My old deck stain job started peeling after just one winter

I stained our back deck in late September, thinking it would hold up fine. By April, whole sections were flaking off like old paint. The guy at the paint store said I probably didn't clean it well enough before I started, which makes sense because I just hosed it down. I had to rent a power washer and spend a whole weekend stripping it all off to start over. What's the best way to prep a wood deck for stain so this doesn't happen again?

3 comments

3 Comments

finley_lee1mo ago

Saw a tip about using deck cleaner, not just water.

lily_ramirez41mo ago

Totally agree, water just pushes the dirt around. I tried a basic cleaner last summer and it actually lifted the grime out of the wood grain. The deck looked brand new for months after.

derekgibson2d ago

That whole "water just pushes the dirt around" thing from lily_ramirez4 really hit home for me. I used to think a good rinse would be enough because it looked clean after, but that first flaking job taught me I was dead wrong. Now I always use a proper deck cleaner and a stiff brush before anything else - it gets all the old grime and pollen out of the grain that water alone just floats around. The difference in how the stain adheres is night and day, no more peeling after one season. Finley_lee's tip about using deck cleaner is solid, I wish I had listened to that advice before I messed up my whole first attempt.