Most Common Types of Stain for Decks and Their Natures

Most Common Types of Stain for Decks and Their Natures Horsham PA

Staining the deck is pretty normal for people who have wooden decks and want to keep them in good condition. However, when you first go to look at the types of stains, you might feel a little bit overwhelmed by the number of different stains out there. If you have never dealt with staining a deck before, you might have no clue where to start when the time to stain your deck comes. Thankfully, after learning about the different types of stains and what they do, it is pretty easy to understand what all of them are. Before you can learn about what the natures of the stains are, you will first need to know about the different types of stains themselves.

Different Stains for Decks

Stains can be considered very similar to sealers for your deck. If you do not know what a sealer is, it is something that doesn’t alter the appearance of your deck but protects it from foot traffic, water damage, mold, and mildew. Because of this, most stains are going to do the same. They will provide protection to your deck against heavy foot traffic, water damage from rain and storms, and mold and mildew that tend to follow the water. Depending on the type of stain you get, you can even get some UV protection from your deck stain.

Out of the deck stains, there are a few different types. There are semi-transparent stains, which as the name suggests, are partially transparent and can be used to tint your deck another color and enhance the beauty of the wood itself. There are also semi-solid deck stains that add more pigment to the deck, which can also add some UV protection to help against UV damage. And finally, there are solid stains that, as you might imagine, provide the most protection against the sun but have the potential to crack and peel. Of course, this means that solid stains aren’t the best for protection but if you are looking to change the color of your deck while still getting the benefits of a stain, you should definitely consider a high-quality solid stain and you will simply have to keep an eye on it.

Natures of the Stains

Each stain has a nature of its own. In a way, you can consider sealers to be clear stains. When looking at these, they will provide the bare minimum for your deck. At the most, a clear stain will provide basic protection against footfall, rain, and mold/mildew. While this is good for your deck, you can get more out of stains themselves. Starting with semi-translucent stains, there are many things that this stain can do. Generally, it will come in tones of brown or red and the semi-transparent aspect allows you to see the grain of the wood, enhancing the natural beauty of the wood itself. Semi-solid stains will be darker, will show less of the grain, but will still enhance the beauty of the deck itself. With the added pigmentation in semi-solid stains, you will also get some UV protection from it as well. Finally, there are solid stains. These are usually compared to paints, especially considering how much they can change the color of a deck but also in the sense of how they can crack and peel.

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