Deck Painting & staining for Belmont, MA homeowners.

Outdoor wood around town comes in two broad kinds. An older house may have a painted porch floor, steps and railings that were part of its original design, while a deck added behind it later may be pressure-treated pine, cedar or composite. The two need different finishes, and putting a deck stain on a painted porch, or a floor enamel on a bare deck, sets the coating up to fail.

The size of the lot shapes the job too. In Belmont Park, the town's historic survey describes lots under a quarter acre, mostly built up between 1894 and 1899. On a lot that size, a deck may sit in the shadow of the house or the one next door for part of the day, and boards that stay damp are prone to mildew. Houses on the larger lots along Pleasant Street or on Belmont Hill's estate-like parcels may have decks exposed to full sun, where fading and drying out are the bigger issues.

Old painted porch floors

Census estimates show 57.1% of local housing units were built in 1939 or earlier. A front porch on one of those houses may have been repainted many times, and coats applied before 1978 may contain lead. Porch floors also take more wear than walls, so worn traffic paths and chipped tread edges are typical things to look for.

Stripping an old painted porch to bare wood so it can be stained is rarely practical, and it disturbs the oldest, most hazardous layers. A more practical route is to scrape loose paint, sand the edges smooth under lead-safe controls, prime bare spots and recoat with a porch-and-floor enamel. Our lead-safe painting page explains the rules that apply to that prep.

Shared stairs and porches on two-families

Units in two-unit buildings account for 29.7% of the housing stock. On these buildings a back stair, landing or porch may serve both units, and in that case it is one job even if two parties use it. When the units are separately owned as condominiums, the association documents may decide who maintains it; for that kind of building, see condo painting in Belmont.

Historic district porches

In the town's local historic districts, the Historic District Commission reviews exterior changes visible from a public way, including color and materials. A front porch facing the street will generally fall under that. The town's page says a same-color repaint needs a Certificate of Non-Applicability and a color change needs a Certificate of Appropriateness, so contact the commission before refinishing a porch inside the Pleasant Street, Common Street or Richardson Farm district.

Stain or paint, and when

Semi-transparent stain wears away gradually on walking surfaces and is simpler to renew; solid stain and paint hide more but can peel where water sits. Our deck paint vs. stain comparison goes through the trade-offs, and deck stain through a New England winter covers freeze-thaw.

Stain needs dry wood and a dry forecast for a day or two after application. Late in the year, short days and heavy dew close that window, but an estimate can still be done now with the cleaning and coating booked for spring.

• Wash, and strip if the old coating is failing
• Reset raised nails and replace split boards
• Let the wood dry before any stain goes on
• Finish rails, balusters and stair stringers with the same system