Fishers stained deck - oil base

Ryan and I finished another deck on Tuesday. We used an oil base stain for the first time - normally we use waterborne stain. Oil base actually is better for decks but it is more difficult to work with, and also is high in VOC and odor. We also have to clean our sprayer with mineral spirits, which is different than cleaning with water.

A key to using oil base is to ensure less than 10% moisture in the wood. As we know water and oil do not mix. Also, there should not be any rain in the forecast for 24 to 48 hours.  It will take that long to dry to touch.  It may still be a little tacky.

Steps we took to complete this deck.

1. Pressure washed and cleaned the deck a week ago. This included digging out the bottom of the deck to ensure we could stain to prevent rotting (2 hours);
2. Washed the deck again on Monday with a Sherwin Williams Deckscape deck wash to ensure the deck was as clean as we could get it  (2 hours);
3. Purchased 4 gallons of Sherwin Williams Deckscape semi-transparent stain in "Hawthorne" color. We used almost all of it. When you sprain spindles, you get about 100 square feet (lose a lot to the air since you are not hitting surface all the time) per gallon and when you spray the floor, you get 200-250 square feet per gallon (2 hours);
4. Sprayed and back brushed the spindles and benches (2 hours); and
5. Sprayed and back brushed the floors (2 hours). 

Notes:
- Always wear a mask and protective glasses with oil base;
- Ensure you back brush all areas or you will get puddling, and it will not penetrate the wood as well;
- Do not get any stain on grass or flowers. The oil base will damage or kill any plants and grass; and
- All photos taken with my iPhone 4S.