Stained my patio last fall and the color faded completely by spring

I used a semi-transparent sealer from Home Depot and it looked great in October, but after one Chicago winter it's patchy and washed out. Did I pick the wrong product or is this just normal for exposed patios?

3 comments

3 Comments

norab211mo ago

oh totally, i had a buddy who did the exact same thing with a semi-transparent stain from home depot and his deck looked like crap by april. @reese_nelson is spot on about the prep work and using the solid stains instead, my friend switched to that after one winter and his patio actually held up for a few years.

reese_nelson1mo ago

I used to think a good sealer was a sealer and that was that, but this changed my mind. I learned the hard way with a similar situation on my own back steps that the semi-transparent stuff from the big box stores just doesn't hold up to real winter weather. The freeze-thaw cycles here are brutal and it lifts the coating right off the wood. Now I only use the solid or opaque stains that actually soak in deeper, and I make sure to clean and prep the surface with a good deck cleaner first. It's more work but it lasts more than one season.

jordan9031mo ago

Big box stains are like cheap winter boots, they look fine until they hit real weather.