Apply Polyurethane to A Deck? 4.8/5 (71)

Wood polyurethane work on pressure-treated wood that’s been dried at least two years. These decks are totally covered from the sun. Your help would be appreciated

I have a ~ 10′ x 10′ “interior” redwood deck in an atrium that is covered by correlated vinyl roofing material (such as for a greenhouse). It is adjacent to my kitchen. It is edged by 2 interior walls and two exterior walls. (Put in by previous owner w/o any means of ventilation other than when the slider to the outside or the other slider to the kitchen are open.) I made the severe mistake of putting a water-based polyurethane coat over oil-based polyurethane, wanting to create a more glossy surface and look. Quite frankly, the oil-based PU seemed to hold up well without any peeling. etc. BUT, the water-based PU bubbled/lifted up in several places. Now I’m working hard to strip all this away. My plan was to then reapply a PU. But since you recommend against that for outdoor decking, and since this does get wet from condensation now that I have great sealing sliding glass door in one of its surrounding walls, maybe I shouldn’t? I’d appreciate your input. Thanks.

I have 3 sets of treated wood steps in middle Georgia that I have pressure with Clorox and jomax. I need a good clear sealer that will last for these. What do you recommend?
Also I have a wrap around covered porch that I did the same cleaning to but don’t plan to seal since covered. Your thoughts?

I have white oak in my kitchen, with a Minwax provincial stain, a satin polyurethane. I’m going to stain my deck. What would be the best possible match for my deck.?? Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

Hey there. So my contractor just built a beautiful deck, but then one of his crew applied a coat of interior poly on top of it. I told him he needs to remove it so we can put something more appropriate on (a transparent stain likely), but he’s pushing back, saying we can apply something on top of it. Like an outdoor clear sealer. I’m arguing that it won’t work, as the outdoor sealer won’t stick to the poly, and the poly will just crack and blister pretty quickly.

Can you please chime in so I have some back up? What would you do? Chemically remove the poly, and then let it sit until spring, and then stain? (It was build a few weeks ago). I live in Vermont, so it will get some serious weather this winter.

Thanks!

I have a mahogany deck that has had one coat of Sherwin Williams deck sealer. Realizing I want it to look more like the wood has “popped” instead of the dull grey. Any suggestions on refinishing and getting more of a wet look?

I just used a deck sealing stain, Super Deck transparent stain (cedar) on the pressure treated deck I just built in Southern California that allows the grains to show thru and seems to be what is the recommended procedure, but I’m worried about splinters on my 3 year old’s hands. If varnishes like poly and marine varnish are no good for outdoor decks, how then to avoid the kids getting splinters? By sanding? I don’t know about pressure treated wood on the west coast, but splinters from pressure treated wood back east can burn. Thanks in advance!

Hi, I am seeking for a good finish product for an exterior teak deck we are going to install in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Our inital plan was to use a urethane varnish from Pinturas Sur (Speed Dry Satin Varnish is a single component, solvent base varnish, formulated from urethane resins.
Thanks to its features, it protects surfaces exposed to environmental conditions such as sun, rain and
humidity. Quick drying, it provides a transparent satin finish, smooth and long lasting. It protects and
highlights the natural beauty of wood.)
Also, some other guys are recommending Carver Protect Deck, which is a water based penetrating finish).
What are your thought on this?

Your review of the Flood Pro stain for decks has Urethane which you state stops cracking. YET HERE you say dont use Urethane.
Wow

I just stained my front porch with cabot premium wood care, The Ultimate finish (Moonlight Mahogany) I absolutely love the way it Looks! After reading all the reviews and your recommendations I’m very nervous that it won’t stand the test of Time! I plain on using a water based stain on my back cedar deck. My question is can i go over the Cabot stain on my porch with the water based stain to hopefully give it some extra stay Power?

I’m actually building a backyard climbing wall. We want all the water/UV/weather protection we can get out of these deck stains but also want there to be a slick texture or film over the wood so that it is not just a wood texture. This is what brought me to this article because we like the texture that 3-5 coats of polyurethane gives you.

We live in Southern California about 30min from the coast. The walls will are under shade at least 50% of the day, and will also have a UV screen in front of it when not being used.

Any ideas on how we can accomplish?

We built a porch with ezy breeze windows room over new deck, treated pine wood flooring. We want to use an oil stain on the floor and protect it with a satin coating. What is the protective finish we should use, or oil based stain enough?
Thank you.

I live in cold and snow country. My deck is 5 years old and every year, I have to re-stain it. I have used everything.
NOW, I want a solid paint, something that will last. I am tired of the every year upkeep. What can you recommend
that will last. Seeing the wood through the stain is not important anymore. My deck looks horrible right now, and I want a clean and fresh look.
Thank you,
Bobbi

Hi I’m looking to put something on my interior honey house deck, it is raw spruce plywood. It never sees sun or rain, but is walked on and gets wax/honey on it. What would you recommend?

Thanks

My contractor put marine varnish on my new redwood deck and now dark discoloring seems to be happening. He said it needs another coat (after some sanding) to provide protection but I’m fearing that he made a big mistake and I might need to sand it off and start over. Help! Thanks.

Would a polyurethane coat be suitable on decking that is partially outside? The laundry room is built on top of the decking and is enclosed on all sides.

Hi, we are using black japan decking stain and wondering what we should use to seal it?

I’m a boy scout working on my eagle scout rank. For my eagle project I am going to be refinishing a couple of Redwood play structures. In the past, lacquer has been used but it has lasted less than a year before it starts pealing a bunch. Along with hot weather, the play structures are also bombarded with the water from some nearby sprinklers every other day. What would you suggest I use to refinish the structures? I’d like it to last as long as possible. Also what would the preparation and application process include? Thanks!

what is the best clear product that stands up to salt for open porch flooring?

I find the stain I put on my deck does not adhere and any movement of furniture etc. goes through the stain exposing the pre stained deck. Is this the fault of the stain or my application?

Hello:
I’m building a beach bar that previously had 2×6 flooring with a 1/8-1/4 inch space. I’m now going to use 1×6 tongue and grove on the bottom and second floor. I’d like to use a wood sealant that won’t wear very fast with heavy traffic with sandy feet and will help create a waterproof barrier between floors. What is my best option? Olympic Maxium? Polyurethane? Behr Deckover? Stain and water seal?
Thanks in Advance.
AE

I’m looking to protect wooden beehives from the elements, but I don’t want to use paint. I’d like to keep the natural beauty of the wood.

Would a clear deck sealer be best or an exterior-grade polyurethane? I’ve already stained the boxes so the product would go over a stained surface.

Hi : We have a redwood deck covered the railings are exposed to sunlight and peel ? It has been coated with a urethane in the past the deck does not peel but needs a re-coat Don’t want to use an oil based product ??? What are my options

Wondering what would be the best polyurethane for a screened in Gazebo pressure treated floor?

Is oil base stain better than water base? Does it last longer?

What can I put on top of Behr’s paint/stain to prolong life in uncovered portion of porch? Thinking some type of polyurethane.

my deck is painted, leaves are falling and staining the deck. is there anything that i can go over the paint that will stop this? maybe polyurethane?

I had just finished powerwashing, sanding, and applied semi-transparent waterproof stain. Now thats its all done; Ive come across think about what to do with the cracks and small splits in the wood. I was thinking about polyurethane it. Now I’ve learn its not a good idea, any suggestion as to filling in the small cracks and splits to having a smoother surface?

i am using superdeck semi transparent heart redwood stain on my 1 year old never touched pressure treated deck as i have seen nightmares about using Behrs.

We have a very large deck, about 50’x10′ with railing. Last summer we cleaned the deck and added a water protectant. As the sealer dried we noticed several white spots, these continued to increase as time went on. I sanded off the white spots and tried to re-stain them. This is when I noticed the stain the former owner used had polyurethane in it. We have sanded the entire deck but I want to be sure I avoid having any further issues. I’m assuming I should pressure wash the deck again just to be sure it’s clean before I stain it. Is there anything else I should do?
Thanks!

My deck was painted by the previous owner with a solid stain that is now peeling and flaking. I am thinking I need to sand it all off and cover with semi-transparent stain as has been suggested. However, the nails used on the deck are not stainless steel and they rust if exposed to the air. Will the semi-transparent stain sufficiently cover the nails so the will not rust? I am worried that it will not, and I will have a deck dotted with hundreds of rusting nail heads.

I have a cedar deck that gets tons of sunlight. I tried all kinds of deck stains and even teak oil. The best product I found was something called a Super Deck.

I rented deck sander at the hardware store. Used 80 grit followed by 120. I use an oil base stain that has to be reapplied about every three years because of a south exposure…nothing will last forever on a deck, if you want to "poly" it, I would use a high quality spar varnish used on boats, but again, you will have to sand it back down and re apply at some point.

This was great information. I did what you said not to do and the results were exactly what you said would happen. Peeling and blister and now it's to the point the paint I used completely peeled and blistered away from the wood. Now I can just see the bare wood. This was a costly mistake since polyurethane is expensive.

I have used an Exterior Solid Stain on a Pine Floor INSIDE. I'd like to put a top coat of some kind on it. Since this is not exposed to the elements, would a polyurethae coat work?

Is there any kind of a deck coat/sealant that prolongs the life of the coating, or wood? We are considering redoing our deck with the Poly resin material/poly wood that lasts for life. But I thought I had heard somewhere that there is now some type of a deck coat/sealant that is somewhat similar to the long life of the poly material, so there is not a need to recoat as frequently. Please let me know; maybe I am way off base! Thank you.

Hi , We installed a post and beam covered porch about 10 years ago using western red cedar beams and rails. We were told to just use a varathane clear oil based Exterior finish to seal and protect the wood. It looked fantastic at the time, but the last couple of years, it started to look like your picture in the article above. We tried for nearly a week to sand the wood back to pre-seal, and it just wouldn't come off. So I went to the paint store and they sold me a Benjamin Moore Exterior Stain Remove, which I tried on a portion of the post and beam/railings. It turned the wood dark in the places where there was no stain left, and bubbled up some of the remaining stain. It was a mess. We let it dry and tried to sand it again, but it just will not come back to the same colour. So we thought that perhaps if we used the same product to just go over the wood, it would blend in and look ok….it is still wet, but it looks like it isn't going to work. I am afraid that our only option is going to be to paint the post and beam, which I really don't want to do as it is beautiful Red Cedar. Can you help with some advise?

Is there any outside deck stain that looks shiny or wet

We recently had our wood deck stained and sealed. The company we hired said their seal is mixed in with the stain and is applied in one process. I'm just curious if that sounds right? Also, now that they are finished with our deck, should water continue to soak right into the wood when it rains or should there be more of a beading of the water on top of the deck?

I put a clear coat of stain to my cedar deck and it left a yellow look where the stain overlapped. How do I get rid of the yellow look.

You mention several times Do Not use poly but you never mention what you should use. Would you recommend an oil base product such as; Sherwin Williams semi transparent cedar deck stain.

I recently installed new T&G pine on a covered porch and used a chocolate covered weatherproof transparent deck stain

My wife is wanting to put a coat of polyurethane over the stain; not so much for the gloss finish, but rather to protect the wood itself from additional stains (melted popsicles, spilled wine, etc.) Im not convinced this is the best approach, as it may cause the porch to be slippery when wet. I also thought that the stain itself would provide a decent barrier so long as I continue to take care of it each season.

Thoughts on applying this finish over the stain?

Hi there. I have applied a dark varnish to my wooden deck, but it hasn't come out as dark as I wanted it. Is there any stain / tint I can apply over the varnish to make it darker?

Is there a difference between urethane and polyurethane? This can (solid color composite deck stain) only refers to urethane, but the clerk called it polyurethane. She also claimed it could be used for conventional wood decks and could be painted over with latex paint. This product was applied to a wood deck previously painted with latex. INGREDIENTS: Nepheline Syenite, Long Oil Alkyd Resin, Exempt Mineral Spirits, Long Oil Alkyd, Mineral spirits, Urethane Alkyd resin, Xylene, Proprietary Solvent and Ethylbenzene. This product was discontinued due to "harmful formulation" and deep discounted. I was told it can be thinned with standard paint thinner, and if a coarse surface was desired sand can be added. I expect it to exhibit better longevity than latex coating, which would peel in areas after a year or two.

I want a wet look or shiny finish to our cedar deck. How can I archive this that will hold up. Obviously poly sounds like a no go..any other sealer to put ontop of the stain or something I can use. We are staining it a dark brown and its a brand new cedar deck. Thanks.

i live in a rainy climate and the stain wears off on the horizontal parts of the deck. i'm sanding and restaining today, but wondering if i need to sand it first, is that necessary do you know? i'm using a tinted stain

Does an older deck need some sort of preparation before staining?