Neighbor told me my deck stain was too thick last spring

I used to glob it on thick thinking more was better. He pointed out the puddles on the wood and said thin coats last twice as long. Has anyone else learned a simple trick from a passerby that changed their approach?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jenny22d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy Mike learned this the hard way painting his fence last summer. He laid it on thick as paste and it peeled off in sheets by fall, exactly what @zara572 is hinting at. A random retiree walking his dog told him to thin it with water and do two coats, saved his whole project.

zara5721mo ago

Did you end up stripping it all off and starting over?

hannahs451mo ago

Yeah I actually read a blog post from this guy who refinished his whole 1920s craftsman. He said the first time he tried to just spot fix the peeling parts it looked worse than before. So yeah I went ahead and stripped everything down to bare wood. Took forever. Like three weekends of my life gone. But honestly the end result looks so much better. No more weird patchy spots where the old paint was thicker.