Stain is supposed to "wear off" as opposed to "peel off". Being a
horizontal surface subject to everything mother nature chooses to throw at
it, it isn't good for long. As long as you avoid the solid color stains
(which you did), the next coat should be a simple pressure wash and re-coat.
The old should blend in nicely with the new but try a sample first to see if
I'm right. Just be prepared to have to do it every year (or two if you're
lucky). Never tried Cabot but my SWMBO just hit ours with a Sherwin
Williams product that is more of a water-proofer than a stain but contained
just the right amout of color and it came out very nice.

"Bob" wrote in message
news:lFpAc.130730$Ly.67519@attbi_s01...

"Paula" wrote in message
om...
We refinished our deck 2 years ago with a transparent, colored
stain.
It looks hideous now (it started to weather after one winter).
We are
wondering if we should do an opaque stain this time around, but
even
though opaque colors last longer, I hear they are really
difficult to
strip for a re-finish. The problem we have is that we cannot
sand
down the wood to refinish (because each piece of wood on the
deck is
rounded on the edges), so the stain must be removed with
chemical
stain remover.

How easy is it to remove an opaque stain with a chemical
remover, TSP
and a power washer? The ideal situation for me is to have to
refinish
the deck as infrequently as possible. I don't care if it takes
a few
hours longer to strip when I do re-finish it - that's why I am
thinking opaque is best - but I really have no idea.

Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.

I've been using cabot's solid stain on my deck for over 12 years.
I've never considered stripping it. I just recoat every couple
years after a light pressure wash. I did sand the top surface
once - the stuff came easily off - nothing like paint.

Bob