6 Wood Finishing Myths You Should Stop Believing

Time and material cost spent in a woodworking project have the ability to turn the final finishing stage into a stressed situation. There are range of ideas you can click when concerned about finishing. Take a look at the usual wood finishing myths along with the actual concepts. Do read it, as you may come across some really useful details about wood finishing products.

1. Myth:Finishing on both sides of wood prevents or decreases warping.
   Fact: Finishing only slows but doesn’t reduce or prevent warping that results from wood shrinking. This is because moisture vapor goes through the finish and leads to warping up to an extent. Warping that’s caused by compression shrinkage on areas open to wetting & drying are not hindered.

2. Myth: For better results, sand to #440 or finer grit.
   Fact: Wood sanded to #440-grit has high gloss as compared to wood sanded to #180-grit, as #440-grit polishes more than #180-grit. However, no major difference is seen after application of any film finish. How about trying it and seeing how many hours you save.

3. Myth:Slow brushing leads to best results.
   Fact: Slow performance isn’t appreciated anywhere. Hence, brushing needs to be done rapidly. Make sure maintaining the control.

4. Myth:Brush should be applied across the grain first and then with the grain.
   Fact: You can opt for slow-curing finishes, like varnishes. Though you may get a coat that’s little more even in thickness but it won’t be visible.

5. Myth:The longer deck stain colors are left on the wood, the deeper they soak in the wood and the darker the wood turns.
   Fact: Yes, wood turns darker when stain is left for longer but the reason is different. Actually, some of the thinner in the stain evaporates, which increases the ratio of colorant to liquid. With high concentrations of colorant, darker colors are produced.

6. Myth:Apply and wipe off stain with the grain.
   Fact: When excess stain is wiped off, direction of stain application doesn’t matter. Also, it doesn’t matter in which direction stain is wiped off. What matters is making final pass with the grain, to ensure that streaks left are not noticeable.

Stop following anything you just hear from someone. Trust the proven results that have been explained to you quite clearly. Good luck!

 

The Role Of Temperature In Staining Outdoor Wood With Perfection

Nobody could ever deny the importance of staining his outdoor wood assets. From decks and patios to benches and railings everything should be treated with superior quality of wood finishing products. It is essential not only for defending them from decay but also they appear as beautiful as new after this.

When homeowners are keen to add to the curb appeal of their property they can select the best from variety of deck stain colors and apply them on the lumber. For staining you can hire professionals or you may keep the job with you if you have got the right tools, enough patience and time and most importantly knowledge of temperature.

Did you read it right? Was it knowledge of temperature? Yes it is all about temperature at the time when you took up the task of staining your external wood. For beginners it can be perfect to plan it on a weekend. After you get up late in the morning, naturally because it is a holiday, you spend some leisure time with your spouse and kids in preparing luxury breakfast. Post breakfast it may again take half an hour to one hour in collecting the things that will assist you in cleaning and staining your deck. Stop if it is already 1 or 2 in the clock. Many of you may ask why?

Well it is important to look for an ideal temperature so as to get the best staining results. For many homeowners it may come as a surprise that they should make use of deck sealer and stain after looking the weather forecast.

Noteworthy Points That Relate Temperature and Staining

1. High temperature may not be conducive for staining schedule as stain may dry too quickly. This will not allow penetration of stain deep into wood and therefore it is important to choose a day when temperature is either less than 90 degrees Fahrenheit or stain early in the morning.
2. A cloudy day is much better choice than a sunny day to stain your outdoor wood, but if rains are predictable refrain yourself from staining. Moisture and rain will not let the stain dry and it might get washed away with a pour.

 

Summer Special Tips For Staining Outdoor Wood

For deck owners summertime is deck time. Modern American homeowners understand the significance of their decks and patios. They are not mere extensions of your living space but they are perfect spots for all family gatherings and BBQs. This is possibly why they buy best of stain colors to beautify the wood decks and keep them in best state.

External wood especially that forms your deck is exposed to lot much of physical abuse. It is undoubtedly the highest traffic area of your house and is not spared from the Sun, wind, snow and much more on any given day.

What Comes Before Beautification of Deck?

Summer season is not difficult for human but for your wood too. While your expectations from your lumber patio and decks are high, they in turn need to be properly maintained and prepared for summer gatherings with the help of best quality of deck stain and sealer. You can do a lot like adding hanging pots to your deck for giving it a cool look. Some home owners prefer to shade it up with big and beautiful umbrellas while others bring some artificial fountains to give it special effects. From seating arrangements to lighting you can make it favorite spot for all because it is suitable to host friends’ reunion or family get together. But in absence of below mentioned small but very important steps it can all prove to be a failure.

Look out for dangerous signs. Your wood is subject to rotting and cupping. These when avoided can bring up the cases of injuries and tripping. Get them mended before you get into cleaning and staining your wood surface.

Ask questions to professionals. They know the best what kind of wood finishing products will suit the local climate. In many areas oil based premium wood deck finish will serve for two years or so.

Get engaged in cleaning. Don’t let the BBQ stains settle on wood surface. Clean the spills immediately as grease is not good for the finish. Make sure you don’t leave the debris over a week.

To help it look young and strong season after season you should do a lot when it comes to care and maintenance of timber deck.

Deck Staining Tips For Beginners

Have you moved into a new house that comes with a deck or patio? Or you have recently got one constructed for your family? Whichever is your reason to read this blog you certainly need tips related to wood finishing products to save your time, efforts and of course money.

Before you start with it even in your head, make sure you stick to the instructions given by manufacturer. Wood decks are beautiful but highly delicate. Their maintenance is highly important considering the physical abuse they are exposed to.

What All Deck Owners Should Know?

• Owning deck of your own means an extra space to enjoy and relax. Selection of right deck stain and sealer can rule the possibilities of having beautiful and well maintained deck.
  It is important that you pick quality stains from the myriads of options available in market. Don’t compromise with the quality of the stains and sealants you use. Use natural compounds that contain very low volatile organic compounds with deep penetration properties.

• Prepping up is most important. Your wood should be more than ready to be stained. You cannot only beautify your wood with cleaning and staining the wood deck but also add years to the life of your wood deck. How you can treat wood with sealants if it is not dried up. Allow the deck to dry for at least 48 hours. Clean the deck before staining. You must have adequate time gap between rain and staining process.
• Perform test stain. Before you apply the wood stain colors to the whole deck surface it is important that you test the stain on a wood sample. Allow it to set and dry down so that you can come to know the actual color during day light. This small but useful practice will help you decide do you need to apply a single coat or double for the desired results.

 

Wood Stains Are Worth Spending Money & Time

To improve the look and overall appeal of outdoor wood projects, wood stains are the best way. A number of advantages are offered by them along with cost-efficiency and convenience.

Want to know these wonderful reasons? Want to know why wood stains should be used on outdoor furniture, fences, decks and other projects? Check out the below given points:

1. Prevention of Rotting

   Wood when used outdoors without sealing, is highly prone to rotting. Apart from giving the unpleasant look, it creates a hazard of collapse. Though rot develops in many ways, mildew, mold and termites are the common reasons. Staining help to avoid rotting; however, you have to be careful regarding re-application of coats.

2. Protection from Sun and Moisture
   Water when enter inside the wood not only leads to rotting but causes other issues too. Yes, that’s right and one of the possibilities is breakage of wood. If this happens frequently, complete damage of wood is also possible. Also, sunlight destroys unsealed wood and results in discoloration. To preserve appearance, seal the wood with deck stain colors.
3. Cost Efficiency
   Wood is an exceptional surface for outdoor walking areas like decks. However food traffic leads to strain, which can be protected with sealant. Apart from being easy to apply and affordable, it lasts longer.
4. Preservation of Aesthetics
   Curb appeal of wood remains in its natural look. Stain keeps the grain visible. Moreover, it is available in variety of tints and colors; hence, customization can be expected. Uncolored stain can also be used to get the natural look.

You can get many other perks when working with stains. Best part is that they are easy to apply; thus, implementing the right technique can help you get the needed results. Take a look at the collection available and buy the best deck stain. Keep your wooden stuff look like new and maintained for years.

Experts Advice: Water-Based Or Oil-Based Stain Color For Your Deck

Stain colors are slowly gaining the attention of their consumers as they have proved their worth by saving the wooden furniture, floor and walls due to the application of some of the best products. Having a deck that lays around like a wrecked ship will only make your house look untidy and you don’t want that people should avert your house for parties and get together. Stain Colors will come to your rescue and bring peace to your life. But how do you come to a conclusion that which type of stain is best suited for you?

From a long time, water-based and oil-based stains are fighting the battle to get the tag of being the best but the science differs and both of them get the fair chance of being the number 1 choice of the customers.

Let’s look down to the circumstances when one of them is favored:

1. Water-Based Products

   These days, the experts are openly favoring water-based exterior wood stain as it has the following list of benefits:

   • Last longer than any other as their effects retain on wood surface
   • Protect the wood from UV rays and color fading
   • Doesn’t peel off that easily even after several footsteps or wiping
   • Inhibit the growth of pests, algae and mold

   • Easier to maintain due to longer durability

   The only problem here would be the tough application. This needs right equipment and skills to apply the stain on the deck in proper order and stay patient while doing the task.

2. Oil-Based Products

   Wood deck stain that are affordable and easily penetrates into the surface without many efforts are oil-based. If you are not looking out for something too durable rather more affordable then this is the apt choice. However, due to certain resin contents, you might expect pests growth. This makes the cleaning process more important due to which early peeling off occurs. Rest assured, if you’re a great care taker then these won’t trouble you at all.

Be conscious about your choice and needs before making a purchase. Experts are the best people to consult in case of any doubts.

How Wood Stains Work?

You may not realize the importance of staining your wood until there comes a time when you have to spend your weekend doing it. Seeing a porch or log home that needs staining badly is also a situation when you have no choice but staining.

Let’s explore how these stains work and why are they important…

Protection of the wood

Before talking about the way stains work, let’s discuss what makes them important. The most vital thing they do is protecting the wood from water. Moving on to other benefit, it is protection of wood against rotting and deteriorating. What else? Well, protection from the harmful sunlight.

How stain works

Generally, stain colors are available in three forms. Resin, oil and alkyd act as binders and attach to the pigment present on the wooden surface. The stain sinks in the wood in order to protect it deep into the layer.

NOTE: Softwoods such as cedar accept stains more readily than hardwoods such as oak.

As far as excess stain is concerned, it can be wiped away after the pigment once absorbed in the binder. This extra stain occurs after the solvent evaporates. After completing the staining process, finishing the job with a protective coat is essential to wrap up the task. Few options available are wax, varnish and polyurethane.

How often staining is needed?

To achieve the best results for the wooden surfaces, make sure staining smaller area every single year. For log homes, staining is needed every 2 years; however, you need to do less of it at times because it all depends on the stain used.

When staining and caring for the wood, preparation is the key. Here, it is useful to know that staining done in the afternoon gives good results because there’s neither morning dew not extra moisture.

If you don’t have time to do the staining on your own, there are many professionals who can help. Be it your porch, log home, deck or any other wood outdoors, they provide the exterior wood stain solutions for all.

New Solid Steps To Enriched Deck

Like every other part of your house, your wood deck also needs proper maintenance. Failure in protecting it from the harmful Sun rays would lead to before time fading of the wood’s natural shine and depreciate the life of the deck at the same time. It is important that you enhance the look of your deck with wood finish and increase the life of the wood.Staining is significant to complement the look of your home exterior. The wood stain colors impart beautiful colors to your deck floor and fences and also they protect the wood used in building the deck from rotting and warping. While building a deck, the deck owners should be aware of the fact that it will require regular maintenance such as staining.

What You Need To Know About Staining Deck?

Your deck is always exposed to the natural elements that are harsh enough to cause damages to the wood. It is not as simple as applying any exterior wood stain to your wood floor but it takes a lot more than this to protect your wood from the ill effects of them. It does not matter whether the deck is new or old when it comes to do the preparation for staining. You need to have a thoroughly cleaned surface to stain. Start from sweeping it and follow it with pressure clean. This should be aimed at removal of mill scale, mildew or mold accumulated on it. Old decks need special cleaning as the possibilities of accumulation of dirt and debris are much more than a new surface. Proper cleaning ensures that the wood floor stains are properly absorbed. It is equally important to leave the surface after the application of stain for minimum 24 hours to let the stain penetrate deep in the wood.

DIY Versus Experts

It is very much possible for you to stain your deck on your own. The only fact related to staining is that it needs high level of patience and professionalism to complete the job to the level of perfection. Years of experience with experts make them qualified for the job of staining.

Stains And How They Are an Ideal Choice For Your Deck

If paint is not your choice, you must consider transparent, solid or semi-transparent stains for your deck. It is good to know that stains belong to a broad category and encompass different types of finish material. No matter what type of deck you have or how small or big it is, giving it an elegant & sophisticated look is easy with best deck stain. Take a look at some of the compelling reasons to opt for stains.

1. They retain the natural look & feel of the wood. By using the good quality, it is possible to let the wood grain show through.
2. They are less slippery and protect the wood without creating a slipper surface.
3. Applying them is easy. Moreover, if one misses a sport here and there, no need to panic as it won’t become obvious.
4. There are too many varieties of colors available in deck stains. It is good to test an area with a certain wood as the color of the wood creates a big impact on the finished color of the stain.
5. Being thinner, they can be used to repair voids, cracks and splinters.

Stain is rustic looking and an ideal option for those who want natural look with rustic finish. This way, complimenting the look and feel of yard with the deck is way too easy.

With the right wood deck stain, it is possible to get look that lasts for years even after it has been left untreated any further. Reason being, these materials make the wood less water absorbent which keeps the wood dry on the inside. Besides, compounds present in stain protect the wood from damaging UV rays.

Get started now and add years to your wooden deck without putting in much efforts. To keep things going more favorable, try being attentive towards maintenance and cleanliness. Go, get staining now!

Time and Temperature Make the Best Time for Staining

To withstand the harsh conditions of American weather your deck needs your attention and best deck stain. It should appear good and it should be durable too because it has to deal with a lot of traffic coming in a home. The decks which are the extensions to living areas or are the part of backyards are the most used in comparison to the garden patios. Applying premium quality of wood deck stain will ensure the extended life of your wood. While many homeowners trust the professionals to take care of their deck few others have the skills and the tools in their homes to take up the deck staining project on their own. No matter you do it on your own or you hire a staining professional, you should know that time and temperature influence the results utmost.

When To Stain The Wood?

Wood used in your deck and fences has to deal with the harsh realities of the outer world. You cannot treat them anytime that is convenient for you like wood furniture kept inside your house. Deck stains used by the homeowners may not give the desired results when the preparation and the application are not proper.

The best time to stain your deck would be when the two factors- time and temperature work well with each other. It will depend on the size of the deck that how much time is required to stain the deck. On an average two days at the minimum are required to prepare and stain the deck. Preparation primarily revolves around the removal of the heavy objects and power wash the dust, dirt and debris from the wood surface.

Many homeowners don’t realize that summers are not ideal for staining the deck. You need the stains to be absorbed properly so that they stay for long. Higher temperatures and direct sunlight don’t allow the stain to dry on its own. Mild temperatures like early in the morning and later in the afternoon can be your choice in colder months when there is no direct sunlight.