DECKS THAT ENDURE
Picking the right finish
Over the 25-plus years I’ve been giving home improvement advice to Canadians, the single most common question I hear has to do with deck finishing.
Most often, it’s a plea for help about a deck finish gone bad. Other times the questions are about which deck stain to choose for a new deck or an old one.
The underlying issue always comes back to one simple fact: Many deck finishes simply don’t last all that long, no matter how well you apply them.
Buying and applying a stain over an entire deck is a poor way to experiment and determine what’s good and what’s not. I discovered this sad, simple truth myself when I began finishing outdoor wood for my own clients in the 1980s. Identifying disappointing products from among the good stuff is something I started to do methodically, beginning in 1990, and I’m still at it today.
My testing procedure is simple but effective. I apply a deck coating product to a sample of lumber, according to manufacturer directions, then put the wood outdoors in full sun and monitor it for as long as it takes for the finish to fail. Testing samples like this let’s me get quite specific about how long a product will last, and I publish this information on a deck finishing web page (baileylineroad.com). that I update constantly.
One thing that surprises me about this long-term view of deck stains is how products are changing. There are more deck stain choices out there today, and there are more durable options, too.
I don’t know about every good deck stain on the market, but from time to time I run into new ones that impress me. One of the most recent is called Superdeck.
I first tested Superdeck Elastomeric Coating back in 2014. Three years of exposure isn’t a lot as these things go, but so far there’s been no deterioration whatsoever. I’m impressed. The Superdeck coating I applied then looks exactly the same today as it did when I brushed it on.
As deck stain technology advances, manufacturers come out with changes. Of course, these all seem great when you read about them in advertisements, but are they really any good? This is where my testing comes in.
One of the biggest challenges makers of wood coatings face these days is the need to develop better products while also meeting tightening government requirements. This pressure is leading to brand new finishing technologies; one new particular deck and dock coating I added to my testing regime this past July is a case in point. Based on previous good results with the Superdeck brand, I added a related product that has something I’ve never seen before.
Superdeck Deck & Dock Solid Coating has what they call “Cool Feel” technology. It’s a feature of the formulation that reflects more solar energy so the surface keeps cooler — about 10-11 degrees C cooler than the same colour of ordinary coating. Cool Feel doesn’t change the look of the results, it just changes the way the coating behaves.
The obvious advantage here is that a cool deck won’t burn bare feet, but my testing will show if there’s more to it. One of the reasons deck coatings fail quickly is because they can’t stand the wide swings in temperature that outdoor surfaces endure — especially Canadian outdoor surfaces. My guess is that cooler surface temperatures will help this particular Superdeck coating last longer. My testing will let me know for sure.
When it comes to keeping your home in good condition, getting the best results for the least amount of work is what it’s all about. The stakes are high when it comes to deck finishing, but a little bit of diligence and the right products can make all the difference. Steve Maxwell is something of a perfectionist when it comes to homes and DIY. Join 13,000 other people who are part of his online world at BaileyLineRoad.com. Postmedia Network