Decks & Fences
What You Need to Know About Painting & Staining Decks & Fences
Whether you have an old aging deck or fence that needs to be brought back to life, or a brand new one, Shepard Painting Solutions can help bring your vision for it to fruition. We always recommend staining rather than painting when it comes to decks and fences.
Our go-to products are Super Deck by Sherwin Williams for decks and Woodscapes by Sherwin Williams for fencing. These stains come in both a solid base and a semi-transparent base. Which is right for you will depend on the look you want to achieve.
If your deck or fence has been previously coated with paint, however, then going with a high-end paint or porch enamel will be your best option for coating. Why? Here’s the rule of adhesion for coatings: You can paint over paint. You can stain over stain. You can even paint over stain. But you CAN’T stain over paint.
If you have a new deck or fence and want to keep that bare wood look, then going with a clear seal is an excellent option. We use Super Deck Waterborne Clear Sealer as our go-to sealer for decks and fences. The cleaning and application process is the same as with stain, but with a clear resulted finish.
Quick Definitions Of Clarities:
- Clear Sealer: Will seal your wood from the elements, but leave the surface 100% visible.
- Semi-Transparent: Stains the wood, but allows relatively high visibility of the wood surface beneath.
- Semi-Solid: Almost a solid coverage, but with slight visibility of the wood surface.
- Solid: Total coverage of the surface with a solid, uniform finished look.
When coming out to estimate your potential project, we will be able to recommend the best product and base direction for your situation.
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Solid stains are always a great choice, because despite what the current appearance of the surface is, the solid stain will make it look uniform once completed. On the other end of the spectrum, clear sealers & semi-transparent stains are best for scenarios where the wood grain and condition is either new or still in really good standing.
If the project calls for stain, regardless of what base we go with, it is important to prep the surface so that the wood will “accept” the new product. To accomplish this, we clean the surface of your deck or fence with DEFY Wood Cleaner. This product will not only clean the surface of the wood, but also open up the pores of the wood to make it more acceptable of a new stain.
Here’s a description of this great product from DEFY’s website:
DEFY Wood Cleaner is a safe, oxygenated bleach wood deck cleaning solution that effectively removes dirt, grime, mold, algae, and weathered graying from wood surfaces. Unlike most chlorine bleach based cleaners, this environmentally friendly product is biodegradable and will not harm wood fibers, pets, grass or most plants. Even new wood needs to be cleaned in order to remove mill scale to make the surface more porous to easily absorb stains.
After cleaning your deck or fence with wood cleaner, we then pressure wash the surfaces to remove the cleaner and any excess dirt or mildew. *We usually schedule to do this cleaning process at least one week prior to staining. If your project requires any scraping or sanding, we will do that just prior to staining.
Once the surface of your deck or fence is completely cleaned and dry, we will come back to complete the staining process. This typically takes 1 to 2 days (or longer), depending on the size of your project.
When applying stain on decks, we typically spray railings and spindles, and then back brush or roll them to push the product into the wood. For the deck surface we typically brush and roll, again to work the product into the wood. For fences, we spray, and then back roll to work the product into the wood grain. Two coats are always applied.
Deck stain dries relatively fast, but we recommend no foot traffic for 48 hours.
- DEFY Wood Cleaner
- Super Deck solid and semi-transparent stains by Sherwin Williams
- Woodscapes solid and semi-transparent stains by Sherwin Williams
- Super Deck Clear Seal by Sherwin Williams
What To Do To Prep:
- Remove any deck furniture, BBQ grills, etc.
- Make sure that all trees, bushes, plants, and vegetation are trimmed and not in contact with your deck or fence.
Check out some of our work right here.
Give Your Deck & Fence a New Lease on Life With Shepard Painting Solutions
Refresh your home’s curb appeal and give your deck or fence that brand new look with Shepard Painting Solutions. Call 330-904-5121 or reach out to us here on our website to schedule your free estimate today.
Looking for someone you can rely on to pressure wash your home, driveway, deck, or fence? Shepard Painting Solutions is your one-stop-shop for more than just painting services.
“He did a great job on my project. I will use him again! Thank you Michael! ”
– Ed Hauck, 5-Star Google Review
“Excellent work from Shepard Painting. Highly recommend.”
– Aaron Shay, 5-Star Google Review