Deck Painting & staining serving Dover and Metro West MA.

A deck coating lives or dies by how fast the boards dry. In a town where 1999 land-use data counted 5,706 forested acres out of 9,876, and the 2011 Open Space plan describes two-acre zoning across most of the map, a deck may well sit at the edge of woods. That brings shade, leaf and needle litter, pollen, and boards that stay damp for hours after a rain.

Damp wood grows mildew and algae, and leaves left in piles stain the surface and hold water against it. A deck in full sun has the opposite problem: UV breaks down stain on the horizontal boards faster than on the rails. Before choosing a product, it's worth watching where water sits and where the sun lands over a full day.

Choosing the coating

For a shaded deck, a penetrating stain with mildew resistance is usually easier to live with than a film that traps moisture. Rails, balusters and fascia, which shed water, can take a solid stain or paint even when the floor boards get something lighter.

• Transparent and semi-transparent stains soak in and show the grain; they wear gradually and are easy to refresh
• Solid stains hide grain and older blemishes but form a film that can peel on walking surfaces
• Porch and deck paints give the most color control but need the most prep at recoat time
• Composite and PVC decking is generally not stained; it is cleaned instead

Wood species and prep

Pressure-treated pine, cedar and tropical hardwoods each take stain differently. New pressure-treated lumber is often too wet to absorb stain right away; sprinkle water on it, and if the drops bead up and sit, it isn't ready. Cedar takes penetrating stain well but its surface grays quickly without UV protection. Dense hardwoods such as ipe need oils formulated for them, since ordinary deck stains don't soak in well.

Prep is most of the job: replace split or soft boards, reset popped nails or screws, clean with a deck cleaner and brightener, and sand any furred or mill-glazed areas. If the old coating is a peeling solid stain or paint, it has to come off, or be fully covered with another film coating, before a penetrating stain can work.

Old porches, trees and water

Census data show 61.1% of housing units here were built before 1980. A painted porch floor or railing on one of those houses may carry lead paint, which calls for lead-safe scraping and cleanup rather than power sanding; see our lead-safe painting page.

Most of the town drains to the Charles River, which forms much of its western and northern edge. If you want trees cut back to give a deck more sun, the town says it currently has no jurisdiction over private trees, except those in a public right-of-way, an easement, or a wetland or perennial-stream buffer zone. Strippers and cleaners should be kept out of streams and wetlands in any case.

When to schedule it

Deck stain needs dry wood, temperatures within the label's range, and no rain for a day or so after application. Shaded boards on a wooded lot take longer to dry after a wet night, which can push start times later in the day. What winter does to deck stain explains why fall prep pays off by spring.

AJ Painting Services is based in Ashland and is licensed and insured. A free on-site visit ends with a written estimate that covers repairs, cleaning, the product and the number of coats.