I built a wooden deck around our above ground pool a couple of years ago. We used pressure treated pine for the project. I let the wood weather for a couple of months and then pressure washed it, allowed it to dry and sprayed it with a semi transparent deck stain. It didn't last 3 months before the high traffic/wet areas began to lose color. I am assuming it is from kids getting in and out of the pool and the water and cholrine, because the rails and "non traffic" areas look okay.


Any ideas on how to make the stain hold longer?

I am considering stripping it with a deck wash and power washer tomorrow. I'm just not sure how to restain it without it looking bad in a couple of months

at entry poits we always put ALLOT of stain to make it hold for more than one season. Or you can place a mat or section of hydroturf to keep the frecktion off the wood.

FWIW.....if you add alittle stain everyother month when you go to patch a bad area it dosnt look darker than the other areas...

good luck with it.......

after staining you could put down a couple of coats of clear polyurethane lacquer to seal the stain in and provide a protective barrier, BUT, that stuff would probably be slicker than owl snot when wet!! You are probably stuck with having to reapply annually.

Get two coats of a good oil stain (Sikkens, Flood, Cabots) down after you have removed all prior stain with a stain stripper (Flood makes a good one). In areas with no stain left, use a cleaner with oxalic acid, then pressure wash.

I just used a Flood CWF UV5 Oil on a redwood deck that was originally stained about 8 years ago. Looks like a million bucks. I am going to use the same stuff on the cedar siding.

Guys around here that specialize in log homes, wood sided homes and deck restoration say that stripping down to bare wood, putting in two coats (which I did) and then refreshing with a quick "kiss and a promise" coat on a yearly basis will keep houses and decks looking fine.

Hope this helps.

Sikkens is expensive but it seems to be the way to go. A buddy of mine does a LOT of remodeling jobs. He switched all his deck stain to Sikkens and has not had a call back. He said it has actually cost him business because his customers don't need re-stains. It is expensive.

I'm just curious at to how well this stuff (any stuff) is going to hold up during the summer to getting wet and wet often with chlorinated pool water.

put sum hydroturf on it

Put down a solid stain, they hold up better than a semi-transparent. I have a deck that I would have to restain EVERY year, despite putting down a quality stain. I used deck cleaner and put down a solid stain, it looks great and really holds up. You can get it in any color you want and can find quality solids in latex.