Southern Painting’s Deck & Fence Staining

Staining a new deck or fence not only adds some color to it, but the stain also protects the wood from the weather.  Restaining a weathered deck or fence gives it a fresh look and may also extend its life.

Color & Product Selection

• While many people choose to stain their deck or wood fence in the traditional Cedar Bark color, there are a number of stain colors available.
• It is important to recognize that restaining with semi-transparent stains will lead to more color variations with each subsequent restaining; at some point, switching to solid stains may be desirable
• Solid stains have a more opaque or painted look, even though they are a stain product that soaks into the wood.
• Southern Painting prefers waterborne stains because they hold up better than oil-based stains when exposed to sun.

Power Washing

• Power washing is a very important step in preparing decks or fences for staining.
• Dirt, mildew, algae, etc. must also be removed prior to staining.
• Following power washing, the surface must be allowed to thoroughly dry.

Sanding

• While not typically required, sanding smooths out rough wood and can remove previous stain color not removed by power washing.
• Sanding may also be needed to remove old material that may interfere with the wood’s ability to accept new stain.

Wood Conditioners & Stain Life Extenders

• These are optional steps that, while not typically required, may be recommended to properly prepare the wood to accept stain and/or to extend the life of the product applied.

Product Application

• Depending on the stain type, solid or semi-transparent, and whether or not the color is being changed, one or two coats of stain may be required.
• Stain is typically applied to decks and fences via brush and/or roll techniques.  Sometimes a low-pressure pump-spray bottle is used to get the stain on the surface where it is then worked in by brush and/or roller.