brand new decking - now to paint, stain etc

[danieljephcott]

Hello All, I hope you can help.

I have just had my decking built, im not sure what wood it is but it is pressure treated and is just the normal decking and material you get from b&q etc.

Anyway at the moment the decking’s a yellow, sandy wood colour but as ive had the decking built right up to my French doors its literally like a continuation of my lounge. My lounge floor is a grey laminate and I really want to continue the colour theme on to my decking.

What Im worried about is that I paint the decking and then next year its all flaking off and it becomes a yearly pain in my a***. So I just wanted to ask for your feedback on what products to use and the best way to prep and preserve the finish before I get stuck in. Also if you all come back and say that paint isn’t going to be a good idea then some ideas on what to use would be great.

I hope you can help.

Thanks

dan

 

[danieljephcott]

just noticed you can get grey decking stain so which ever is the best option to achieve a grey decking.

thanks

 

[rjm2k]

Personally I would never paint decking, but use an oil based stain.

 

[danieljephcott]

i know a lot of people would say the same and in most cases i would agree but the colour wouldnt look right in our garden or coming off our house but a grey would certainly finish off our 12 months complete house/garden renovation.

so staining is best and an oil based grey stain should be used?

something like this?

http://cuprinol.trade-decorating.co.uk/products/cuprinol_ultra_tough_decking_stain.jsp

im not sure if its oil based though

 

[danieljephcott]

after a little more research im thinking that painting the deck might be the best idea. im not fussed about keeping the wood grain so what ive read is that paint will last a lot longer and protect the wood better than a stain would.

what you guys think

 

[r896neo]

I think trying to paint it will be a disaster. If you primed and painted it all before laying it would be fine but if its already down you can paint the underside or ends and so the damp will almost certainly blister the paint over a shortish time.

 

[danieljephcott]

the decking is already down, if i had done it myself then i would have painted everything first and then layed it down.

basically i want grey decking, i just want the best way to achieve these results without having to re do it every year etc.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I did a deck grey once, (not stained more of a paint wash), it needed a re-coat every say 12 months to keep it looking really slick though following its annual clean, but it didn’t flake. If you don’t mind a touch up every twelve months then go for it and ignore the heathens on here. Painting a deck can be done in an hour or so. I can dig out a photo somewhere and the product if you like?

 

[danieljephcott]

Yes please. I don't mind a quick touch up that's absolutely fine. Giving it a clean and another coat is easy. It's the scrubbing the flaking off sanding and re painting I didn't want to do.

Look forward to seeing it.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'm gonna have to find it now aren't I! I don't live there anymore.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I used this stuff: http://cuprinol.trade-decorating.co.uk/products/cuprinol_garden_shades.jsp will see if I can find a photo.

 

[danieljephcott]

thats great, thank you very much, i was looking at this stuff. ive grabbed a tester pot so will take a little look.

any tips on how to put it on? should i use the decking cleaner stuff first then just paint straight on?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Well when I applied it I just used a wide paintbrush and did two coats, the deck was new so didn't bother with any pre-treatments. After a while it would dull, more so in the higher trafficed areas but it never flaked off.

 

[danieljephcott]

great stuff, dulling isnt something im worried about as i dont mind giving it another coat its the flaking which is a pain in the back side.

Well lets see if the wife likes the colour then ill get on with it, will post up results

 

[boogle2000]

A late post on this threat, but might be useful. I've been thinking about sorting out some decking for a while so I ordered a range of Cuprinol ultra tough stains in August and painted them onto an old decking board & left them outside. They still look great - no flaking at all. My dad uses the Ronseal version and has also had no trouble over several years.

I know those branded water based stains seem to have a bad rep on here but I personally haven't seen any problems.