How to Paint Pressure-Treated Wood

Hello, I have a 2 year old porch constructed from pressure treated lumber. Tom recently talked about using oil-based solid stains for fences and discussed his own success with this type of product (it lasting 15 years on his fence!)…

Hello,

I have a 2 year old porch constructed from pressure treated lumber. Tom recently talked about using oil-based solid stains for fences and discussed his own success with this type of product (it lasting 15 years on his fence!)

Can I use an oil-based solid stain for my porch and will I have to do any special prep work because it is pressure treated?

Tom, can you share what type of stain you used on your fence or is it proprietary (LoL)?

Thanks for your help, I love the show.

Jeff

Our Answer

The secret to a long life for your stain is in the deck preparation – that is, making sure the deck is clean and stain-free. Assuming preparation is sound, the best approach is use of an oil-base primer, and then an acrylic latex solid stain. Only the primer should be oil-based – it’s what bonds it. There’s the option of staining porch decking without priming, and there are many products that will work fine doing this. I personally think, though, that you get the longest life expectancy if you prime first and stain second. In terms of specific manufacturer, on the last project I did I used Sherwin-Williams. Specifically, I used Sherein-Williams' solid stain, and I used it on my house's siding. It still looks great.