Staining A Deck

orionkf

When you stain a deck, are you supposed to stain the bottom of it too??

How soon after installation can you apply a semi-transparent stain to pressure treated wood (ACQ)?

naturenut

Many people do not stain the bottoms of their deck and it really isn't neccessary. I suppose you could if you wanted to, but I wouldn't. You would want to put on your stain or sellant on fairly soon after, as soon as possible, your deck is completed. If you wait to apply a finish on your deck you will just have to do more prep work. Make sure that you follow the directions given for prep of the deck. Cabot, is a highly reccommended product, with a very good warranty.

ProWallGuy

I'd think twice about staining it right away. I was always under the impression that you want a deck to weather at least 4 seasons, or you will have moisture forcing its way out, causing the coating to fail.
I may be wrong on this with stain though....

BTW, I also don't stain the bottom, unless it requested/charged extra for.

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Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation

Dale

My 2 cents is that it should be stained as soon as possible. The only way to know when that is, is with a moisture meter. The newer pressure treated woods can stay too wet to stain for a really long time...but as soon as its ready, stain it.
Unless you can pre stain it, the undersides are a real big PITA. If someone whats it they gotta pay. If you've never done one, believe me it can be a mess.

Mike Finley

Staining all 4 sides of decking is something some people follow for reasons to do with moisture and cupping. If the deck is low to the ground say under 24 inches then people get concered with moisture and cupping that can result. To some degree just designing into the deck a means of cross ventilation can do more good than what 4 side staining would do.

Keep in mind any situation that requires 4 side staining requires prestaing the wood. (If there is enough room to stain the deck from the bottom after it is installed, you don't need to stain it in the first place).

It depends on the product, with Penofin pentrating oil for pressure treated lumber the ideal time is 30-60 days after installation.

Keep in mind that this is IDEAL, very few if any deck building professionals I know of will wait to stain PT. At the very worst all that will happen is the wood will need re-staining a little sooner than if you waited. Keep in mind all wood will need restaining no matter what you do to it. It's not a one time thing no matter what.

slickshift

I generally don't do the underneath, unless specifically requested
I generally wait one season before staining, but will play that by ear depending on how it looks

AAPaint

Both wolmans and penofin recommend letting any new pressure treated wood to weather for at least 30 days prior to applying stain. It will still need to be tested with a moisture meter for moisture content though. I recently acquired certification from both companies on their products and we're working in the fact that we are certified wolmans/penofin contractor into all of our advertising.

As far as the bottom of the deck. If it's off the ground where you can walk under it or see it plainly (like steps going up high) then you should stain it. Otherwise, for regular decks pretty much at ground level it's not necessary.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

Bret

I would not bother with the underneath unless it is visible from any location. The most important area is the friction wear areas, where feet or objects will drag against the surface causing the coating to erode. I agree with most of everything thats been said here and I would like to add that the type of stain ie: penetrating transparent or solid color (surface stain), depends on how soon you can apply it.
Most important is to let the wood stabilize somewhat by moisture content. There can be a certain amount of dampness when a stain is applied. A commone mistake many people make is to stain the wood immediately after it is installed when it is soaking wet. I've install many of decks only to have water squirt me in the face as I drive a screw in ( THATS WET ! )
When wood dries out and the moisture content decreases, it shrinks in size somewhat and the stress points change where the wood is fastened causing cracks to form which is where water gets in and the process repeats itself over and over.
If you happen to stain a wood surface when it is somewhat wet, I would be sure and come back within a year and reapply another coat which will fill any cracks that have developed with stain.
The best types of stain for outdoor wood are the thinner oil penetrating type that actually treat the wood rather than solid color latex's that lay on top.
Six years ago I was asked to treat a new $600,000 public boardwalk in my community over a state waterway. Ater carefull consideration and research I decided on a deck finish product from Professional Deck Products (PDF) on advice I received from my Sherwin-Williams rep. It's very expensive but worth it. It's a mixture of Linseed and Tung oil with a parafin wax binder. Very little odor, so you know the solids content is very high. After six years of extremely heavy traffic and humidity the boardwalk looks almost new.