My cedar deck needs recoating after the disappointing failure of a product less than two years old. Worked great on the fence/crappy on the deck. I'm wondering the success rates on the products you've used. I've got good prep, just need a lasting product. Hopefully in semitransparent to show the cedar's nice grain...... I know I'll lose some durability versus a solid body stain, but that can be used down the road in a few years. Thanks !

If you use cedar, you should plan on staining every 2-3yrs...if little use and a solid stain, some can go 5yrs.
There are quite a few companies that make deck stain, I used to recommend one over the other but it seems like every year, companies sell, products change, etc, etc. so I would say go with any name brand stain. Just be sure to use a stripper and get all the old stain off and then a brightener since you're going transparent. Stain isn't paint so you don't want to do multiple coats, it's meant to soak into the wood.
Lately I've had good results in CWF and Sherwin Williams deckscapes but I believe the biggest part of that is good prep work and a good application.
Hope that's of some help.
Rob

Rustoleum deck restore in the process of doing mine. Stuff Iis a 1/4 Iinch thick and best part 12 yeqr warranty. My brother did his earlie this year in july stuff is awesome!

Thompson water seal, They say its Uv protection in it now. Just did this on a 10ft section of my fence we'll see how it holds up.

Lots of time, and careful preparation.

Deck stripper, lots of it, mixed half and half with water - forget the instructions, you will dilute it too much to work effectively.

Use a coarse bristle scrub brush on a screw in broom handle for application. Your back and your lungs will thank you.

Wear a respirator unless you have a good breeze blowing - the fumes are nasty.

Rinse thoroughly, and apply the bleaching agent while the wood is still wet - better penetration.

Use the bristle brush for applying, and re-apply while it is still wet, and go back over it scrubbing it into the surface several times. Spend a couple hours doing this, and keep the surface wet - you will end up with a consistent surface that will take the new coating much better, with no blotching or streaking.

Let the surface dry out thoroughly for a couple hot sunny days ideally. Same goes for application weather - you want hot dry sunny days, and warm nights, little or no humidity. If you apply around 1-2 pm, any morning dewfall is gone, the surface is hot and dry, and there is plenty of time for drying before nightfall.

Longest lasting finish is Tung oil. It needs to be put on wet, sit for a couple hours, and have the excess wiped off to dry overnight. A thin pile paint roller on a broom handle with roller tray is your friend again, and allows you to lay out the oil evenly. The more coats you put on up front, the better. Tung oil penetrates the surface of the wood, and is a resin based finish that hardens up as it cures, so instead of a thin surface covering that can peel and flake off, the entire top layer of wood is sealed, hardened, and bonded to the surface layer. Just make sure you remove the excess with rubbing down the surface with rags cut from old towels within a couple hours of application.

I took a left over piece of western maple butcher block counter top made from wood I cut and glued up. With a router cut groove around the outside edge to drain off water into the sink, I turned it into a dish rack drain board ! It matched the counter tops I had fabricated, and looked cool. The only thing holding it together was white wood glue, and about 20 coats of Tung oil. It saw continuous use for over 10 years as a dish drain board with no change in appearance, and no failure of the glued up strips of maple.

Your only maintenance will be to clean it every couple years with a good deck cleaner, and apply a single coat of oil just for insurance.

Penofin
http://www.penofin.com/products_rl.shtml

(I use the red label premium grade, a little harder to find than the blue label which you can get at Lowes etc)

/thread

I have a 12 year old deck and have used the Thompson Water Seal on it regularly. Just a quick pressure wash, let dry, and spray using a "deck spray tank" which is smaller than most garden sprayer and has a better nozzle. Don't overdo the spraying as you want all the product to be absorbed. After washing, I just retreat those areas that don't "bead up".

Avoid anything that leaves a "membrane coating" like the new deck restoring products. All they do is trap moisture in the wood and it will accelerate rot. Any product with linseed oil will eventually blacken in the sun.

I just used the clear Water Seal and the wood grain shows nicely.

I'm going the Penofin route.....

The young bride & I busted ass in Wednesday afternoons heat to do the strip/clean/brighten treatment. Thursday's heat to dry..... (+ eat our way around the fair ! ) What a great product line. Should have taken a before pic. Its like I put new cedar down.... today crapped out with no sun on the plateau...... I need some heat early Saturday to get this done before Sunday afternoon's precip....... pray for me.

Thanks for the tips & tactics, I'm appreciative.

Do we get an after pic?

Thompson is great. Did my deck in it this summer. The deck is cedar and I used their "natural cedar" tinted sealant - probably not what you would want to use, as it sort of comes out looking pinkish, like moist cedar wood, but it has been browning slowly over the last couple months. The clear sealant will show off the grain.

Raining heavy as hell right now and the rain just beads up on it.

Make sure to get the pressure washer down in the cracks between the 2x4s, and when you apply the sealant, get a heavy coat on there so that it seeps down between the cracks to seal between the beams. Otherwise, the wood can rot out from the side.

Had to pressure wash and sand the deck twice before all of the old coating was gone, and enough good wood was exposed for treatment. Took about a week to do, as it required two days for the wood to fully dry after each pressure washing, even in the hottest days that we had this summer. You might be too late in the season to pull this off.

I used to use Thompson, but it didn't last too well. Looked great the day after applying though.

Most of the cedar lumber yards (eg Issaquah) recommend Penofin. It's a cedar thing.

I could have rolled the dice/pulled the trigger Saturday afternoon and applied a first coat, but product said it needs 24 hours before any rainfall. I didn't, & now second guessing that decision.......... so hard to predict my weather in the foothills here.

24 hours after coating is on the safe side. But you also want to make sure it is bone dry before applying.

Rolled the dice & threw down a first coat late this afternoon....... soaked in like a sponge..... will have to settle for coat #2 another day.... eventually, pics !