At Absolute Painting & Power Washing we understand that you would like to protect your home from the weather especially if the exterior is wood; after all your home is your greatest investment. There are several beautiful varieties of wood that can be used on the exterior of your home and other outdoor structures. There is cedar, redwood, cypress, and other tropical varieties that can last up to forty years.
There is one thing that all woods have in common and that is they need protection. We have a couple of choices when it comes to selecting the protection of wood. We can paint the exterior wood of our homes, decks, and fences but this would hide the natural beauty of the wood that we invest so much in. We do not recommend painting a flat surface such as a deck. The other alternative for protecting our wood is to stain.
Stains, unlike paint, let the natural beauty and texture of wood come through. Like paints, stains come in both oil based and latex versions. Stains also come in three types:
- Clear stains are translucent. While they let more of the wood texture and color come through they can still change the appearance of the wood. It’s always a good idea to test different stains on a piece of scrap wood. Because clear stain let’s through the beauty of the wood through it has to be reapplied more often, every two or three years. These stains offer very little UV protection and the wood tends to turn grey quickly.
- Semi-Transparent stains have pigment to them so they are heavier than clear stains and provide better protection. However they do not come in as many color options as latex paints do. To maintain a good protection of the wood a semi-transparent should be reapplied every five to seven years on siding/fences and every one to three years on decks. If your home gets a lot of direct afternoon sun the stain will break down much faster and need to be maintained more often.
- Opaque/Solid stains, on the other hand, behave more like paint. Opaque stains provide the maximum protection that a stain can provide but the trade-off is that they hide the true color of the wood. These stains are damaged easier by foot or animal traffic and can peel off easier. You can easily scrape loose stain so do touch ups on an annual basis. I recommend keeping a close eye on solid stain every year especially on decks that are exposed to the weather.
The great thing about stains is that they do not require primer or the surface preparation that paints do. Usually you can pressure wash, scrape away any stain that needs to be removed, and then re-stain with a brush if you like.
At Absolute Painting & Power Washing we stain and paint both homes and businesses alike. Our staining season is a little shorter than our painting season especially for decks. You typically want to stain your deck no earlier than June and no later than October depending on weather conditions. Please read the label carefully when staining and follow directions. If you reside in the greater Portland, OR area and you would like some assistance with a staining project or just have some questions you would like answered don’t hesitate to give us a call we are glad to help.
“We guarantee you will be a satisfied customer”
Mike Hughes
