Deck Painting & staining serving Bridgewater and Metro West MA.

Detached single-family houses make up 63.5% of local housing in the latest Census estimates, and another 7.5% are attached single-family units such as townhouses. On a detached home the owner picks the stain and the schedule. On an attached unit, a deck may share a railing line or privacy wall with the neighbor, and an association may set the color, so read the rules first; association work is covered on the condo painting page.

Every deck finish trades protection against ease of renewal. Clear and toner finishes show the most wood and need recoating soonest. Semi-transparent stains add pigment for UV resistance and still wear evenly. Solid stains and deck paints hide the grain and block the most sun, but they form a film that can peel and must be scraped before the next coat.

Wet ground and shade

Part of the Hockomock Swamp, a state Area of Critical Environmental Concern, lies in town. The Taunton River begins here where the Matfield and Town Rivers meet, and Lake Nippenicket covers nearly 500 acres. Not every yard is damp, but where a deck sits low over moist soil or under heavy tree cover, the boards dry slowly and mildew and algae get a foothold.

Those decks do better with a stain that contains a mildewcide, a yearly cleaning, and gaps between boards kept clear so leaves and water do not sit on the joists.

Wood types and their quirks

The paint vs. stain comparison goes into the trade-offs in more depth.

• New pressure-treated lumber is still wet from treatment and needs to dry until water soaks in rather than beading
• Weathered pressure-treated boards turn gray and check; a cleaner and brightener bring back color, and a bit more pigment hides wear
• Cedar resists rot but is soft, so it dents under furniture; penetrating stains suit it well
• Composite and PVC decking is mainly a cleaning job; check the manufacturer's guidance before any coating
• Dense tropical hardwoods such as ipe reject ordinary stains and take oils formulated for them

From inspection to final coat

The job starts with a walk-around: probing posts at grade, the ledger where the deck meets the house, stair stringers and any board that flexes underfoot. Popped nails are replaced with screws and soft boards are swapped before cleaning. Next comes an oxygen-based cleaner for gray wood, or a stripper if an old film is coming off, then a gentle rinse and a brightener. High-pressure washing can raise grain and gouge soft wood, so it is used sparingly.

After a couple of dry days, stain is applied by brush or pad, worked into board ends and back-brushed into the grain. Railings and balusters are usually coated first so any drips land on boards that have not been finished yet.

Painted porch floors on older houses

Porch floors on older homes are traditionally painted rather than stained, and with 11.9% of local houses built in 1939 or earlier, a porch floor may carry many coats. The 1981 state survey identified porches with turned posts as a mark of the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses built in the 1870s through the 1890s along South, Crescent, Summer, Auburn and Plymouth Streets. On a house from before 1978, scraping more than 20 square feet of that porch paint brings lead-safe rules into play; the lead-safe painting page explains what that means on site.

Stain and porch enamel need dry wood, mild temperatures and a clear forecast through the cure, which in this region means late spring into early fall. If the house body is also due, the exterior painting page explains why siding goes first. For product life through freeze and thaw, see how deck stain survives a New England winter.