Choosing the right stain for your decking will obviously come down to personal choice, but something to keep in mind is the level of maintenance required vs the level of care and attention you will be able to give your decking throughout the years.
Before you decide on what type of stain, we recommend having a think about the ‘look’ you’re trying to achieve for your space so that you can choose the right stain and colour to compliment your vision.
If you’ve decided to re-stain your decking, then have a read of our article on 5 Signs Your Decking is Weathering so that you don’t end up staining a deck in decay.
Below you’ll find information on the three primary types of stain widely available.
Semi-translucent stain:
If you’re like us and you love seeing the unique characteristics of the wood grain, then we’d highly recommend using a semi-transparent stain, as it will really bring your deck to life. It is also the easiest stain to apply to your decking if you want to take a DIY approach – check out our article How to stain a deck – DIY Tips to help you with this project. Another benefit is that semi-translucent stains come in a variety of rich natural wood colours. Who does not like having more colour options?
Semi-solid stain:
You can probably guess that this type of stain will be a hybrid of the semi-translucent and solid stain. It allows for the texture and grain of the wood remain visible whilst making your chosen colour more prominent. The colours offered range from a variety of warm and cool tones, with some more eccentric blues and greens also available.
Solid stain:
Sold stains, on the other hand, will act and look like paint and will almost completely hide your wood grain. Whilst this option will provide the most UV protection for decking, protecting it from fading, the trade off is that it is very-time consuming if you ever want to change your decks colour. You’ll be required to strip and completely sand back your entire decking, and take our word for it, it just isn’t worth the effort, so choose your colour wisely.
Another disadvantage of solid stain is that it will most likely crack and peel over time because it sits on top of your wood and isn’t absorbed into the deck like a semi-translucent stain.
