Benjamin Moore Arborcoat Stain Review 2.7/5 (176)

I had my cedar deck completely rebuilt in 2014, waited one year and stained it using BM Arborcoat Semi Transparent (waterborne) after sanding, cleaning and brightening the wood. I second all the complaints about this product regarding flaking, peeling and cracking and regret ever using it in the first place. My question is, can I expect good results using RAD stripper to remove as much of the old finish as I can, sanding the rest off, and then re-staining my deck with TWP 100? I live in Washington state, and the deck gets a lot of direct sun/uv in the summer and lots of rain in the fall/winter/spring.

This product should never be used on a deck. New deck, applied stain four months later, summer dried, stain was applied in September on dry serface No one has walked on it no shovel has touched it during winter and it now must be sanded to be removed. It may work in southern countries but not Nova Scotia.

This product has failed for me since 21011. I continue to resand it and retry it thinking I’ve done something wrong. I’ve pulled up deck boards and made sure all sides are coated, but it still peels. Its all peeled again. Mostly any horizontal deck surface. Perhaps the natural oils in the wood prevents the stain from adhering or soaking in? I don’t know, but I’m NEVER purchasing BM paint of any kind again.

Had the Semi Solid professionally installed. The contractor cleaned and sanded the deck prior to application. After 1 year deck started peeling in high traffic areas. In order to save some $$ I touched up the peeling areas with no positive results. Now in the second year and the deck is a mess. Stain peels just with a strong garden hose washing. Contractor informed me the entire deck must be sanded again before restraining. Do NOT USE THIS PRODUCT.

This product should be recalled. Completely peeling all over my deck within 2 years of application following BM instructions to a tee. This is obviously some sick can grab but definitely realise now that the BM brand is just marketing with no substance at all.

Have used BM Arbor Coat Solid (railings,etc) and Translucent (decking) with 636 clear. This is BY FAR the best decking/exposed wood paint product I have ever used. I live in Plymouth, MA so our weather is all over the place…rain,snow,hot,dry and everywhere in-between. Yes, after 3-4 years it needs to be redone in heavy traffic areas but what deck doesnt?? Any horizontal wood with standing water and snow is going to show wear and tear. If you don’t want maintance you better use Trex/PVC,not wood. Some if not most of the reviews are clearly “operator error”. New wood,wet wood from power washing,etc will not hold ANY product you apply, period. New PT wood needs at least 3-4 months to dry, 5 months ideally, before ANY paint product is applied.

Very disappointed in the durability of the UV coating on the railing. It has now peeled 2 years in a row and I had to completed re sand and reapply stain and UV coating. Not doing that again. A lot of work for an expensive product. Giving the brand one more try this month with their new water base Translucent.

Where can I buy it??? I'm in Palatine Il. 60074

I have been using BM Arborcoat solid and semi solid for more than ten years. With proper prep work, primer (solid) this stain works well. No clients have complained. There are cases of peeling, but , it is usually because home owners use salt and shovel the deck in the winter. I would say re-coating horizontal surfaces in five years is average. prep work means all the difference. If power washing, the deck should dry for at least 4 days. Power washing drives water into the boards. The deck must be dry!! I disagree with you evaluations.

(2) Decks: Vail and Littleton. Both peeled horribly within one year. Both brand new decks, professionally prepped, seasoned and dried; sanded and cleaned. My paint contractor stepped up, fought with Benjamin Moore rep and replaced the Vail treated deck for free. The Benjamin Moore Rep is in full denial. Their stores, like Guiries here in Denver blame the homeowner, the prep and or the contractor, anyone but Benjamin Moore. Now they say, it's merely a trade-off in annual maintenance; oil based fades, Arborcoat peels an a mere power wash and reapplication will look the same. My view: only if you want your new deck to look like a calico cat, spotty and awful. The rep says its reformulated, so it's better, but I don't see that in these reviews. Wake-up, this product is horrible, it's ruined two new decks an I'll never buy another Benjamin Moore product by my choice again, given their attitudes.

We applied Arborcoat stain to our deck in June 2015. Application of AC was difficult to say the least. Within 6 months horizontal surfaces were peeling! I sanded the Arborcoat off and applied an oil based stain. I've invested a lot of time and money correcting Arborcoat's dismal performance. There has been so much discussion on the sites like this where people have had horrible experiences with AC stain. Its apparent the product performs poorly for the vast majority of the people using it. Most people advocating the product appear to be connected with the company or the store selling AC.

Total disaster, my new wood deck is A mess after applying Arbor coat
Last summer. There was flaking and mildew that was trapped underneath the finish that did survive. Had to pressure wash twice, scrubbed with TSP and Bleach, and scrapped gummy finish off with a 3" scrapper. Hardware store owner said that it should be able to be recoated after letting it dry out. I think it needs to be sanded but that would be very expensive. I plan to call Benjamin Moore customer service tomorrow

Having endured the catastrophic failure of Arborcoat semi-transparent with the 636 clear on an Oceanside deck complex in Northern California I switched to an Arborcoat Translucent deck stain one coat thin application for all my decks and have had great results. After a year or so a simple light pressure wash with hydrogen peroxide ( wash safe cape cod ) and a maintenance coat and all is well. No sanding, no stripping, no hassles.

Translucent: the stain that fails in a friendly way and looks great doing so.

I have to admit that I was blinded by the BM brand name. I am royally pissed at myself for not researching beforehand. I have two young kids and my time is precious – staining my two tiered mahogany deck was a big job for me.. Never in wildest dreams could I have guessed the stain would be a colossal bust. The areas that did not fade were only succeeded at taking permanent imprints of dirty footprints. Now I am in the midst of stripping and prepping (twice) with the RAD AC product (which seems to be working). I am now a pro at pressure washing and deck maintenance and i have Arborcoat to thank for it! Nevertheless, I will not be buying another BM product ever again. I can hardly wait to get the AC mahogany stain on and finally enjoy our deck for a change.