The outdoor porch floor is stained for the season! This was a huge relief. Staining a deck or outdoor porch here in New England is always a timing challenge. You have to wait until the snow melts and the weather warms up to about 60 degrees which is usually sometime in April. But, then the April rains arrive so you have to watch the weather for at least three consecutive dry days. Staining in May is tough because a blanket of green pollen covers everything for three weeks straight. If you wait until June, the humidity kicks in. See what I mean – an enormous timing challenge!
The outdoor area is a covered porch off the back of our house. The floor boards are tonge and groove wood. We last stained the floor two years ago. Between the morning sun that beats down on the outer edges and our beagle that scrapes it with her nails, the wood porch floor really needed to be stained this year.
There are two types of stain we prefer. The first is Cabot Gold. We used Cabot several times and like the way it covers. Cabot Gold is a line of pre-mixed satin finish stains that leave a nice satin sheen. We used the Moonlit Mahogany, a dark brown with red undertones. It’s a really nice contrast against the bright white railings. The stain is a semi-solid or semi-transparent (not specified), but unlike the solid stains which have the look of paint, the semi’s offer intense coverage and the true look of a
The other outdoor stain we really like and have used is Olympic. We used the Olympic two years ago and I actually think it wears better than the Cabot. We just couldn’t seem to find the Mahogany color match in a semi this year, so we went with the Cabot this year.
Applying porch/deck stain is a little back-breaking so be prepared. I applied the stain with an inexpensive synthetic brush. The instructions for stains usually call for a natural bristle brush, but the synthetic worked just fine.
Simply dip the brush in the stain and brush it on. Work on just three tongue and groove boards at time and cover the entire length of the board with stain so you don’t get lap marks. Allow at least 48 hours to dry and then apply a second coat.
That bench now needs a coat of natural stain and and the white railings need a coat of solid white stain. It’s been a few years since we stained the railings. We used Olympic Maximum semi-solid white on the railings and it held up extremely well so I plan to use that again.
Can’t wait to get the furniture and some hanging flower baskets back out on the deck.
On to another project!
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