Deck Painting & staining across Berlin, Massachusetts.

A deck wears differently from siding. The boards lie flat, so rain and snowmelt sit on them instead of running off, the top face gets direct sun, and foot traffic grinds away the finish on stairs and along the path to the door. A deck finish therefore wears out well before the paint on the walls beside it.

Local housing gives two very different starting points. About 42% of units were built in 2000 or later, and about 22% date from 1939 or earlier. A recent house may have an open deck of treated lumber, cedar or composite; an older one may instead have a covered porch with painted floorboards. The work for each is different, and so is the right coating.

Newer decks: pressure-treated lumber and cedar

On a deck built in the last twenty years, the framing is usually pressure-treated, and the decking may be treated pine, cedar or composite. New treated wood is often still wet from the treatment and should dry before its first stain; sprinkle water on a board, and if it soaks in rather than beading, it is ready. Cedar takes penetrating oil stains well but its tannins can bleed through a light solid color unless a stain-blocking primer goes on first.

Composite decking generally does not get stained. Cleaning is its main upkeep unless the manufacturer approves a coating, and painting it can void a warranty. Railings, posts and fascia around a composite deck are often wood and still need finishing.

• Semi-transparent stain: shows grain, wears gradually, easiest to renew
• Solid stain: hides grain and mismatched boards, blocks more UV, can peel on horizontal surfaces
• Porch and floor paint: full film, for painted porch floors and steps rather than open decks
• Clear sealer: water repellent with little UV protection; wood grays faster

Porch floors on the older houses

The Massachusetts Historical Commission's survey of the town notes a local version of the three-bay, gable-end side-passage house in which one corner of the front facade is cut away to form a porch with a second side entry. A recessed porch like that, and the covered porches on other older homes, may carry paint on the floorboards, steps and railing, and once a surface has been painted, stain is no longer an option without stripping.

On a house built before 1980, which describes 42.7% of local housing units, those porch layers may include lead-based paint. Scraping porch floors and railings counts toward EPA's lead-safe threshold for exterior work, which is 20 square feet of disturbed paint. See our lead-safe painting page for what that involves.

Water, shade and the lot around the deck

The town sits in a low range of hills between the Nashua and Assabet river valleys, and its streams, the largest being North Brook, flow into the Assabet River, which crosses the town's southeast corner. Topography alone says little about a particular backyard, though. Boards close to the ground, under overhanging trees or on the north side of a house stay damp longer and grow mildew and moss; boards in open sun dry fast but lose stain color first. A low deck with poor airflow may need the stain matched to slower drying and more frequent cleaning.

Shared decks on attached homes

Single-family attached homes make up about 20% of local housing units. Where decks and railings run between neighboring units, a color change on one side can stand out, and an association may control the color or product. Check those rules before choosing a stain, and coordinate with the neighbor if a shared railing or stair is part of the job.

For a broader look at how stain and paint differ on decks, see our paint vs. stain comparison and how deck stain holds up through a New England winter.