Composite Decking

How To Stain Composite Decking

Once sealed, a wood deck needs to be resealed periodically to maintain its structural integrity. Without sealing, most wood decks have a lifespan of as little as 10 years. It may be treated to retard rotting and reduce insect damage but it is neither stained nor sealed when received from the lumber yard. A sealant is applied by the deck builder, and sealing is part of the builder's price for his or her labor of building the deck.

I have done everything from oil based semi trans to solids and they hold up well. Messmer's makes a stain/sealer that replicates OEM color.

The Trex is actually in pretty good shape except for some staining , but the support beams were rotted to the point that screws no longer held in place. To save money and resources, we chose to clean and stain the Trex and replace it. Lumber being what it is, some of the old screw holes did not exactly line up with the new beams, so there are a good number of empty screw holes I would like to fill in. I tried some DAP Platinum and it cracked and bulged, and turned to a flakey powder. I need something that can be sanded or will maintain shape after being placed and can take a solid stain.

Color Selector

DEFY Extreme Solid Stain would be your best bet. That can be applied over top of other types of solid stains, as long as they are in tact, and not peeling.

When you take the pool cover off there is a clean spot underneath. Waterproofing and shielding your exterior composite surfaces is a great way to protect them for years to come.

I've seen advertised that some wood stains will also go on composite. Is this correct or is there something out there specific for the job? Any stain containing a special blend of zinc particles is a plus. Zinc is a natural deterrent to black mold, mildew, algae, and fungi.

Dense materials retain more heat and get hotter than less dense materials. In our backyard tests, composites reached Fahrenheit 109° to 111° (Celsius 42.77° to 43.89°) on a sunny summer day where the air temperature was a relatively mild 85° (31.67°). One serious drawback to composite decking is ignored by everyone except engineers and scientists, and certainly never talked about by composite manufacturers.

DEFY Extreme Composite Deck Sealer contains zinc nano-particles that reflect the damaging ultraviolet rays from the sun. When you reduce the size of these zinc particles down to the nano level, they become invisible to the naked eye. These nano-particles are distributed at a rate of over 30 trillion per square inch of surface area to provide protection from the sun, much like in sun blockers and sunscreen lotions. This will not only help to prolong the graying, but, as the nano-particles are highly resistant to mold and mildew, will enable you to retain the natural color. Spray the deck with a hose to remove surface dirt and debris. Clean in sections with a soft bristle brush. Do not allow cleaner to dry on the surface before rinsing.

Marine Seal Wooden Dock Cleaner

• Well, most modern manufacturers like Trex are going to recommend that you don't seal their products.
• Don’t worry about the aluminum getting hot in the summer, it doesn’t get any hotter than wood or composite that’s laying in the sun.
• They have railing too and there’s many trim pieces that make it look great.
• It’s made to use as a water tight deck above patios or other decks but we used it everywhere including our front porch.
• They have many different colors and it looks great.

Here is the information you will want to have to make your decision… . So, while 100% recycled composites can be somewhat "greenish", they typically have been found by life-cycle studies to be a lot less green than most common deck woods, even treated wood. And this difference is even more pronounced if the natural wood is harvested from managed forests.

How Do You Remove Grease From Trex Decking?

There is probably a big market for people looking to fix those. In theory, that should be less and less common as time goes on. A lot of the people who were early adopters have already demo'd the decks and rebuilt them with newer generation stuff, or, much more commonly, wood. Lot of people are very wary of the composite stuff now, which is a shame because the new stuff is actually fantastic. Out of curiosity, why are you looking to seal a composite deck? If it's a first-generation wood composite I'd guess black algae.

A single maintenance coat of Defy Composite Deck Waterproofing Sealer is enough. I'd be curious to see if any of the big three actually say to use a sealer. Obviously my job is mainly paint, but I've done a bit of training for the decks and none mentioned sealers. I wasn't trying to pass blame, I just know from experience. When my mom and her husband built a new house in 2008 they put a composite deck on and after 2 years it was all faded out on one side of the house. They called the manufacturer and were basically told "It's your fault because you didn't seal it". Even though they were never told that was a requirement.

To maintain the beauty of your composite deck, sweep or use a leaf blower to blow away dirt and debris at least twice a week. Deep clean using the directions below at least twice a year.

Chomp Worlds Best Composite & Wood Deck Cleaner Gallon

The color is light gray with dark mold spots in the walking area. I clean the deck every spring the spots disappear for a while, here it is July and the dark spots have appeared again.