If you’re thinking about staining your deck and you’re wondering, “Is it too late to stain my deck?”, then there’s something really important that you need to know…

The only time it’s too late to stain your deck is when the stain is peeling or flaking off. Any other time, it’s never too late…

See this deck here?

If your deck looks like this one, then you can’t stain it…

It’s definitely too late for this one…

Or maybe your deck looks something like this one…

The stain isn’t peeling or flaking but you can see it’s blotchy and discoloured on the deck…

You can see the original colour of the stain right in front of the door…

No amount of deck stain can hide this level of fading…

So if your deck looks like this one above, then yes, it’s too late to stain your deck…

Don’t even think about it!!

Well, technically you could stain it and it will protect your decking but it will look absolutely atrocious…

It’ll be one of the biggest regrets of your life…

Yes, an even bigger regret than getting married!!

Think I’m exaggerating?

Well stain that blotchy deck and feel the full experience of instant regret…

Your friends and family won’t say anything but they’ll judge you and your ugly decking…

If you don’t want to live with the shame, don’t do it…

So it’s a hard no from me…

Anyway, that’s just 2 instances where it’s way too late to stain your deck, but maybe your deck is nothing like these 2…

Ok, how about I look at some different decks and tell you if they can be stained or not?

Let’s do it…

My new deck has turned grey, is it too late to stain it?

If you have a new deck that has never been coated and it’s turned grey, then it’s not too late to stain it…

Your deck will look something like this…

In fact, it’s best to let your new deck sit in the rain and sun for at least 3 months before you stain it…

It dries the timber out which helps it to absorb the deck stain…

So you’ve done the right thing…

But before you stain your deck, you just need to give it a clean with a deck brightener…

And you might need to give it a light sand just to remove any splinters…

Then you’re ready to stain your deck…

Just make sure you stain it using The Brush on, Brush off Technique…

When you do this the way I teach, your deck will look like this…

Moving on…

How about a deck that is ten years old and never been stained?

If this is you, your deck will look something like this…

This deck sat uncoated for 10 years and the weather had really started to cause some damage…

The boards had cracks and splits running all through it…

And the surface was really rough…

You would think that it would be too late to stain a deck like this right?

But you know what? 

It’s not…

As long as the boards aren’t rotting and breaking away, a deck that has sat uncoated for 10 years can be sanded back and stained…

It won’t be perfect…

In fact, it will look a little rough…

I like to think of it as rustic…

Either way, you can stain it, just don’t expect it to look like a new deck…

Check how this deck looks before a wash…

And then after a scrub and clean with a brightener…

A lot different hey?

Not perfect but a huge improvement…

And if you give it a light sanding, it will look even better than this…

If you have a deck like this one, all you need to do is pressure wash it to remove the ten years of dirt and grime, then sand it back to remove all of the rough and damaged timber fibres…

Just don’t ever try to fill the cracks with wood filler…

It’s a bad idea…

Let your deck age gracefully…

You don’t want to be one of those people that others snigger about behind your back do you?

You know, they’ll say “Who are they trying to fool with all those fillers? We can all see that it’s an old deck”…

Don’t worry, your deck will look old but it will look one hundred times better than it does now…

It just won’t be perfect, but outdoor decking never is…

Let’s keep going…

How about a deck that you washed and sanded but it rained before you had a chance to stain?

If you strip your deck back ready for stain but then it rains for the next week before you have a chance to stain it, no it’s not too late to stain it…

If you wait a month then maybe it is too late but all you would have to do is scrub it with a deck brightener and clean it off…

Then you can stain your deck with no problems…

Waiting a week or 2 is fine…

Ok, how about if…

It’s been a week since you applied the first coat?

If you applied the first coat of deck stain but you ran out of time and had to wait a week to apply the second coat, then it’s not too late…

You won’t even need to clean your deck again…

All you need to do is sweep your deck off, and then grab a damp rag and wipe off any bird poop or weird little marks that are on your deck…

You don’t want to flood your deck, you just want to wipe it down so it will be dry in 5 minutes…

You can even use a leaf blower to speed up the drying…

After about 5 minutes, you’re good to apply the second coat of deck stain…

Don’t even worry about it…

That was an easy one…

Let’s look at another situation where you could get a little concerned…

How about if you spent all day stripping your deck and it’s ready for its first coat by late afternoon…

Is that too late to stain a deck?

Well, this one really depends on the weather…

In summer when it’s still warm and the sun stays out longer, then no it’s not too late…

But in the cooler months when the air gets moist in the evening, then late afternoon will be too late to apply stain…

You’ll need to wait for the next day to apply the first coat otherwise the moisture will settle on your deck and completely destroy your coating…

You’ll have to use your judgement on this one but never rush it…

If there’s a chance that it will be damp in the evening then don’t take the risk…

We could keep going all day with these examples but I think I’ll stop there for today…

All you need to remember is, in most cases it’s never too late…

That’s about all I’ve got time for today…

I’ll see you in the next episode…

Peace,

Jason…

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