Ready Seal 125 1-Gallon Can Dark Walnut Exterior Wood Stain and Sealer

P.S. We paid for our product-- this isn't a paid endorsement!Our deck was 3-yrs. old, never stained, grey, weathered so badly [first 2-photos]-- some of the steps were deteriorating into a "checkered" pattern, i.e., disintegrating. Blasting hot Southern sun, monsoons, wind. More sun. More grey. Rapid aging. Never stained it because product review were so BAD! Until...Tripped onto Ready Seal on Amazon after reading dozens, hundreds of reviews of so many different products. Skip the 5-Star-- just read the 1-Star Reviews. Loads of research over these 3-years, but nothing popped. Until Ready Seal came on the horizon. Minimal 1-Stars. Started watching every video I could find on RS. YouTube, Amazon, Ready Seal's proprietary videos. Reading data sheets on RS's website. Tons more research. Months pass.Convinced. Buy two 5-gal. totes of Natural Cedar. I wanted the "most orange" color RS offered. I call this "Backwards Prep." Order the supply before I'm ready to do the work. This gives me the incentive to "go all in. Not back out. Forge ahead. Wait for the monsoons to stop. Research a little more. Learn how to turn this amateur gig into professional. Techniques. Tools. Materials needed. Temperature range required. Moisture!Ready Seal has GREAT Customer Service. Phoned twice. Second time, a super-hot-shot very UP on his game figured out I was using the WRONG Moisture Meter (for interior, drywall-- wrong). Off to Lowe's for a Kobalt Pin Type Moisture Meter #SC-MM150 Digital #4882343 Model #SC-MM150. See, that is great Customer Service when the Rep. listens so intently-- they can figure out what you're doing wrong (getting wonky readings) and help correct the problem.Staining a requires PATIENCE, kiddoes. Especially if you're goofy enough to stain your deck during monsoon season. Dry as a bone in the a.m. Start to stain-- finally! STARTS POURING DOWN RAIN halfway through. This prompts a call to RS: usually 12% or less moisture is required for staining-- but since you live in Monsoonville, you can go 15% on the first application. This gives the green light-- this deck wood will NEVER be 12% this wet summer. Moisture meter checks every day. Finally a narrow window opens up-- dry for just a few days, long enough for a staining Marathon.Ready Seal is everything we needed it to be. Easy to open. Easy to stir. Easy to apply (I started by using a beautiful brush. Ended up using a sponge as it made it SO easy to stain in-between boards and was easier on the wrist. Deck is 8x12-ft. Took 20-hrs. TOTAL for everything-- was able to squeeze-in 2-coats during the few days of sun. Stained everything: topsides, railings, in-between the boards, UNDERNEATH the decking, underneath the steps, 4x4 uprights, sides of boards-- every square inch of that deck. Twice.NOTE 1: if your deck is badly weathered, you'll need MORE than you think. Ran through an entire 5-gal. can doing two coats, plus maybe a Qt. from 2nd 5-gal. tote. That's two coats on an 8x12 deck. Our wood, especially the steps, were so badly "chapped" that all the wood soaked up the thin stain like nobody's bidnezz. The stain is "thin," not gloppy. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was water base. Use gloves! Old clothes. We laid down a layer of cardboard under the deck to 1/ Catch drippings 2/ for a clean, slick surface to slide around on to reach all those nooks and crannies. To me it didn't make sense to just stain topsides and leave unstained wood underneath our deck. Obviously if your deck is just a few inches off the ground, you won't be staining underneath!NOTE 2: Great addition to 1/ Protecting the steps from SUN and WIND and 2/ Safety was the addition of the STAIR TREADS [Rubber-Cal "Diamond-Plate Non-Slip Rubber Tread Stair Mats (6 Pack), Black $35.64 for six]. They really set off the Natural Cedar and really make the Ready Seal POP! I wanted some way to protect the stair treads from the brutal sun, to stop the "checking" damage.NOTE 3: ANOTHER great addition to our deck, that also keeps the SUN off and will add more years to our deck is that I erected Deck Sails [SUNNY GUARD Sun Shade Sail 10'x10'x10' Triangle Grey White Tripe UV Block Sunshade for Backyard Yard Deck Patio Garden Outdoor Activities and Facility] using 1-in. Galvanized Electrical conduit as "masts" attached to the 4x4 uprights. No cement needed. The sails keep the deck COOL, and minimize UV rays from ruining our beautiful Ready Seal. [Photos.] Sunny Guard has various sizes and shapes. We've since put up 5-Sails on this 8x12 deck, to keep our kitchen COOLER in summer. Makes a HUGE difference. The deck stays cools even though it's on the roasting WEST side of the house. Use "J-Hooks" on the 1-in. metal poles and bungee-cord to the Sails, then you can easily take them down for an approaching bad windstorm.No shortcuts. But every DAY I thank God we took the time to research this project and to do it right (waited until deck wood was <15% moisture). And got in two coats. The treads. The sails. Looks like a completely different deck, and now is a really gorgeous outdoor space-- that somehow even seems a bit bigger now, too. THANK YOU READY SEAL. You will NOT be sorry.

We love the look of this stain. It's also really easy to apply. No nasty smell, and the consistency is exactly what you would expect. It's not to think, but still has substance to it for application. The quality comes out very professional-looking. We've now used this brand and color for the last 6 years at our new home. Our deck does receive full sun in the summer. We typically retain and seal every other summer. The area of decking that's around our pool, we do add two coats of stain in those areas as it has more wear from pool water and traffic.

I have went back and forth on painting or staining and I am so glad I went with staining. I did cheat and used my paint sprayer and used a brush to help with being even, and it came out better than I expected. I liked it so much I actually just ordered more as I decided to use it on my deck as well. I have had many complaints on the new look. It's definitely a quality product. The best part is if you have a little over spray it seemed to wipe right off of my siding.

I wanted to seal my freshly pressure washed fence as in about a years time it begins to weather again. The pressure washer lifted the grain on the fence so I passed an orbital sander with 80grit sandpaper on it to smooth out the fence.I tried applying this stain with a brush first, it worked but it required a lot of stain to really get on the posts, I then tried a sprayer and it just sprayed on blotchy so lastly I started using a paint roller, this by far has been the best experience for me.It does still take a lot of work, I have about 300 linear feet of fence and will take probably 10-12 hours to stain it all but the results are awesome!I’m only staining one side of the fence and seems like will need 2 5 gallon buckets.

This is basically paraffin oil. It does not leave a film finish. I like it. It seems to work well. It does not cover a lot of square footage.