I'd appreciate suggestions for what to apply to the wood of my newly built
deck after it dries in a few months. I know that the wood will turn gray
eventually, and I'm fine with that - I'm not interested in any kind of a
colored stain, just something that'll help to postpone the wood cracking and
deteriorating - something I can apply easily with a mop or something
low-tech - I don't wanna have to get a pressure washer. Ideally, something
that I'd only have to apply every few years, if that, would be great.

If it matters, I used the 5\4 x 6 decking from HD.

I'm in Texas - the deck gets full sun most of the day - brutal 100+ degree
days most of the summer - no shade at this point . . .

Thanks!

In article ,
"AngryOldWhiteGuy"
wrote:

I'd appreciate suggestions for what to apply to the wood of my newly built
deck after it dries in a few months. I know that the wood will turn gray
eventually, and I'm fine with that - I'm not interested in any kind of a
colored stain, just something that'll help to postpone the wood cracking and
deteriorating - something I can apply easily with a mop or something
low-tech - I don't wanna have to get a pressure washer. Ideally, something
that I'd only have to apply every few years, if that, would be great.

If it matters, I used the 5\4 x 6 decking from HD.

I'm in Texas - the deck gets full sun most of the day - brutal 100+ degree
days most of the summer - no shade at this point . . .

Thanks!

The only things that withstand the elements worse than wood, are all the
things people put on wood to protect it from the elements.

You have two choices:

1. Leave it alone. It's wood. It will be fine all by itself out there in
the wild.

2. Put something on it that you're going to have to **** with every 2
years, not to protect the wood, but to restore the appearance of the
thing you put on that doesn't stand up to the elements as well as wood.

In article
,
Smitty Two wrote:

In article ,
"AngryOldWhiteGuy"
wrote:

I'd appreciate suggestions for what to apply to the wood of my newly built
deck after it dries in a few months. I know that the wood will turn gray
eventually, and I'm fine with that - I'm not interested in any kind of a
colored stain, just something that'll help to postpone the wood cracking
and
deteriorating - something I can apply easily with a mop or something
low-tech - I don't wanna have to get a pressure washer. Ideally, something
that I'd only have to apply every few years, if that, would be great.

If it matters, I used the 5\4 x 6 decking from HD.

I'm in Texas - the deck gets full sun most of the day - brutal 100+ degree
days most of the summer - no shade at this point . . .

Thanks!

The only things that withstand the elements worse than wood, are all the
things people put on wood to protect it from the elements.

I'll rephrase that, if I may: None of the things people put on wood to
protect it from the elements, stand up to the elements as well as wood.


You have two choices:

1. Leave it alone. It's wood. It will be fine all by itself out there in
the wild.

2. Put something on it that you're going to have to **** with every 2
years, not to protect the wood, but to restore the appearance of the
thing you put on that doesn't stand up to the elements as well as wood.

It's exposure to the UV light from the Sun that causes wood to turn grey and fuzzy.

It's absorbtion of rain water and snow melt that causes wood lumber to split at the ends of each board.

If it wuz me, I would simply use a deck sealer on your wood, and apply it with a paint roller sleeve using a paint roller frame and a 5 foot threaded pole.

My experience reading and answering posts in these DIY forums is that most people prefer Cabot or Olympic deck stains. I've not heard much praise of Thompson's Water Seal. I think deck sealers would not only prevent absorbtion of water into the wood, they'd also probably have some UV blockers in them to protect the wood from UV light as well.

And, considering that lumber absorbs liquids through the end grain 15 times as fast as across the grain, I'd also use a brush to paint the exposed end grain of any boards in your deck as well.

On Tuesday, November 6, 2012 8:14:17 AM UTC-5, AngryOldWhiteGuy wrote:
I'd appreciate suggestions for what to apply to the wood of my newly built

deck after it dries in a few months. I know that the wood will turn gray

eventually, and I'm fine with that - I'm not interested in any kind of a

colored stain, just something that'll help to postpone the wood cracking and

deteriorating - something I can apply easily with a mop or something

low-tech - I don't wanna have to get a pressure washer. Ideally, something

that I'd only have to apply every few years, if that, would be great.



If it matters, I used the 5\4 x 6 decking from HD.



I'm in Texas - the deck gets full sun most of the day - brutal 100+ degree

days most of the summer - no shade at this point . . .



Thanks!

Soybean Oil. Save a life and beat a cop to death. Bring the mother ****ing war home.

On Nov 6, 12:38*pm, nestork wrote:
It's exposure to the UV light from the Sun that causes wood to turn grey
and *fuzzy.

It's absorbtion of rain water and snow melt that causes wood lumber to
split at the ends of each board.

If it wuz me, I would simply use a deck sealer on your wood, and apply
it with a paint roller sleeve using a paint roller frame and a 5 foot
threaded pole.

My experience reading and answering posts in these DIY forums is that
most people prefer Cabot or Olympic deck stains. *I've not heard much
praise of Thompson's Water Seal. *I think deck sealers would not only
prevent absorbtion of water into the wood, they'd also probably have
some UV blockers in them to protect the wood from UV light as well.

And, considering that lumber absorbs liquids through the end grain 15
times as fast as across the grain, I'd also use a brush to paint the
exposed end grain of any boards in your deck as well.

--
nestork

Has Consumer Reports any fairly recent info, they did a study several
years ago, I believe, but son't know what is new.

nestork wrote:

My experience reading and answering posts in these DIY forums is that
most people prefer Cabot or Olympic deck stains. I've not heard much
praise of Thompson's Water Seal. I think deck sealers would not only
prevent absorbtion of water into the wood, they'd also probably have
some UV blockers in them to protect the wood from UV light as well.

hrh mentioned in this thread about an older CReports article.
If it was the same one I read it mirrored your response.
Cabot and Olympic were top performers, Thompson's was
rated as poor. Their recommendation was that none of them"
worked" for more than 2 years.

On those suggestions I've been using Olympic for the last
5-6 years and and treating every other year. I've tried
almost everything to apply, all have their drawbacks.
If doing it over, it would be synthetic instead of wood for me.
At least for a very large area.