What Is Solid Stain?

Mike Finley

I have seen you guys talk about "solid stains" I believe you call them, when you are talking about for instance a deck railing that looks like it was painted white.

What exactly is solid stain compared to paint and even though it is obvious it is a better choice than just using a latex or oil based paint, why is it better? Is it a one coat system, do you have to prime first?

ProWallGuy

Paint is a coating in which the color is transfered to the surface by way of the 'vehicle'. Latex its water, oil its, well....oils. After the vehicle has evaporated, the pigments are left over, sticking to the surface by way of binders, and resins make it hard.

Stain is just that, it penetrates a surface and stains it.

Solid stain is very heavy in pigments, whereas semi-transparent is much lighter in pigments.

I think stains are better for some surfaces because they penetrate and 'become one' with the surface, as compared to just sitting on the surface like paint.

You don't prime when you stain. A parimer coat would defeat the purpose of the stain penetrating.

Take all this as it is. I don't do any more exteriors, so I deal with solid and semi- stains on a very limited basis. I might be wrong on the prime thing, but I never have. Others may have better ideas about it.

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AAPaint

Nope, you got it absolutely right, amigo.

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Mike Finley

You paint houses exteriors with paint, so why not paint deck railings with paint? Why is it for decks, gazebos, pergolas, you would use solid stain instead of paint?

ProWallGuy

Good question. As I stated, I'm no expert on exteriors. Why not use solid stain on all exterior applications is beyond me. I reckon it would work if siding/fascia etc was bare wood when approached for color/protection. But most houses I come across are already painted.
I do know this though, stain doesn't protect against the elements near as good as a strong film of paint. It may give the deck the look you want, but still leaves the wood open to the weather, unless its clear coated after staining.
I hear a lot of ext guys stating please don't paint a deck. But I think if the deck is prepped right, paint is no worse than stain. It's a real b*tch to deal with peeling/failing paint on decks. But if the prep (very important) is done right, and the proper products are spec'ed and applied correctly, it will last as long as a good house paint job.

BTW, I painted my sister's very small deck about 8-10 years ago, and it still looks brand new. It's on the east side of the house, so it doesn't get the brunt of weather, but does get a lot of traffic.

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slickshift

Solid stains also work better than paints if the surface is being walked on
Hold up the the abuse better
It sticks better and last better
PWG said it pretty good up there ^

Interestingly enough, solid stains are the go-to house coatings, at least up north here and on the shore

Paint is used on perfect surfaces, or stripped
Anything funny, or moisture in/out, it's a solid stain if at all poss.

As for railings, no sense prepping for and applying stain on the deck surface, then switching to paint prep/app for the railings*

*However, with two and three colors becoming more common, this point is almost becoming moot

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Woz the Painter

Solid body stains as they age will kind of weather by fading gradually, while most paints [especially oil based] will crack, peel or alligator, the older they get. Back in the day, they had self weathering paints that chalked as they aged, as evidenced by the haze you could see on red brick that was below trim.

AAPaint

I must beg to differ. Penetrating oil stains protect as good, if not better than paint does from rain, UV, mold (especially), etc. Paint may hold up on a deck ok, but solid stain will look better for much longer, and is WAY easier to maintain than paint because of the peeling, flaking, cracking, etc. Good penatrating stains disperse water allowing it less time to have a chance of getting into the wood than paint which will make it bead and puddle up. If you're paint is not perfect, the water will find it's way in, on a deck this is usually the bottom and it pushes the paint film off as it tries to evaporate from the wood.

Other than that, I agree. You can get pretty good results with paint, but why when you can do something much better with stains?

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Woz the Painter

I think what I said was that solid body stains are the best solution for coating wood [especially rough sawn woods] in that they gradually wear, and do not crack or peel like paints.

AAPaint

I was replying to PWG's post.

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asbestos

I am not sure what you guys are getting for the 'solid color stain' but around here is will peel about like paint, even the oil based stuff the semi such are much more like an actual oil stain then a paint. Seen a lot of cedar houses and decks with the oil stain peeling

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ProWallGuy

Funny, I just saw some peeling stain tonight myself. On a deck, HO put it on herself. She didn't remember if she washed it or prepped it in any other way. But it for sure was peeling like paint.

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AAPaint

Those are film forming stains. Not penatrating stains...major diff.

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slickshift

The only stain I've ever seen peel was.....
(dun dun dunaaaaah.....)

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Originally Posted by ModernStyle I have never used this crap before and I pray to the paint gods that I never have to use it again, I would rather use Behr

phinsher

I think alot of this comes down to the term "stain". I'm not sure if its always been this way or not. The term "stain" i always took to mean exactly that, a product that stains the surface (like interior stains for wood, and the penetrating sealers for exterior wood.)

Seems like every solid latex stain i've ever used forms a film on the surface. If not with the first application than certainly with the second coat and all later coats. So if its a solid color and it builds a film, isn't it really just like flat paint? I've never tried it as the paint Gods forbid it, but i wonder what would happen if i just brushed on two coats of flat paint.

As for those "deck stains", many of them require a primer and they definitly build a film. We have had luck with them in the past, but the way it looks to me, a durable deck coating is more the exception then the rule.