kai779•2mo ago

My deck stain job peeled after just 8 months

I pressure washed and stained my back deck last summer with a solid color oil-based stain. It looked great for a few months, but by this spring it was peeling and flaking off in big sheets. I think the problem was the old stain wasn't fully removed, or maybe I didn't let the wood dry long enough after washing. Some folks online say you should always strip a deck completely, while others say a good wash is enough if the old coat is thin. What's the right move for a second attempt this year? Has anyone had a stain fail this fast and fixed it for good?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_eric8d ago

You're talking about "that exact thing" but I gotta push back. I've been staining decks for over a decade and stripping every single time is overkill. The problem isn't always old stain. More often it's people not letting the wood dry long enough after pressure washing. I've seen guys wash a deck on Saturday and stain it Sunday. That wood is still wet, oil stain won't stick to wet wood. You need at least 48 hours of hot sun, sometimes longer if it's humid. I stripped a deck last year for a customer because of flaking like yours and it turned out the wood was still damp under the old stain. Stripping fixed nothing until we fixed the drying time.

finley_walker578d ago

So you're telling me my deck's been flaking for two years just because I'm too impatient to wait two whole days? Man, and here I thought it was a noble sacrifice to the deck gods.

nora7352mo ago

I used to skip stripping, but that exact thing changed my mind lol

wendysmith2mo ago

Yeah, that "exact thing" moment gets everyone. For me it was a batch of streaky, uneven frosting that looked awful. Now I just do a quick crumb coat and chill it for ten minutes. Makes the final layer so much smoother.