Armstrong Clark Wood Stain Review 4.7/5 (7)

I am about to start re-staining my pine-sided house, approx. 2500 sq ft. It was last done with Sikkens Cetol oil-based stain and re-done a second time about 4 years ago. Peeling is an issue…. My plan is to palm sand the entire surface and to apply AC semi-solid to color match my new garage stain which is a Cabot Timber Oil – Jarrah Brown. I am hoping for a close-enough match and selected AC semi-solid Mountain Cedar and Woodland as samples for the match. The semi-solid option is due to color variation in areas that have peeled and those which have not. Once the color is selected, the plan would be to sand and stain one wall at a time. Is this a good plan? Or, am I missing a step? In addition to sanding (80/60/20 grit), do I need to wait before applying stain? Or, should I follow sanding with a cleaner as well? Should I power wash? If so, before or after sanding? Dry time before stain application if power washed?

Doing the job myself with 2 helpers…. early fall. I am in the woods in upstate NY. Thanks for any guidance that you may be able to provide. Bob

we are doing a privacy screen out of cedar with cedar 4×4 posts cedar 2x4s and cedar 1×6 fence boards horizontally.
it is now the end of august and to wait the 3 month period to let the new cedar weather/age would take us to the beginning of december (winter weather).
would you advise us to install it and leave it outside for 8 months for warmer weather to return next spring before cleaning/brightening/staining or wait 1 to 1.5 months to stain before the cold weather hits us?

thanks in advance.

Hello we prepped our deck (power washed, deck cleaner and brightener) applied Armstrong semi-transparent stain onto dry neck using roller and brush. Stain dried fine. However once dry when we walk on the deck stain rubs off onto our feet. Two years later stain still rubs off on hands and feet. Wondering if we did not have stain mixed enough before applying? Ordered 5 gallon bucket. Two years later need to re-stain and want to make sure we are doing everything correctly so that the stain does not rub off this time.

When I said turn black I mean black right into the wood. I mean mold you cannot wash off. That’s what happens in a damp climate with oil base stains

I am about to redo a deck If I put on Armstrong deck finish will it turn black like all other oil deck stains I have used. The deck is on the north side of our house. It rains most of the winter here.

I completed installing a Western Red Cedar deck a month ago in southern Maine. I would like to use a semi transparent stain to allow the color and grain structure of the wood to remain visible. The weather has been cool and wet for the last month and looks as though it will continue that way for at least another week. How long should I wait before staining the wood? I have a moisture meter if that helps. I’m planning to lightly pressure wash prior to staining.

How do I tell if my Armstrong stain is still good?

I have a 5yr old mahogany and have used restore a deck and Armstrong stain each spring. Part of the deck is in shade and part in sun. How do I prevent the shaded area from having a build of stain. is the new Armstrong compatible with the previous mahogany stain.

Does it come in different colors

Where can I buy this stain in Michigan?

Where can I find Armstrong stain in Reno Nevada?

Can a pump sprayer be used?

If I pressure wash and clean my deck with restore a deck how long do I need to wait before staining? Can you do it the next day/weekend/month? Also how long does it unusually take to receive after ordering AC and do y'all have a distributors/dealers in ga or sc area? Thanks

I now am the proud owner of a new redwood deck 36'x24'. In order to preserve the redwood color, do you recommend a transparent or semi-transparent stain?

Installed a new pressure treated deck in June '16. Full sun in Atlanta, Ga. The deck boards had manufacturer stamps 'inked' onto/into the wood. I sanded with palm sander to remove but now have left several sanded lighter places to already aged original places. How can I get the lighter patches to better match the surrounding wood? Do I now need to wait 2-3 months for sanded places to evolve to accept the stain? If so, I'm into Oct/Nov before applying and will this be too late and should I wait till Spring? Would like to use a semi-transparent to allow wood grain to show.

We have a 25 yr old cedar deck in very sound condition, but was not regularly stained. The past two summers we have tried to restain it only to have it peel. What would you suggest? Also, is it possible to obtain a white stain for the railings?

Is A&C stain available in the DC area

just built a new pressure treated pine deck around the pool. Decking has been installed for 2 weeks now. I would love to apply stain asap to avoid the pressure treat from any more twisting and cracking. Its been in full sun now the entire 2 weeks with very little rain if any. I know the warnings for staining new wood too early. Would you recomend to use an AC semi transparent on this new wood? And how big of a crime will it be if I stain it in 2 weeks. The pressure treat is really taking a beating in the sun right now with no rain in the forcast here in Rochester, NY. What is worst… Cracking twisting deck boards that are unprotected in the sun or staining to early? Or is there a better product for new wood with very little wait time?

I have been using this stain for many years. I used to use Superdeck but that stain did not hold up as well as the Armstrong after two years. I reapply every two years and the stain has helped to maintain all of my decks since 1990. That's right, 26 years at this point and going strong that my California decks have lasted for the most part because of Armstrong stain.

I have a large Brazilian hardwood deck, We have never been happy with any of the other products we have tried. We have used Penafin, Thompsons water seal and Behr deck stain( supposedly transparent, but unfortunately not). Last year I learned about this product. I ordered 5 gallons. It arrived within three days! It was so easy to apply and had a beautiful finish, I just finished staining my deck this year and still have some left over from the original 5 gallons.

Is Armstrong both stain and seal? And semi-trans should be good enough that allows me to see the pretty of the wood?

Stain, seal? How to treat a brand new Port Orford cedar deck attached to a conventional cedar lattice privacy screen on one side, with conventional cedar board fencing all around. Shaded Washington DC site. The deck wood is gorgeous. Will they all fade to the same gray if the deck is "transparent" and the fencing not treated at all?

I live on the Atlantic ocean where wood never totally dries. What stain should I use for my deck? Won't an oil based stain just sit on the surface and peel off?

Do i apply a sealant after staining with Armstrong or is the sealant in the stain?
Thank you,

We are looking to buy lots of your samitrasparent oil base
Please contact me back my name is Christian monterroso
Business name cp brothers construcion

where can I find this product Armstrong deck stain?

We were extremely pleased with the experience we had with Armstrong. We had a number of questions and got to speak to the company president who was a great resource. Service was great with fast delivery and overall cost (because less stain is needed) was just about the same as poor stains from box stores; yet when you factor in the reduced labor from using higher quality stain you are talking about huge savings and a very obvious decision. Again, wish I had found such high quality stain earlier, but very happy with results now.

I am looking for a Dark Brown stain for our new Cedar Garage door. I have a sample of TWC 1500 Black Walnut in which i love the color but after 15 hours, it is still wet and did not seem to penetrate the wood very well. So I have ordered samples of the semi-solid by Armstrong Clark. Which one would you recommend or is there another one of than these you would suggest?

We have most of our siding finished with AC transparent natural, but have a little left to do. We'll have a few hours of dry, but humid, weather today in the high 50s, followed by rain for the next three days. After that, temperatures will drop — 50s during the day, 30s at night. So, should be apply the rest of the stain today, before it rains? The siding is under a 3-ft overhang and won't get wet, but it will be humid. Or, should we wait for a sunny day afterwards? How long does it need to be 50 degress or higher for this stain to dry properly?

I put down Rustoleum Restore and it failed the first winter. Now at 2.5 yrs later I have been sanding and scraping for a week. I think I will be able to get it off before another week goes by but in the cracks and between the boards I can't get it off. Now I'm in a pickle, what can I cover it with? Of course it won't budge with pressure wash, it's a horrible product.

We live in northern Georgia. We have just completed a new second story deck constructed of (non-pressured) pine. It was completed in mid July and has full sun with a southerly exposure. I have 4 questions: 1) What stain would you recommend? 2) Can I go ahead and stain it now? 3) Since the bottom of the deck is exposed to another cement patio below, should I stain the top of the deck first, or underneath the deck first? 4) Any tips on how to best apply the stain underneath? Many thanks for your help.

Will this cover white leaching stains ?

We need help with the after-effect of using your "oil base formula, Armstrong's Wood Stain, wood satin for wood decks and fences siding". The stain continues to wipe off on people's clothing and hands. We have wiped the entire deck down several times no no avail. Please give us some ideas that will help with this problem as soon as possible. Thank you.

Applied ac deck stain on 20 yr mahogany deck 2 days ago. Wiped off excess, but deck is still very slippery any ideas? To prep I pressure washed, brushed, use wool man deck rite, brushed, rinsed, dried for a week, swept,and applied ac amber with sheep skin and back brushed. It has been very humid andcloudyhere. Please advise. Should I pressure wash it off?

Who sells it? I kive in Gordonsville va

Hello, I need help deciding the best transparent stain. I have seen the Defy extreme clear and its good reviews and armstrong is also an option. Does the armstrong transparent make the wood look wet or is it absolutely clear like defy? wet look is preferable. Any advice? thanks.

We put in new Western Cedar decks last September and are ready to stain. (20 x 24 ft., and 6 x 12 ft.) What would be the best product to use and how many coats? Should it be restained next year? We live in St. Louis area, so snow, ice, and humidity are issues. Thank you!

We had our deck built about 6 years ago with treated lumber. After the first year we power washed it and applied a clear sealant. We have repeated this process every year since and our deck looks horrible. The boards are gray and it looks like it has never been treated since it was built. We applied the sealant again this spring, and now are wondering if we can reapply a different sealant/stain with a color, or should we have to wait until next spring?

I have a very large (650 sq ft); very old (20+ yrs) deck, and I needed something that would "revive" this relic, and this worked beautifully! It helped "soften" the brittle wood, making it more bare-foot friendly. Now, two years later, the color is still great but I would like to apply a clear sealer, or something that will "soften" the wood again, as the slivers are starting to rear their ugly heads. What would you suggest as a clear coat and do I need to condition the wood again as I did the first time?

We have a commercial passenger boat decked with Douglas Fir. We've just done work on the decks, adding new caulking between the boards and sanding the boards down, replacing those areas that had rot or large splinters. This is used on the Chesapeake Bay with heavy foot traffic for 7 months. We don't have time to allow a complete refinish since we're busy when the weather is nice. So, what deck sealer/stain would be best where we can touch up as needed and not have to do a strip down in the middle or late in the season? We'd need the product to be quick drying and ready for traffic within 2 days of applying or touch up. We also wash the decks down with fresh water daily after use (using Simple Green). We've had bad experiences with all kinds of products and have let these decks turn silver gray and thus have needed these repairs. Penofin was bad. Flood's deck product was bad. And there were more. Will A-C be the best choice in semi-transparent?

The very best stain I have ever used and I have just about tried them all. I am now an Armstrong-Clark fan forever! Easy to apply and coverage was great. Looks awesome and is standing up to the wear and tear of snow shoveling. (I live in Maine) A little pricey but you only get what you pay for, and this stain is well worth it.

I live in Northern Virginia and just stained our deck with Armstrong Clark transparent. This after several weekends of flipping old boards, sanding, Restore-A-Deck and power washing. It's been fun!

Should I put a second coat of the stain before the winter?

Actually, a second question tagging onto my prior…the previous product was 350 VOC, is the newer 250 VOCs equally as effective, or would it be better to acquire one with a higher VOC (which I could do in neighboring Nevada, I believe)?

I have a very old Redwood deck in California Sierra foothills (full sun, snow). It was last treated with Armstrong's Weather Shield – Clear about 6 years ago. It has held up fairly well, but definitely in need of stain. Does it matter which AC product I use now (and then for subsequent stainings)? Do I merely need to clean and brighten?

I have 4 month old 14" x 25" wood deck. I live in central Virginia. What stain do you recommend? I'm going to wait until next March/April to do any staining.

Thanks!

The cost estimates don’t include shipping, which are relevant since the products can’t be bought locally.

I stained my new cedar deck 3 days ago and the weather has been fine but it still feels sticky now. I used Armstrong Clark semi-transparent (amber). Is it because I applied too much? I can wipe off some areas with a rag. Should I remove it with mineral spirits as suggested by someone online? Really need help here!!! Thanks a lot.

Excellent stain! Very smooth consistency and the blend of oils was quickly absorbed into our ten year old deck. We selected mahogany and the color was perfect for what we wanted. Unfortunately I underestimated how much we would need, but their delivery was quick and convenient. I also am very appreciative of the information available on this site as it helped me to learn about st6ain and choose the best one for my needs.

We have a 9 year old pressure treated deck, which has been stained 2 or 3 times over its life, which I just sanded to bare wood and then applied armstrong clark amber stain. I am not liking the result so much…the color of the deck actually looks slightly greenish (through the amber color) in the sun. Worse than that, the deck boards actually turn very green when they are wet. Definitely not what I was hoping for. So, my question is how can I fix this? I suppose that I could sand the deck again…but how challenging is that going to be given that the AC stain is "penetrating"? Alternatively, how difficult would it be strip the stain at this point given that it has been on the deck for only a week? Or, could I try applying a different, more opaque, AC stain on top of the existing stain…? If I wanted to try this last option, how long should I wait until I give it a shot? Thanks…

I have used Armstrong Clark for the past two years and am NOT very happy with it. My deck is in direct sunlight and have a major problem with mold and mildew. The deck turned almost black which gets on our feet and is tracked in to our house. We had little rain or humidity this season in the Northeast (Long Island) so I am very surprised at the poor results. I will clean it in the spring and find another brand.