To Stain Or Not To Stain

[silliemillie]

I have just had a new deck built & the guys who did said as it was pressure treated I did not need to do anything else to it.

My neighbour saw it today but told me I would have to stain it or it would go a grey/black colour. I don't like the sound of that.

Any opinions or experiences would be appreciated.

[ferlew]

I hate with a passion orange stained wood.
All my woodwork is pressure treated, and has aged to a lovelt silvery grey colour. The rest of the neighbours have orange fences and gates.
Orange seems to bring it nearer to the eye, lighter colours make it move away,

[woofgang]

I like the grey of aged wood too.

[tonyav]

If it's pressure treated I wouldn't stain it, silliemillie.

[gness]

Unless you want a colour I'd be inclined to leave it. When I had mine done I wanted it black....the guy in B&Q told me Cuprinol Shades would be fine.
It wasn't and peeled within months.....B&Q said it was the wrong paint and denied telling me it was the one to use.

I am now sanding it and redoing it with something else...a pain.

My daughter has left hers to weather naturally and it looks lovely....I'm just a sucker for black everywhere.

[silliemillie]

Don't really want to stain it so maybe I will leave it. I wasn't going to go orange, more like a light oak.

[Buenchico]

Why did I think of underpants when I saw the title of this post?
;-)

Anyway, I'd leave the decking unstained.

[humbersloop]

stain it and give yourself *another* job and expense every year, plus tipping more eco-unfriendly stuff into your surrounds, or leave it alone, pressure wash and scrub now and again

hmmm....

[silliemillie]

I was hoping you would all say that, didn't really want to stain it, you have convinced me I will leave it.

Out of interest, how long does it take to go grey?

[humbersloop]

what's the wood?

[tonyav]

A couple of years, silliemillie.

[ferlew]

Mine took 2/3 years, north facing. Pressure treated wood was guaranteed 15 years life. Been here 14 years and no sign of needing anything done.

[silliemillie]

That's great, thanks.
Humbersloop - ashamed to say I have no idea!! Its very light in colour.

[david21]

you don't need to do anything to protect it as just now as it is treated,but I would recommend that next year to clean or jet wash the flat areas(don't bother with decking cleaner, fairy liquid is just as good,honest) but do reseal the wood after it drys out(give it at least 24hrs on a dry summer night) then just use a paint roller with a reseal agent ,I use BQ's own brand CLEAR decking sealant,its about £30 for 5 ltrs but it go's a long way and is just as good as the branded products,make sure you get the CLEAR sealant,this will keep the wood with its natural colour and will only darken it very slightly,it looks dark when it go's on but don't panic,it lightens off.

[kjn2]

Had my decking down three years now. When it was first done I gave it a good coat of clear Liberon decking oil and have done so every year since, it still looks like the original colour and am very pleased with the results. Nice and easy to do too. Not the cheapest of decking oils but you get what you pay for.