If you’ve had your deck restored and your deck stain is still tacky after 24 hours, then what you do next could be critically important…
Here’s what you need to know…
First up, if your deck is sticky after staining it’s simply because there was too much stain applied…
The number one rule for staining a deck is to apply thin coats of stain, not thick coats…
And make sure you apply the right amount of coats…
Your deck can only absorb a certain amount of deck stain so if you slop on way too much stain, guess what happens??
Yep that’s right…
Your deck stain will be sticky…
And sometimes, your deck will be sticky if you apply the second coat before the first coat has had enough time to dry properly…
Whatever the case, whoever applied your deck stain obviously didn’t read my guide on how to stain a deck…
Shame!
Shame on them!!
But it’s too late now…
Let’s dig into how we can fix your little sticky deck situation shall we??
How to fix a deck that is sticky after staining…
To answer the question of how to fix a sticky deck stain, first you have to answer another question…
Did you use water based stain or oil based deck stain?
You see, depending on which type you use, will determine how you fix the tacky feeling on your deck…
Ok, let’s start with a sticky water based deck stain…
What to do if your water based deck stain is sticky…
Ok, ok, it’s very important to follow my directions, step by step…
Don’t skip any of them or your deck will be sticky forever!!
Here’s what you need to do if your water based deck stain is still tacky after 24 hours…
WAIT!
You literally have to wait…
Yes, you need to wait at least a week for it to dry properly…
Of course it shouldn’t be sticky but your deck restorer applied too much deck stain so now you have to wait…
Give it a week and see if that tacky feeling has gone away…
And if it hasn’t gone in a week, give it another week…
I know, I know…
This is infuriating but I’ve never come across a deck that was coated with a water based stain that remained sticky after a couple of weeks…
Now, if your deck does happen to still be sticky after 4 weeks I would be very surprised, but there’s a couple of things you can try…
But, I’m not going to tell you what they are…
Well, not in this section anyway…
You see, in the next section of this article, I’m going to tell you how to remove the stickiness from a deck that has been coated with an oil based deck stain…
And the techniques you can use there, will also work on a sticky water based deck stain too…
So strap in tight cause we’re going there right now…
Hey! Do you have a question?
I know you’re busy reading all about how to fix a sticky deck, but if there’s something you’re struggling to find answers for, why don’t you just ask me?
Yep, I can be your personal deck consultant…
What to do if your oil based deck stain is still tacky after 24 hours…
Now oil based deck stain is a completely different beast to water based stain…
But if your oil based deck stain is sticky it is also because too much stain was applied and now you have sections that are refusing to dry…
And sometimes, it could be because you applied too many coats of stain…
Some oil based stains only require one coat, not the industry norm of two coats…
With water based stains, you can apply two or even three coats but oil based is usually one to two coats…
You really need to follow the instructions on the bucket of stain…
The bucket will have directions that you really should follow, unless I tell you otherwise…
Capish??
Ok now where were we?
Oh yeah…
If your deck stain is sticky, the difference with an oil based stain to a water based stain is that you don’t need to wait…
You need to address the problem straight away…
Here’s the first thing you should do if your deck is sticky after staining with oil based stain…
Wipe the deck down with mineral spirits…
Yep, grab yourself some rags and soak it in some mineral spirits and then wipe the excess stain off your deck…
The excess stain isn’t dry so that’s why your deck is sticky…
Wipe it off with some mineral spirits and the tackiness will also be wiped off…
This shouldn’t damage the coating on your deck but if you’re worried about it, test a small section first just to make sure…
I can’t see this not working but, if you go through all of this trouble and your deck is still tacky then you should try this…
Spread a bag of oil absorbent all over your sticky deck…
Full disclosure, I haven’t used this technique myself…
I came across it by a guy who had a deck that was sticky after staining and he swears by this method…
Ok, so here’s what you need to do…
- Head over to Ace Hardware and buy yourself a bag of Oil Absorbent…
- Then spread it all over your deck and let it sit for about 1 hour…
- Gently work the Oil Absorbent around the deck with a broom…
- Sweep all the granules up and crush them as fine as you can get it…
- Spread the crushed granules all over your decking again…
- Let it sit for 24 hours…
- Then clean your deck with a pressure washer…
- Let your deck dry for 24 hours…
That’s it…
The stickiness should be gone…
Pretty crazy right?
Like I said, I haven’t done this one myself but this guy swears by it so I thought it could be worth a try…
Sometimes when things aren’t going to plan, and the “Experts” can’t help you, then you need to get creative…
And that’s exactly what this method is…
If you don’t like the Oil Absorbent method then I have another one you could try…
Try wiping a sticky deck with Goo Gone…
Goo Gone is a fantastic product that helps you to remove adhesive off surfaces…
What you need to do is head over Goo Gone and pick yourself up a bottle…
It’s only $42.99 per gallon…
But don’t just buy it…
I’ve actually got a way that you can get it even cheaper than that…
15% cheaper in fact…
All you need to do is sign up to their free newsletter and they’ll send you a discount coupon to use with your purchase…
So you can pick up a bottle for $36.50 with your discount code…
To get your discount, all you need to do is go to the Goo Gone homepage, scroll down until you see the box that says “Sign up for our newsletter and save 15%”…
Sign up and then you get your discount…
But to tell you the truth, the next step is gonna be the hardest for you…
For now you have to wait for them to deliver the bottle!!
Can you believe you have to wait??
It’s really gonna test your patience…
You’ll be checking that delivery tracking every 2 minutes…
“Is it out for delivery?”
5 minutes later…
“Is it out for delivery??”
No, you have to be patient…
But when it does finally arrive, you could quite possibly have the best solution to eliminate a sticky deck…
Here’s what you need to do…
Use a rag and wipe it on just like you would with the mineral spirits…
And that tacky feeling should be all gone…
But the shine on your deck will still be there…
Amazing right?
A word of warning about all of these methods to eliminate a sticky deck…
Make sure you test a small section first…
You could be that one unlucky person who uses any of the methods I’ve suggested above and damage your decking…
Then you’ll probably blame me and be out for blood…
Just know, I can’t live my life, constantly checking over my shoulder, wondering if today is that day you’ll seek your revenge…
So for the love of Zues…
Do everyone a favour and test a small spot before you use any of the methods I’ve laid out for you here…
Ok, now that I got that off my chest I feel much more at ease now I can continue to share my “deck knowledge” with you…
Let’s continue on shall we??
If you’ve everything and your deck stain is still sticky, you have one option left…
If you’ve come to this point, where nothing you do can remove that sticky feeling on your deck, then you have one option left…
Sand it off and start again!!
Is that a tear I see?
It’s ok to cry…
Go ahead…
Take a minute…
Come on, it’s not that bad…
It’s not the end of the world…
But it is the end of your sticky deck stain…
And that’s something to be celebrated…
Feel better?
NO??
Ok, let me tell you this…
Sanding a deck that has just recently been stained is one of the easiest decks to sand…
That brand new deck stain will just disappear in no time…
I’m serious…
I’ve done it before and it’s hands down the easiest deck I’ve ever sanded in my life…
You’ll be done in a quarter of the time it took you last time…
This time won’t be gruelling…
It won’t even come close to being back braking…
Trust me!!
Just do everyone a favour and make sure you read my guide on how to sand a deck…
We wanna get this right the second time around, don’t we??
We don’t want to be doing this again, do we???
And this time around, make sure you or your deck restorer only apply thin coats of deck stain…
Remember why your deck was so sticky in the first place…
Only put down what your deck can absorb and then wipe the excess off or your deck will be sticky again…
That’s why I invented my world famous “Brush on, Brush off Technique”…
It’s how I get such a flawless, piano finish on every deck that I stain…
It’s how I manage to get a deck stain so perfect that there are no lap marks…
You’ll never see one single line where I stopped and started with the stain…
There’s a method to this whole deck staining thing…
And if you ask nicely, I might share it with you…
But not here in this guide…
For now I’m done trying to help you to fix your deck stain that’s still tacky after 24 hours…
I’ll see you on our next adventure…
Peace,
Jason…
Need some Expert Advice?
If you’ve been searching the internet trying to find an answer to a specific deck problem and you’ve found it impossible to get a straight answer…
Why not just reach out and ask me directly for an answer?
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…
Come on, don’t be shy…
FAQ’s
If deck stain is still tacky after 24 hours it because too much sat in was applied. It could be due to the coats being too thick or too many coats were applied…
To fix a sticky deck after staining, you either have to wait a couple of weeks for it to dry properly if it’s water based. If you used an oil based deck stain, you’ll need to wipe it down with mineral spirits to remove the excess stain…
A tacky stain will eventually dry if it’s water based. However, if you used an oil based deck stain it won’t dry so you need to remove the excess with a rag and mineral spirits…
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