, even if
it looks rough, even if it looks like it's seen
its best years and they were a long time ago.
If it structurally sound, even if it looks rough, it
can look better. Okay, it can look better, often way better.
(04:33):
Now I'm not saying it's gonna look brand new, but
it's gonna look better than what you've got. Now here's
my deal. I can demonstrate this a little bit with
a personal anecdote. My deck had built in flower boxes.
Previous owner built these flower boxes right onto the deck,
and I lived with them for a long time. They
were very nice, but they started to deteriorate. They started
(04:55):
to just break down, and I needed to get them off,
so I tore them a the deck, and that's when
I realized that over the years they had held a
lot of moisture, and that moisture had really really damaged
a lot of sections of wood on the deck itself
that was underneath these boxes. It was kind of hidden
to me until I pulled them off. Well, once I
got them off and I see all this damaged wood,
(05:17):
I start to think, how in the world am I
going to fix this? It looked like all of these
boards needed to be replaced. But that is expensive work.
That's an expensive undertaking, and for somebody as cheap as me,
I wasn't ready to spend that money at this point.
So I'm trying to think, what am I going to
do to make these look good. I've got rotting sections
(05:39):
of board. I can't imagine that it's going to look good. Well,
what I decided to try was I rented or brought home.
Let's put all the chips on the table. When you
work at Repcolite, I'm not renting anything from Repcolite. It's
a perk I get to take that home. So I
took home the on floor machine. It's a sanding machine
we rented out. I'll talk more about it later, but
(06:01):
I brought it home, got it on the deck, and
went to work and I sanded it off the rotted
surface layer around all these boards. I applied a new stain,
and I was really surprised at how good the whole
thing looked. Now, if you get up close, you can
see the dips in the boards where you know they're
just well, there's dips in the boards. I don't know
how else to explain it. I had sanded it away
a fair amount of rot, you know, maybe a quarter
(06:23):
of an inch or so of rot from the tops
of these boards. But I did get down to solid
wood underneath, and you can see that dip. You can
see that there's a little bit of a color variance
because those sections took the stain a little bit darker.
But from a distance, you know, just a few steps back,
the deck looks really, really good. Even up close, it
looks pretty good, you know, way better than it had,
(06:45):
Way better than I thought it was going to. So
if you're in that bad case category like I was,
just remember it can look way better than what it
looks now. No matter what it looks like, it's going
to look better. Okay, first thing to remember. Second thing,
it's not too late in the season to tackle a project.
I know, June's right around the corner and you might
be thinking that you missed your window. But this spring
(07:05):
has been weird. You know, it's cold, it's rainy, it's
not been great for outdoor work. Everybody's a little bit behind,
and we've got a wide range of products that are
suited for all kinds of different conditions. And whether you're
starting this weekend or next month, you've still got time
to get it done and enjoy your deck all summer,
So keep that in mind. Third thing, third important thing
(07:26):
to keep in mind is this one set realistic expectations,
and this is a big one. A lot of deck
stains say that they're going to last three years, five
years longer. You know, they make a lot of big claims.
And maybe in some parts of the country, you know,
maybe in Arizona, if you know you've got great, big
shade trees around your deck, maybe that deck stain is
(07:47):
going to last three years, five years longer. But we
live in Michigan, and our decks take an absolute beating.
You know. We've got long winters, we've got snow, rain,
hot summers, and the deck it's a horizontal surface. It
holds that no, it holds that water. It's baked by
the sun. We walk on it all the time. So
no matter what the label says, most products in our environment,
(08:08):
they're going to need some touch up or maintenance every
year to probably a year and a half. Now, I
know that's not what you want to hear. That sounds discouraging,
But if you plan on it, it's not as big
of a deal. Right, It's kind of a mental war.
You've got to win with yourself. Win it now, and
in a couple of years you're just kind of used
to it. It'll just become part of the natural spring cleanup.
(08:31):
And one thing I should say to make sure that
we're all on the same page here, I'm talking mostly
about the deck boards themselves. Maybe the railings, the spindles,
you know, all the vertical stuff that might be able
to go to or three years maybe more before it
needs anything. But the deck boards. Just plan on regular
maintenance and you're not going to be frustrated. All right,
With all of that said, let's start walking through a
(08:53):
typical deck restaining project. And let's start here. You've got
to clean it. And this cleaning isn't optional. Cleaning the
deck is absolutely essential for a couple of big reasons.
First off, the esthetic reasons. Most of the deck stains
that we recommend always look better on a clean deck,
depending on the opacity of the deck product that you choose.
If there's dirt, if there's grime, mildew, even just pollen
(09:16):
or footsteps, you know, footprints on the surface, your final
look is going to be underwhelming. You're going to be
a little disappointed. You're going to see those things through
a translucent or a semi transparent stain. If the boards
are naturally graad or dull, that tone is going to
dramatically affect the final color of the stain you pick,
so cleaning it gives you a better look in the end.
(09:39):
So that's one reason. The second reason, which is maybe
even more important than the first one, is based on function.
You know, the first one was esthetic. This one's function.
When you clean the deck properly, you open up the
woods pores and that allows the stain to penetrate more deeply,
which means better durability and longer lasting protection down the road. Really,
it just makes all the work that you're going to
(09:59):
do go further. So you've got to clean the deck.
How do you clean it? Well, we're going to get
to that on the other side of the break. So
let's take a break right now, and then we'll talk
about what the cleaning process looks like. And I've got
that on floor machine we're going to talk about that's
a quick way to get it cleaned. We'll talk about
all of that in just a minute. Stick around, and
(10:23):
we're back. You're listening to the Repco Light Home Improvement Show,
The Deck Project one on one edition of the Repco
Light Home Improvement Show sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And already,
I mean we're flying. We've already covered a bunch of
stuff but now we're starting to get into the actual
nitty gritty of the work. And we ended last segment
talking about why the deck needs to be cleaned before
(10:44):
you stain it. To recap very briefly, you clean it
because it will look better and it will hold up better.
That's the long and the short of it. That's why
you clean it. Now let's talk about how you go
about doing that, and there are a lot of different options.
I've got two main options that I'm going to look at.
The most common route is to use a chemical deck
cleaning system and the one that we carry, the one
(11:05):
I love, I love to recommend, is from Benjamin Moore.
But there is another method, and I already hinted at
it earlier in the show. You could rent the on
floor machine from Repcolite and use that to prep the boards.
It's fast and crazy effective. Generally speaking, it's going to
make the deck look almost like new. And I'm going
to talk more about that in a little bit. It
(11:27):
really is a game changer when it comes to this
deck project. That's the on floor machine. We'll get to that,
but right now, let's focus on those Benjamin war cleaning products,
and the system is a little bit. I guess you
could say it's customizable based on your situation. There's different
products you would use, and it's all dependent upon the
(11:47):
condition of the deck that you're working on. So, for example,
if your deck is brand new, first thing you need
to do if it's brand new is check with the
supplier of the wood regarding how long it should weather
before you stain it. So I'm talking if it's new,
you just put it down. Check with the people who
sold you the wood or the people who put it in,
and find out how long it should sit. Sometimes that
(12:09):
can vary depending on a number of different things, so
look into that regardless. Once it's ready to be stained,
even though it's a brand new deck, it still should
be cleaned, and you need to clean it because you
need to break the mill glaze that's on the surface
with new boards. You probably noticed how smooth and shiny
some of the boards can look. That slick, almost glossy
(12:29):
surface If you catch an angle when you see that,
that's mill glaze. Milglaze happens during the milling process when
the lumber is playing down, you know, planed down. Hard
to say that and make it sound like a word
when it's playing down the heat and the pressure from
the big steel blades can actually compress the wood fibers
and it brings the natural oils to the surface and
that results in this kind of hard, shiny layer on
(12:52):
the top of the board. And that matters because stain
generally isn't going to soak through mill glaze. It's just
going to sit on top. It's not going to penetrate
the wood in the way it's supposed to. You're going
to end up potentially with poor color. You're not going
to get as rich a color as you were thinking.
More importantly, you're going to have poor adhesion and most
likely you're going to deal with some peeling or flaking
(13:13):
down the road. So if you've got brand new boards,
would that smooth, slick feel or look to them, you
really should clean them. And the product that you'd use
for that is Benjamin Moore's Brightener slash Neutralizer. It's just
basically a deck cleaner. So you would hit it with
that and you're good to go. I'll talk about what
that looks like using all these products. We'll get to
that in a minute. I'm just just going to give
(13:33):
you the products for the different scenarios. Right now. So
that's new deck. Benjamin Moore's Brightener neutralizer. Use that. If
the deck is bare gray weathered wood, you know most
of the old coating is gone. If you've got that situation,
use Benjamin Moore's Restore and that's going to clean off
the loose dead fibers and get it ready for new stain.
(13:53):
After you've done that restore, you'd immediately hit the deck
with that brightener neutralizer and then rinse that as well.
That brightener neutralizer that we just talked about that is
applied after using the restore. If the wood on your
deck is still holding onto a previous stain or an
old coating and you need to remove it completely, you're
going to want to use Benjamin Moore's Remove, different product
(14:14):
than restore restores for grade decks to bring them back.
Remove is to remove, you know, an older coating that's
down there, and just as in the previous scenario, you'll
hit the surface with Benjamin Moore's Remove. Once you've rinsed
that off, you hit it again with that brightener neutralizer.
That brightener neutralizer is important in both of those instances
because it neutralizes the chemicals that you just put down
(14:37):
and it also brightens the wood so that the stain
looks vibrant when you apply it. All right, now, the
process for using all of these products is pretty much
the same, and it's simple. Here's how it works. You
mix the cleaner, whichever one you're working with. You mix
it out with water according to the directions on the container.
You put it in a standard garden pump up sprayer
(14:57):
and put it onto the deck, you know, put it
on the deck board, and then let it sit usually
ten to thirty minutes something like that. You've got to
keep it wet, so you may need to reapply that product,
you know, just as you're waiting. So let it sit,
let it wait, let it cook, you know, let it
do its thing. Don't get on it too fast. Once
that time is up, then you're going to scrub that
(15:17):
surface with a good stiff scrub brush. And then once
you've done that, go ahead and rinse everything with a
hose or ideally with a power washer. Now, a word
of caution, whenever we're talking about using power washers on wood,
you want to make sure you're careful. It's easy to
damage that wood if you get too aggressive. So if
you're using a power washer. Just use it with some care.
All right. Once you've done all the proper cleaning steps
(15:39):
and you've got it rinsed, the next thing that you
need to do is just wait. Probably the easiest and
hardest part of the whole process, you know, waiting, it's
the hardest part. I'm not going to sing. I'm not
going to hurt everybody's ears. You do need to let
that deck drive for probably two to three good drying
days before you stain it. And when I say good
drying days, what I'm talking about are good sunny days
(16:00):
without rain, you know, and low humidity. If you can
get it all right, that drying time matters. The cleaner
is going to open the pores of the wood, but
if you stain it too soon, the moisture in the
wood can actually prevent that stain from penetrating properly. So
wait it out. Be patient. It's it's worth it. It's kind
of an essential step. We don't like to wait, but
it's really important in this situation. All right, that's what
(16:22):
the cleaning looks like using the cleaners from Benjamin Moore.
But I did mention that we have another way to go,
and that's the on floor machine rental that we've got
at Repcolite. Now, this thing is super cool. I've talked
about it a Pheromount on the show. You're probably familiar.
But it's going to sand your deck and get it
ready for stain in the same day, So no waiting.
(16:43):
In this instance, you don't have to wait for the
wood to dry because you're not introducing any water to
it at all. You just sand it down. We've got
one available for rent at Repcolite. Like I said, I've
got more info in the show notes if you do
want to check that out after the show. Now, to
give you an idea of what it's like, imagine, you know,
kind of a big drum sander, but without the drum. Oh,
(17:03):
that's ridiculous. That doesn't make any sense at all. It
doesn't look like a sander like you would picture, not
like a belt sander or anything like that. It looks
more like a giant electric shaver, you know, with the
three rotating heads. It's got three rotating heads. They're fitted
with carbide impregnated sanding brushes. And these brushes they're really
cool because that means you can cruise right over uneven
(17:26):
boards instill sand them. You can go right over raised
nail heads, you can go into deep grain, you know,
like I was dealing with with the rotted sections. And
you can do all of that without tearing up your
sandpaper or catching your paper on anything, because there's no
sandpaper at all to rip or even replace. It's just
those sanding heads. Now, another thing about it that I
love is that you can literally run it with one hand.
(17:48):
It's super easy to control. If you've ever used a drumsander,
you know, or a big belt sander on a deck
or a floor, wood floor or something like that, you
know it's like trying to rein in horses. This is
not like that at all. You can use one hand
control it very easily. It can stop in one spot
and it's not going to sand through or cause a
visual problem later. Try that with a drum sand or
(18:12):
a belt sander, and you're gonna end up with a
lot of different issues on the surface that you're sanding.
You can't let it sit for even just a few seconds.
With the on floor machine, there's none of that to
worry about, so it's really easy to work with. We
rent it out with a vacuum system so there's no
dust and again The best part, like I mentioned already,
is when you're done, the wood looks pretty much brand
(18:34):
new and it's ready for stain at that point. Now,
I've got all that information in the show notes if
you want to check that out, or just head to
Repcolight dot com and click the on floor machine banner
right on the homepage. All right, that's cleaning the deck.
Whether you use the chemical cleaners, whether you use the
on floor machine, you've got to get the deck cleaned.
Once you've got that done, now it's time for the
fun part, putting the stain on. We're going to get
(18:56):
to that in just a minute. Stick around and we're back.
You're listening to the Repcolite Home Improvement Show sponsored by
Benjamin Moore, and we're walking our way through a deck project.
And so far I've covered pretty much everything you need
to know about cleaning the wood, cleaning the deck. Now
it's time to talk about putting the actual stain on.
(19:17):
And you know, this is the fun part. This is
the part that actually makes a big visual difference. The
cleaning actually can make a pretty good visual difference, but
you know this is the fun part. Now in the
next segment. The last segments of the show, I'm going
to walk you through the different types of products that
you can choose from, because there are a ton of them,
but no matter what you end up using, the actual
(19:38):
application process is going to be pretty similar. So that's
what we're going to talk about right now, actually applying
the stain. And I've got a couple of different methods
that I like to use when I stain a deck,
and both work really well in my experience. The first
one is great for decks that are in good condition.
You know, the boards are relatively smooth, they're flat, they're
not cupped, they're not heavily weathered. And here's how that works.
(20:02):
I'll usually recruit one of the kids to help out,
and they take a paint roller on an extension poll
and they work out of a paint tray, and they
basically just roll the stain on, you know, maybe two,
one or two or three boards at a time, you know,
the entire length of the board, probably one or two
at a time, the length all the way down. And
then as they're moving along and starting to get out
(20:23):
of my way, I get right behind them and follow
with what I considered to be an absolute must have
tool for any deck project. The Wooster Bravo stain brush.
Have no idea why they call it a Bravo stainbrush,
unless it's just because you want to stand up a
cheer when you're using it, I don't know. But this
(20:43):
thing really is cool. I mean, as far as brushes go,
this is one of the cooler brushes out there. And
like I said, you've got to have it if you're
doing a deck project. What makes it different is this
it's like four inches wide, four and a half inches wide.
There's a couple of different ones. It's really so it'll
hold a lot of product. It fits easily into the
can and all that's cool. But the best part is
(21:06):
that the handle itself screws right off and then you
can attach that brush head to an extension pole, all right,
and that means that you can brush the deck from
a standing position. You don't have to be hunched over,
no sore knees, no sore back, You're just standing up
and brushing it on. That way. It is so much fun.
(21:27):
You'll have such a feeling of power doing this. It
saves time, saves your back, gives you a much more
even finish. It's really really cool. So as my kid's
rolling the product on, not getting too far ahead, but
a little bit ahead. I come behind with that brush
and backbrush the stain in again. I'm standing up while
I'm doing it. I'm smoothing out all the roller marks.
(21:48):
I'm making sure that the stain penetrates deeply and that
it all looks even. That goes really fast. That's one
way to do it, and it works well. I like it.
But lately I've kind of moved away from the roller
method and I've gone simpler. I just brush the stain
on directly using that Bravo brush. I work straight out
of the gallon can, so I'm not pouring into a tray.
Just shake up the can, pop the lid on it,
(22:10):
and I'm working straight out of that. And I found
that it's pretty much just as fast, sometimes even faster
than that roller and brush combo. Plus I don't have
to time my work to match somebody else's pace, and
that lets me get into a rhythm and just move
through the project at my own speed. And I like that.
So those are just two methods for getting that stain
(22:32):
on the deck, and there are a lot of different
ways to apply stain. You know, some people use staining pads.
Other people swear by pump sprayers, like a little garden sprayer.
They'll spray it on and then backbrush it. There's just
a million different ways, you know, as many people as
there are, there's somebody you know, a different version or
a different way to apply stain to the deck. For me,
I like the two methods that I mentioned, and if
(22:54):
you're new to this, I'd recommend just starting straight off
with that Bravo stain brush and an extension poll. Skip
the rolling, skip all of those things. Go straight to
that brush on an extension pole, and brush the stain
onto the deck, taking one board from one side of
the deck all the way to the other and completing
it before you move on to the next one. It's
(23:14):
going to move fast, it's simple, it's effective, it's going
to give you great results. And when you do apply
the stain, here's something really important to remember. Most of
the time, I would say most of the time, let's
just say it that way. You're applying one coat in
one coat only. You know, unless the product label explicitly
says that a second coat is okay or recommended, don't
(23:36):
do it all right, I'm going to say that one
more time, because this is radio you can't just go
back and read it. Most of the time, when you're
applying deck stain, you're applying one coat and one coat only.
Unless the product tells you to use a second coat,
don't apply a second coat. This is especially true for
translucent and semi transparent stains, which again we're going to
(23:57):
talk about next segment. They're specifically formulated for single code application.
Trying to force a second coat to you know, maybe
deepen the color. That's usually why people try to do that.
When you do that, If you do that, it can
backfire big time. You can end up with tacky spots,
poor drying, unevenchene, or even peeling down the road. Now,
(24:17):
if you're using a semi solid or a solid stain,
some of those allow for two coats. But again, read
the label carefully. That's the best thing you can do.
Or ask questions in the store. Always follow the manufacturers instructions.
Don't just assume more is better. In the world of
deck stains, it's rarely the case. All right, that's applying
the stain. Once you've done that, you just need to
(24:39):
let it dry. That's step four. And this is the
part where you walk away, and I know that's hard,
especially when the deck looks really good and you're ready
to move furniture back and start enjoying it. But drying
time matters. Now, how long you have to wait depends
on the type of product that you used. In general,
water based stains are going to drive faster and they're
going to have a shorter back to use time. Oil
(24:59):
based stain so they're going to take longer, sometimes significantly longer,
to fully cure and get the deck back to you.
So check the label, follow the recommendations, and don't rush it.
You know, give that finished time to set up properly,
and you're going to have much better performance and durability
down the road. All Right, there you go. That's the
deck project in a nutshell. Now. I know I moved
(25:20):
through it kind of quickly and I probably didn't drill
into every single detail that you might have been wondering about.
But hopefully it should give you a solid idea of
what the process looks like. You know what kind of
works involved, and how you can tackle it step by step.
It's a surprisingly straightforward project with a huge payoff having
a beautiful, refreshed deck to enjoy all. Summer really does
(25:40):
transform your outdoor space. And like I said at the
very beginning, no matter what condition your deck is in
right now, as long as it's not rotting and falling apart,
no matter what condition it's in right now, no matter
what it looks like, there's always a way to make
it look better. All right, If you've got questions, stop
out at any Repcolite location, tell us what you're working on,
and we'll help you figure out exactly what you need.
(26:01):
The tools, the products, the guidance, everything you need. You know,
we've got you covered. All right. Let's take a quick
break and when we come back, I'm going to demystify,
at least do my best to demystify deck codings. There
are a lot of different options out there, and it
can get confusing fast. But by the end of next segment,
you're going to know exactly what to look for and
how to choose the right product for your specific situation.
(26:23):
That's all coming up next. Stick around and we're back.
You're listening to the Repcolite Home Improvement Show sponsored by
Benjamin Moore, and it's officially deck Season. I have so
christened it and over the last few segments, we've been
talking about a deck project in glorious minute detail. I've
(26:49):
covered every aspect of it that I could think of.
We've talked about the prep work. We've talked about cleaning it,
talked about the different options for cleaning it, whether you
use some water soluble chemic like Benjamin Moore's cleaning system,
or you maybe rent a sander. We've got an on
floor machine we rent at Repcolite. We can get it
to whichever location is nearest you on the west side
(27:10):
of the state. We've got that option that will get
the deck cleaned. We talked about all of that. We
talked about applying the stain that was last segment, how
to do it, a couple of different methods to get
the stain on there, and some things you need to know.
We've covered all of it. Right now, I want to
get to something that I think is pretty confusing for
a lot of people. You know, the project itself can
(27:31):
be confusing just because it's steps we don't do or
things we don't do on a regular basis. So we
covered that part. Now let's get to the other part
of this that I think is confusing, and that's the
products themselves. You know the deck stains, and I think
they're confusing because there's just so many options out there,
so many different types, so many different opacities, so many
(27:51):
different maintenance requirements for them. You know what's best for
your situation, and how do you know? How do you
pick the right one? Well, the good news is it's
not complicated. I'm going to break it down. I'm going
to simplify it. And one thing before we get to
all of that, just to make sure that everybody's on
the same page here. If you're lost, if you can't
remember everything that I'm walking through, don't worry so much
(28:14):
about that. Just stop out at any Repcolite store. Every
single person in any of the Repcolite locations can walk
you through everything that I'm talking about right now and
everything that I've talked about earlier. We do a lot
of decks. We help people with a lot of decks
all summer long. We're here to help so you don't
have to remember it all. Just remember to come to Repcolite.
(28:35):
We'll help you figure out what you've got going on.
Bring pictures of your deck with you, bring pictures of
the product that's on the deck. If you've got stain
on the deck already. If you've got a can in
the basement, even if it didn't come from us, bring
that in. Anything that you bring in can help us
figure out what you've got going on, and it will
help us help you get the right product and the
right process to make your deck look great. All right,
(28:57):
let's talk about these different deck stains, and the one
to start with is the most transparent option, the translucent stains.
These are often called wood protectors or toner coats or
something like that, and these products come in a smaller
selection of colors, so there's not as many color options available,
and it's important to realize that with these they're translucent,
(29:18):
so there's not a lot of pigmentation with these and
because of that, because they don't have a lot of pigmentation,
these finishes are going to give you maximum visibility of
the wood grain. So if you've got a beautiful new
deck or a deck that's been cleaned or prepped really well,
these are a great way to showcase the wood's natural beauty.
If you're trying to picture what they might look like,
just think interior stains. For the most part, that's the
(29:40):
look you get out of a translucent deck stain. Now,
besides really highlighting the natural beauty of the wood, another
benefit of translucent stains is that they're a relatively low
maintenance option. When they're applied correctly, they're not going to
appeal and they're not going to show tons of traffic
patterns like some of the other products will not. Because
of their nature, you're most likely going to have to
redo that a little more often, and I would think
(30:03):
you're probably going to be redoing these once every year
to year and a half in Michigan. But when you
do have to redo them, the maintenance is much easier.
There's not a lot of heavy stripping to do or sanding.
You really just need to clean them and recoat them.
So that's why I think they're a relatively low maintenance product.
There may be other products that you put on that
(30:23):
can go a little longer before they need to be redone,
but when they need to be redone, the work is heavier.
You know, there's more heavy lifting to do, there's more
that you've got to accomplish before you can just put
another coat on. These are about as easy as it gets. Now.
On the downside, they provide less UV protection than some
of the other deck stains that we're going to talk
about now. The color options, Like I said earlier, they're
(30:44):
more limited and the condition of the wood is really
apparent through the stains. So if you're going to use
a translucent stain, you really need to make sure you
do that prep work, that cleaning, otherwise you're going to
see that through there. You see any imperfections or flaws,
you're going to see it through the decks. Going back
to that UV protection for just a minute, in the
translucent product category, there is a clear option. You know,
(31:08):
we've got some different tone or colors, a ceeder color,
a butternut and stuff like that, but there is a
clear And often people will come in and they've got
this desire to keep a new deck looking just like
it is. You know, they just put it up. They
love that look and that's what they want it to
look like. They don't want an additional color on there.
They don't want it to look like a brown tone
or anything like that. They love how it looks just
(31:30):
like it is, and so they want to clear. Well,
here's the scoop on clears. We've got one, but they
offer pretty much little to know. UV protection and that
means that the deck boards are not going to look
new for very long. Even though you're putting a clear on,
it's still going to gray. You know, that stain that
you're putting on is going to protect it from moisture
(31:51):
and all of that, but it's not going to stop
it from grain. It's not going to give you the
UV protection that you need. If your goal is to
keep that new wood look, you're probably going to want
to stop out at Repcolite and ask about our Decandock
Spruce color. And that's the color that we formulated so
that it would look like new wood while still providing
that UV protection that will keep it from graying. So
that's Decandock spruce. Ask about that and we can help you.
(32:15):
If that's the color that you want, we can help
you get there. All right, those are translucent stains, and
at Repcolite we've got a couple options. I've already mentioned
our Port City deck and dock. It comes in both
a waterborne and an oil based version, and we also
carry Benjamin Moore's Woodlux line, which also comes in a
water based in an oil based option. All Right, translucent
stains the most transparent of all the options you can
(32:37):
put on your deck, all right. Next step up from
that is semi transparent stains. Now, these stains will show
a fair amount of wood grain yet it's still going
to allow that to come through, but they do have
more pigment than the translucent products, and this increased pigment
means that you've got more color options and better UV protection. Now,
if you're wondering what they look like, you still see
(32:57):
the wood texture and a fair amount of variation in
the woods good, but the graining is going to be
masked a little bit more than the translucent coatings. For products.
Repcolite has wood Master semi transparent stain. That's one option.
Benjamin Moore's Woodlux line has an oil and a water
based semi transparent option as well. These are ideal for
soft woods like pine or cedar decks, and for decks
(33:18):
that are perhaps a little bit more weathered and you're
struggling to get the wood back to that near new shape.
Semi transparent stains give you a color refresh without going
too opaque. They're also good for decks if you're really
looking to have more color options, you know you want
to get a little bit away from you know just
the natural wood tones that the translucent stains will give,
(33:39):
but you're not ready to completely, you know, start hiding
that grain of the wood. Semi transparent stains might give
you what you're looking for, a little more color option,
but still allowing a lot of that natural wood graining
to show through. Just know that over time, especially if
you don't strip off that old layer before restaining, the
pigment canon will build up and it's going to start
to hide more and more of that wood grain, and
(34:00):
eventually the build up will completely mask the wood and
it can lead to peeling. So you're gonna have some
work to do down the road at some point. It's
usually a fair distance off in the future, but if
you don't remove the coatings and get down to berewood
at some point, it's bound to happen. Keep that in mind.
Those are semi transparent stains. Now semi solid stains the
next step up the ladder. These offer even more pigman
(34:23):
and UV protection than semi transparents, but you still get
a hint of the grain and the texture underneath. Now
they're great for older decks that may have you know,
some more significant visual flaws that you want to mask,
but not completely hide. These are a nice way to
restore some richness to the woods color while still keeping
a somewhat somewhat natural look. For product Benjamin Moore's oil
(34:46):
and water based versions of Woodlucks. They all come in
semi solid stains as well, so check that out semi
solid stains. Finally, last one that I'm going to talk
about solid color stains, and these are for this situation.
Let's say your deck has been through a lot. You know,
it's seen stuff. It's older, it's wrinkled, it's shriveled, it's
(35:09):
the grampa of decks. You know, maybe it's had multiple
layers of stain, maybe even some paint in the past.
It's not pretty, and you're looking for a way to
make it look better just a little bit longer before
you eventually replace it. Well, if that's the case, your
answer might be a solid color stain. These are going
to look more like paint, so you're not going to
see any wood grain at all, but you'll definitely get
(35:30):
maximum color options and maximum UV protection. They can hide
a lot of flaws, but on the downside, solid color
stains also tend to show traffic patterns more quickly. And
they're more susceptible to peeling. You can touch them up,
but the results may not be perfect. And depending on
the color that you pick, they can also be a
lot hotter to walk on than some of the other
less pigmented options out there. Still, in certain situations, this
(35:54):
can buy you some time before you replace your deck,
And really I shouldn't just say they're for that situation.
And in many situations we run into people who really
do just want a certain color on the deck and
by all means never paint the deck. This is the
way to get color on your deck. And some people
will choose that, They'll choose a solid color stain and
they'll live with it happily for years and years, just
(36:15):
doing the touch ups as they need to. Just be
aware you're going to have to do touch ups at
some point, probably yearly, if you go with a solid
color stain. It's just the nature of the beast with
that kind of a product, all right. So those are
the main opacities of deck products out there. Translucents, semi transparents,
semi solids, and solid color stains. Now let's talk about
(36:37):
the two main types, oil based versus water based stains.
No oil based stains like those I've already mentioned are
traditional deck and dock or Benjamin Moore's woodlocks oil, they're
going to have a longer working time and that means
that they're going to be easier to work with. They're
not going to dry as fast, so you're going to
have more time to apply them evenly and smoothly and
make them look great. The downside is clean up. Of course,
(36:59):
you're gonna need mineral spirits to get your hands and
your tools clean. Another downside is that they don't dry
as fast. Now it was just a positive a minute ago.
Now it's a negative. And it's a negative because you know,
once we get it on the deck, once we get
the deck stained, generally speaking, we want to kind of
put it back to use and get you know, living
and enjoying it. And with an oil based product, you've
(37:19):
got to give it longer before you can actually put
it back to use. So that's oil based products. Water
based stains, they've come a long way, you know, the
technology has really advanced. Of course, they clean up with
soap and water. They've got lower VOCs. They're going to
dry quickly so you can get the deck back in use.
Very quickly compared to oil based products. But on the downside,
(37:40):
again we're hung up on that dry time thing. They
dry quickly, and that makes them sometimes trickier to apply,
especially in the sun or in warm temperatures, So be
aware that's the downside to water based stains. Which one's
best for you, Which one's best for your situation. Really,
it's going to boil down to your skill, your situation.
You know what you've got going on with the deck
(38:01):
and the time of year that you're doing it. If
you're comfortable working quickly to get the product on the deck,
if you're eager to get the deck back into use sooner,
if you really need to have soap and water cleanup,
then water based is a great way to go. If
you're new to staining decks, or you're working in high
temperatures without much shade, then oil based products are going
to give you your best chance of beautiful results by
(38:22):
all means. The best way to go forward is to
stop out at any repcolite location. Tell us what you're
working on, show us some pictures, tell us what you
want to get to, and we'll help you make the
right decisions, find the right products and go from there,
all right, that's going to do it. Last thing I
want to leave you with is this Repcolites deck and
Doc and Benjamin Moore's Woodlux products. All the products that
(38:43):
I just talked about, they're all on sale until June sixteenth. Also,
that really cool Wooster Bravo stainer brush that I talked
about earlier, that's on sale during the same time period.
So pretty much everything that I talked about, you know,
with the deck stains and the tool to apply them,
the brush to apply them, all of that's on sale
until June sixteenth. So if you do have a deck
(39:03):
project coming up, now's the time to grab those products.
All right. If you want to catch this episode again,
you can find it online at repcolit dot com. Whatever
you do today makes your paints a part of it.
And remember your next project is way easier than you think.
Step out at your nearest Rep Callite and let us help.
Have a great weekend everybody, and I'll see you next week.
I'm Dan Hansen, and thanks for listening.
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