If you’re asking the question “How many coats of deck stain do you need?”, then this no-nonsense guide will eliminate any confusion so you know exactly how many coats you need…
Here’s what you need to know…
It depends on which type of stain you’re using, but In general, you’ll need between 1 to 3 coats of deck stain…
You’ll need 1 to 2 coats for oil based decks stain and 2 to 3 coats for water based deck stain…
Now, how you determine the exact number of coats is revealed in the rest of this guide…
The old blanket statement of “you need two coats of deck stain” is so wrong on so many levels…
The number of coats you need depends on the type of deck stain you use, not on some blanket “2 coat” recommendation…
So how about I show what determines the number of coats you need…
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How many coats of deck stain you need depends on these 6 things…
These are the 5 things that I consider when deciding how many coats of deck stain I should apply…
- Are you using water based or oil based deck stain?
- Are you using a semi-transparent stain or solid stain?
- Is the timber deck old or new?
- Has the deck been made from hardwood or softwood?
- What does the company recommend?
- Are you applying a maintenance coat?
All of these things on the list are really important when deciding how many coats you’ll need…
And some of these factors cross over into each other…
But it’s also not that complicated…
Lets’ see if I can make it nice and easy for you…
Are you going to use a water based or an oil based deck stain?
The reason I ask is because water based deck stains will require at least 2 coats and in some cases, I actually recommend 3 coats…
Whereas, an oil based deck stain will only require one coat, possibly 2…
What you have to understand is, oil based deck stain will absorb deeper into the timber than water based will…
Water-based absorbs a little, but the majority of it sits on the surface…
That’s how water based stains provide protection…
So to get proper protection from a water based deck stain, you need to apply at least 2 coats of deck stain…
And if your deck is exposed to harsh weather and high foot traffic, that’s when you need to apply 3 coats of deck stain…
But each coat must be a thin coat…
Not thick layers like you would with paint…
If you apply your stain too thick, your deck will become sticky…
Make sense?
Now I already told you that the oil based stain works differently…
You see, it absorbs deeper into the timber and your timber can only absorb a certain amount of stain before the excess will pool on the surface…
That’s why in most cases, you only need to apply one coat of an oil based deck stain…
If you apply any more, it will become sticky and tacky just like the water based deck stain…
So to sum up…
Water based stains will need two to three coats…
And oil based stains will need one to two coats…
Obviously you still don’t know exactly how many coats of deck stain you need, right?
You will very soon, but only if you continue reading…
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Are you using a semi-transparent stain or solid stain…
I don’t want to over complicate this for you, so…
I’ll start with the water-based deck stain…
Generally, semi-transparent water based deck stain will need at least 3 coats…
The reason is, semi-transparent stain will offer less protection than solid deck stain…
I found out the hard way that 2 coats of water based, semi-transparent will get you 6 to 8 months of protection before the sun starts to attack it and make it look terrible…
Yep, only 6 months…
I’ve actually seen one decking that only lasted 3 months…
That’s why I also give a deck three coats of semi-transparent deck stain…
Three coats will get you 12 to 18 months before you need to give your deck a clean and recoat…
Now, a solid water based stain will usually only need 2 coats…
The solid colours completely block out the timber grain and offer greater protection…
Usually the stain you purchase will have it listed on the label whether it’s a solid or semi-transparent stain…
If you’re stain doesn’t clearly say what it is on the container and if it’s struggling to work out if your water based deck stain is semi transparent or solid, here’s how you do it…
If your stain colour is “Natural” then it’s a semi-transparent stain…
Your deck will look like this…
If your deck stain has a colour added such as “Merbau”, then your water based deck stain is a solid stain…
And your deck will look like this…
Make sense?
Now, this is very similar to oil-based stains…
Semi-transparent, oil-based stain will usually need 2 coats, whereas a solid oil-based stain will only need one…
And it’s for the same reasons as the water-based stains…
Moving on…
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Is the timber deck old or new…
If your deck timber is older then it will usually be drier and thirsty…
And it’s probably got some large cracks in it…
Let’s be honest, who cares about their deck that much that they monitor its condition everyday to make sure it’s got enough protection from the sun…
It’s a deck…
It’s outside…
That deck is gonna get battered everyday and get old and dry…
There’s no shame in that…
All it means is, it will soak up a lot more stain than a newer deck…
So for this reason, an older deck will need three coats of water based stain or two coats of an oil-based stain…
Whereas, a newer deck won’t soak up as much stain so it’s usually recommended that you apply one coat of oil based deck stain and or two to three coats of water based stain…
Just remember that you can’t stain a new deck right away…
You have to let it weather for a few months…
That’s pretty much all you need to know on this one…
Next, let’s look at…
Has the deck been made from hardwood or softwood…
Looky here…
If you go all out and build your deck with the finest hardwood that money can buy, then you’ve got yourself one fine decking…
The other thing you’ve got is a wood decking so dense, so strong that any type of decking stain you apply to it will not soak very deep into the surface of that timber…
This will affect how much deck stain you need…
I’ve seen a video where a guy stains a piece of high quality hardwood and then cuts it in half so you can see how deep the stain penetrated…
The answer was not very deep at all…
It’s just the way it is…
If you sand 1mm off that surface, you’ll remove all of the stain…
So with that in mind, when trying to work out how many coats of deck stain you need for a hardwood deck, here’s the deal…
You will only need one coat of oil based deck stain and two coats of a water based stain…
Whereas, a soft wood deck will soak in a lot more so you could apply two coats of oil based or two to three coats of water based deck stain…
Does that make sense?
The other thing to keep in mind about a softwood deck is that it will most likely be pressure treated…
And there’s a whole other set of rules for staining pressure treated wood…
You need to make sure that it has weathered for at least 3 months…
So make sure you keep that in mind…
Ok great…
Because this next one is actually really important to follow…
When it comes to deciding how many coats of deck stain you need, What does the company recommend?
Now, this step is critical no matter which deck stain you decide to use…
What I want you to do is, turn your bucket of stain to the back…
That’s right, turn it around…
Then have a look at the section that says, “Directions of Use”…
Or something similar to that…
Then read what it says…
It’ll recommend a number of coats…
You see, I can tell you to put two coats on but if the deck stain you choose says to only ever apply one coat, then you should probably listen to the bucket of stain…
When I was a youngster, studying under my “Decking Master”, the number one rule that I had to live by was…
“The bucket knows best”…
Follow what the bucket tells you to do…
And it is true…
You should do exactly what the instructions on the stain tell you to do..
Once you become a “Deck Master” like myself, then you can ignore the bucket a little…
Sometimes the bucket of stain just can’t see what I see…
Going against the instructions comes with experience…
But the fact that you are here right now listening to my crazy rants, shows me that you aren’t at the “Deck Master” level just yet…
So, you my fine friend…
You are to listen to the bucket and apply the number of coats it tells you to…
Understand?
Listen to the bucket…
Are you applying a maintenance coat?
Now this is an important one…
No matter what type of deck stain you’re using and no matter what the can of stain recommends, if you’re simply cleaning your deck and then applying a maintenance coat, you will only ever need 1 coat of deck stain…
Not 2…
Not 3…
Only 1 coat…
When your deck is in good condition and it has started to fade over the year, then it’s time to apply your maintenance coat…
When you clean your deck properly and then apply the 1 coat, it’ll look as good as new…
If your deck is starting to peel or have blotchy marks on it, 12, or 3 coats will never hide it…
You’ll need to strip it off and start again…
So don’t think you can fix it by applying more coats of deck stain…
Trust me…
It won’t help…
1 coat is all you’ll ever need when it comes to deck maintenance…
That’s all there is to working out how many coats you need…
And that’s all I’ve got to say on the matter…
Oh, and before I go…
Make sure you read my guide on how to stain your deck…
You don’t want to go through all of this hassle only to mess up with your staining technique, do you?
I thought you’d agree…
I’ll see you next time
I’m outta here…
Peace,
Jason
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I’ve got 10 years of deck knowledge crammed into my noggin. I can pretty much guarantee I’ve got an answer to your problem just rattling around in there…
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FAQ’s
It does depend on which type of deck stain you are using, but generally you’ll need between 1 to 3 coats of deck stain. You’ll need 1 to 2 coats for oil based decks stain and 2 to 3 coats for water based deck stain. If you’re applying a maintenance coat you’ll only need 1 coat…
If you apply multiple coats of deck stain, the second coat will appear darker than the first coat of stain but applying additional coats won’t usually make it darker…
You can definitely put too much stain on a deck. If you apply the coats of stain too thick, the stain could become sticky and eventually peel off…
3 coats of deck stain can be too much if you are applying and oil based stain. You can definitely apply 3 coats of water based deck stain as long as you only apply thin coats. If you apply too many coats or apply the deck stain too thick then it could peel off…
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