Deck Painting & staining throughout Marlborough, MA.

Deck boards are horizontal, walked on, and exposed to sun, standing snow and water at every seam and end grain. Which coating lasts depends on the wood, what is already on it, and how much sun and shade the deck gets.

Detached single-family houses make up 43.6% of the city's housing units, with another 7.4% in attached, townhouse-style buildings. Those figures do not count decks, but they show how many homes here have a yard of their own, where sun, shade and runoff differ from lot to lot.

Trees, leaves and shade

The city's 1994–95 historical survey describes local vegetation as largely deciduous, interspersed with stands of conifers. For a deck, that means leaves, seed pods and pollen piling up in fall and spring, damp spots that stay wet under a canopy, and tannin stains where wet leaves sit on the boards.

Shaded decks are where mildew and green growth take hold, and where film-forming coatings tend to lift because moisture gets trapped under them. A thorough cleaning, a wood brightener where the boards have grayed, and full drying time before any coat goes on matter more on a shaded deck than on a sunny one.

Lots near Lake Williams and the reservoir

According to the same survey, Lake Williams is the city's only natural lake; Fort Meadow Reservoir was formed by damming a brook in 1849. A deck that faces open water can get more direct sun and wind than one tucked into a wooded lot, which fades pigment faster and dries out the surface of the boards. Our Lake Williams page has more on that part of the city.

Wherever the deck is, check for soft wood near the ledger board, at stair stringers and around post bases before booking a coating. Boards that are breaking down need replacing first.

Picking a stain or a paint

Semi-transparent stain wears away gradually and is easy to renew, while solid stain and paint give more color and UV protection but can peel on flat walking surfaces. The paint vs. stain comparison goes deeper, and the post on deck stain through a New England winter explains how freeze-thaw affects each.

Older porches on pre-1978 houses may have lead in the paint on floors, railings or columns. Scraping more than 20 square feet of that paint as paid work falls under the EPA's renovation rule; see our lead-safe painting page.

• Pressure-treated pine: needs to dry out after installation before it will accept stain; takes semi-transparent or solid stain well
• Cedar and redwood: show off well under a transparent or semi-transparent oil-based stain
• Previously painted or solid-stained decks: a penetrating stain will not soak in until the old film is stripped
• Porch floors and railings: porch and floor enamel suits tongue-and-groove boards under a roof

Related work

If the house trim next to the deck is peeling too, the exterior painting page explains siding and trim prep. The general deck service page covers what a full restoration includes.