Deck Painting & staining serving Raynham and Metro West MA.

Census data counts 67.9% of Raynham's housing units as single-family detached houses, and 78.1% of occupied homes are lived in by their owners. One in four homes was built in 2000 or later, so a deck's age can range from a few years to many decades.

Whatever the age, three things decide how long a deck finish lasts: what the boards are made of, how wet they stay, and what coating is already on them.

Wet ground and slow drying

The Taunton and Forge Rivers run through town, and roughly 2,700 acres lie inside the Hockomock Swamp Area of Critical Environmental Concern, which takes in the Dead Swamp, part of Titicut Swamp, Lake Nippenicket and Gushee and Hewitt Ponds. A deck that backs onto wetland, a pond edge or thick woods can hold morning dew for hours and dry slowly after storms.

Boards that stay damp grow mildew and algae, turn slick, and push water against the finish from below. Clearing debris from the gaps between boards and making sure air can move under a low deck does more for a stain's life than a heavier coat. Stain also needs boards that have dried for a day or two before it goes on, which can mean waiting longer on a shaded lot.

Matching the finish to the wood

Pressure-treated pine is a common choice for framing and decking on backyard decks. New boards can be too wet to absorb stain for weeks or months; sprinkle water on them, and if it beads, wait. Cedar weathers to gray in sun and takes a penetrating oil or semi-transparent stain well. Composite and PVC boards do not need stain, though they still need cleaning, and some can be coated with products made for them.

Semi-transparent stain soaks into the wood and wears away gradually, so the next coat is mostly a cleaning and reapplication. Solid stain and paint form a film that hides worn wood, but on walking surfaces that film can peel where water sits. Our paint vs. stain comparison goes deeper.

• Wash with a deck cleaner and rinse well
• Use a brightener on gray or weathered wood
• Strip or sand off peeling solid stain before recoating
• Swap out split boards and set popped nails or screws
• Coat board ends and stair treads, where water soaks in first

Porches and older houses

Raynham has 508 housing units built in 1939 or earlier. Porch floors and steps on houses that old can be painted fir or pine, and the paint on them may be decades deep. If the house predates 1978, scraping or sanding that paint falls under EPA lead-safe rules for paid work; see our lead-safe painting page. Keeping a painted porch floor painted with a porch-and-floor enamel is usually simpler than stripping it for stain.

Scheduling around the weather

Deck stain needs a stretch of dry days and temperatures in the range on the product label, with no rain for several hours after application. Fall dew and short days narrow that window. An estimate in the off-season lets cleaning and repairs be planned so the staining can start as soon as spring weather allows. Our post on deck stain through a New England winter explains how freeze-thaw cycles wear a finish.