If you’re looking at sealing your deck for the first time then this guide could save you from making costly errors that will leave your deck looking horrendous and needing to be stripped back within 3 months after staining it…
I know, I know…
Who knew sealing a deck for the first time could be so dramatic?
Well, I see this same mistake being made all of the time with new decks…
A homeowner spends thousands of dollars on a new deck and they don’t want it to get damaged by the rain and the sun that keeps pounding down on it every single day…
If you leave your new deck for too long without sealing it, it’ll get damaged and start to split, right?
Well here’s the thing…
You can’t just build a new deck and then stain it…
You need to leave it to “weather off” before you seal or stain your deck…
So how long do you leave a new deck before staining it?
Well, let’s dive in and show you how to work that out…
When to seal a new deck…
When sealing a deck for the first time, you should wait 2 to 3 months before applying any type of sealer or stain…
You see, when you lay a new deck, the timber has this thing called tannins…
Tannins are natural extractives that are present in certain timbers…
And when you build a new deck, these tannins leach out of your deck…
And these tannins can bleed out for ohhh… 2 to 3 months…
You’ll notice it the most when it rains…
Tannings look like you have a stain leaking out of the timber…
This is what it looks like…
You can see how the tannins are beading up on the surface of the deck…
It’s sort of a reddish colour…
A new deck can have these tannins bleeding out so much that they can stain concrete or other structures close to the deck…
Now, if you seal a new deck and you have these tannins leaking out right under your deck stain…
Your sealant or stain won’t be able to adhere to the surface of your deck and it’ll completely destroy your stain or any type of sealant you put on your deck…
Make sense??
So if you’re sealing a deck for the first time, you should wait 2 to 3 months or until all of the tannins have stopped bleeding out of your new deck and then you should seal it…
Now, with all of that said…
Waiting 3 months before sealing a new deck is what I recommend you do, but there is a way to speed this whole process up so you can seal your deck straight away…
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How to remove the tannins so you can seal your new deck straight away…
There’s this product that you can scrub onto the surface of a new deck and it will remove all of the tannins from the wood…
It’s called Intergrain Deck Prep…
If you scrub your deck with Deck Prep and then pressure wash it, all you have to do is scrub your deck with a deck brightener and pressure wash it…
All you need is your trusty deck scrub brush…
And a bucket of course…
Then wet your deck down with the garden hose and scrub it with the Deck Prep…
You wait 20 minutes, making sure you keep the surface wet with a light mist from the garden hose…
Then after 20 minutes, you can pressure wash the deck and all the tannins should be gone…
You will need to follow up by scrubbing your deck with a brightener though…
The tanning remover will make your deck go a darkish colour…
The brightener will bring the natural colour back into your deck…
**I interrupt this broadcast for a special announcement**
If you’re in the US, you might not be able to get this product…
You can get a great tannin remover called Wood Deck Restorer…
It has the same active ingredient which is alkali salts…
You should check that one out instead…
**Now back to our regular broadcasting**
Where was I??
Oh yeah, we had just scrubbed your deck with the deck brightener and washed it off…
Once your deck is dry, then you’ll be able to seal your new deck…
You won’t have to worry about any tannins bleeding into your deck stain…
And you won’t have to wait to seal your new deck…
Here’s the thing…
You can use the Wood Deck Restorer and get great results…
But in my experience, when you let your new deck weather off for 3 months, then scrub it with a deck brightener, the appearance of the timber looks a lot better than rushing the process along…
I find that the weathered deck absorbs the stain or sealant a lot better and the natural wood grain comes through even more…
It is a personal preference but in my opinion, it is worth the wait…
Now with all of that said…
Not all New Deck Timbers will have Tannins…
It really depends on the type of timer that you use for your decking boards…
Merbua will have the tannins whereas some others like a spotted gum decking board have a lower level of the tannins…
But Spotted Gum does naturally have high levels of oil that can affect staining or sealing your new deck…
A lot of timbers also have oils from the manufacturing process that need to be removed…
The decking boards are pressure treated and can also have a lot of moisture in the wood…
Waiting for 3 months will allow tannins, oils, chemicals from the treatment process to break down…
This weathering process allows the timber to better absorb the deck stain or deck sealant you apply to it…
But I get it…
You have some concerns about letting your deck sit out in the weather without sealing it…
If you wait 3 months before sealing a new deck won’t it get damaged?
The type of timber used to build a new deck either has natural properties that protect it from the weather or it has been treated to withstand the weather…
Either way, if you leave your deck exposed to the weather for 2 to 3 months, it’ll be just fine…
It may start to lose its colour and possibly even grey off in sections but just make sure you scrub it with the brightener, and pressure wash your deck before staining, then it will look better than when it was first built…
In some cases, you’ll need to give it a light sand just to remove any raised fibres but it really is just light sand…
It will be a quick once over and your deck will be ready to stain…
If you are patient and follow what I’ve laid out above, you can get results like this…
This deck has been weathered and still looks great…
So don’t rush the process…
Give your deck the time it needs and then you can seal it…
Now I know this is great advice because I’m the one who gave it, but…
Not all decks can be wethered because they have a pergola or verandah that covers them…
Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered…
No pun intended…
How do you weather a new deck if it’s under cover?
Well you can clean it with the tanning remover that I mentioned above and skip the weathering process all together…
Or you can go out every day and hose it down for 2 to 3 months…
Just pretend it’s your new lawn and water it every day…
The wetting and drying will bring the tannins and oils to the surface and then wash them away…
After the 3 months of washing down, I would allow your deck to dry out for at least a week…
The roof over your deck will obviously block the sun so the drying process will take longer…
I hope that it all makes sense…
How about sealing a deck that has been stained…
Well, now you’re getting tricky, aren’t you??
But yes, of course you can seal a deck that has been stained…
The only thing is, if you are thinking about sealing over the top of your deck stain, there’s a few rules I like to stick to…
Like make sure you use a sealer from the same brand of stain that is on your deck…
In most cases, if you’re using a water based deck stain then this won’t be necessary…
Even a lot of the oil based stains won’t need to be sealed…
Well, what I’ve just revealed to you in this article is one of the most important things you need to know about sealing a deck for the first time…
The thing is, there’s actually 11 things you need to know about sealing a deck…
Waiting 3 months is so critical for a new deck but it’s not the only important thing you need to know…
You need to know when you can seal it, when not to seal it, the proper technique to sealing it…
You even need to know how much stain or sealant your can put on your deck without causing it too peel…
That’s right, applying too much sealant to your deck will cause it to peel off like a snake skin…
That’s why I can show you a way to apply just the right amount of sealant…
If you want to ensure that you’re sealing your deck the right way then click this link here and I’ll tell you exactly how to do it…
That’s it from me…
Good luck with sealing your deck…
Peace,
Jason
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FAQ’s
You should wait 2 to 3 months before sealing a new deck for the first time. You need to give it time for the tannins, natural oils and oils from the manufacturing process to be removed from your deck…
To prepare a deck before sealing you should scrub and wash with a tannin remover, then scrub and wash with a deck brightener. Allow your deck to dry for 2 days then you can give it a light sand and then it will be ready for sealing…
When sealing a new deck for the first time, you’ll only need to sand it if you have let it weather off first or if you have damaged the surface when you cleaned it…
Yes you should always pressure wash a new deck before sealing. You will either scrub your deck with a tannin and oil remover then pressure wash it or wait 3 months for it to weather naturally then pressure wash it…
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