Generally speaking, you NEVER put an opaque stain on a horizontal walking
surface. Solid stain is, in effect, soft paint and it will wear easily if
walked upon. You see worn paths in just a few months.

Use Semi trans on flat, horizontal surface, solid on vertical (posts, rails,
slats), if you wish.


"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.

Thanks!
Paula