People frequently question, is it better to stain or seal a deck? Well, both of the projects are important to save your wooden floor from moisture and damage. To repair your wooden deck, get the best deck stain and sealer.
Indeed, repairing the wood deck is more cost-effective than replacing it. But it is difficult to choose whether you should stain or seal your wooden floor. That’s because both of the processes are effective for maintaining your damaging woodworking project.
So, when you are a newbie, it is quite challenging for you to choose the best way of maintaining the deck.
Please read our article on using deck stain Vs Sealer to make a difference between the deck staining and sealing. If you have an extensive idea about them, you can reach a proper decision. Let’s just begin!
Deck stain Vs sealer (Which one is the best)
Perhaps, you will become confused by our answer that the staining deck is better than sealing. But we have a strict logic about our response. Follow our evaluation on deck stain Vs Sealer to find out the logic.
| Differentiable factors | Oil-based stain | Water-based stain |
| Removing Moisture | Staining gives the deck an attractive look with its included pigment. However, it includes some capacity to remove moisturize from the deck. | The main purpose of sealing is to repel the moisture from the deck with its transparent coat. Consequently, it makes the wood water-proof and saves the wood from getting rotten. |
| Protects From UV Rays | You probably know that the UV rays coming from the sun are harmful to your wooden deck. Fortunately, the exterior wood stain protects your woodworking projects from harmful UV rays. Choose a quality exterior stain. | Sealing cannot protect the deck from UV rays, likewise the staining. Consequently, using the sealing may lead the sunlight to gray and fading the wooden deck. |
| Applications | Staining needs much expertise to apply over the deck. That’s why you might need to call the professionals for staining on your deck. However, a quality professional staining job lasts for three to five years. | Applications of sealing are quite easier than the staining deck. But sealing over the deck doesn’t last more than six months. |
| Cost-Effectively | If you want long-lasting color, you better give priority staining over sealing. | Both the sealing and staining is cost-effective than repairing a damaging deck. Where sealing the deck is most cost-effective than the staining. |
| Durability | Compared to the sealer, the deck stain is very durable and long-lasting. The durability of the stain ranges from two to three years or more than that. | Although it is easier to apply sealer on the deck, the sealer is not as durable as a stain. The durability of the sealer hardly reaches more than one year. So, you need to apply sealer on your deck frequently when choose the repairing method. |
Some relevant questions
What is the deck sealer?
The deck sealer refers to a transparent finish that gives it a clear form by entering into the wood. It is one of the well-known woods repairing process. Because of its water-resistance ability and easier applications, it is highly used before staining wood.
How often should a deck be stained and sealed?
The seal on the wooden deck hardly lasts more than one year. Depending on your deck’s conditions, you should seal your wooden deck once a year. Conversely, the lifespan of stain on the wooden deck ranges from two to three years.
Therefore, to hold your deck’s outstanding looks, you can re-stain it within every three years.
Does staining a deck protects it?
Because of the pigments or tones, the deck stain gets some colors. The colors create an extra layer on the wooden deck. It consequently blocks the UV rays damaging the deck made of wood. Thus, the staining protects your deck from damaging exposure to the sunlight.
Moreover, like, the sealer, the stain, also protects the wood from moisture with its included pigments. So, you can also use the stain as water-resistant material.
How do you seal a deck for the first time?
The sealing deck is not so difficult, nor it needs lots of tools. You will need a bristle brush/brush to apply the sealer on the wooden surface and a quality sealer. The steps you should follow to apply sealer on your deck are:
- First, you have to prepare the deck by cleaning and removing the flaws.
- Then, apply stain with the bristle brush or the roller. Indeed, the roller is a faster tool to implement the sealer on the surface. But the bristle brush reaches better in every corner of the deck. Whereas, the roller may not reach in each corner of the deck and keeps in unpainted.
- Keep the sealer like that for a few days to try.
The Sump up!
Needless to say, that sealing a deck is quite an easy and famous process of repairing wood. Verily, the sealing project isn’t too expensive, nor it needs the expertise to do. But to be honest, sealing over the deck doesn’t last for a long-time.
Conversely, professional staining on the wooden deck lasts for more than three years. But the staining is more expensive and time-consuming than the sealing. We hope you won’t mind spending some more dollars on a durable project. In that case, choose the durable project from our best wood stain.
Hopefully, you can make the best decision based on deck stain vs sealer evaluation.
Read Also:
Oil Based VS Water Based Stain (Which One Should You Choose)
Cabot Vs Olympic Deck Stain (In-Depth Comparison Review)
Painting Vs Staining Deck (7 Things Nobody Told You)
