How To Choose A Deck Stain To Coordinate With Your House

There are so many uses for a deck, and knowing how to choose a deck stain to coordinate with your house makes your deck even perfect for various activities. You could use it for entertainment, relaxation on chilly days with your fire pit lit, and a lot more.

Considering that a deck is primarily an exterior structure, it will experience harsh tests of different environmental elements such as water from rain UV light. Consider, among other features of stain such as color, protection against water, and sunlight.

What’s good about the above considerations is that there are so many color options of stains that you can choose and still bring the best out of your home. However, it not easy for most homeowners to get it right when trying to match their deck stains that match their house. In a bid to help you find the best deck stain, I’ve provided some essential tips that you can follow to make it a lot easier. Here we go…

Essential Considerations When Choosing a Deck Stain to Coordinate With Your Home

• The Material Used to Construct Your Deck

You can’t use a deck stain without knowing the material used for the construction of the deck. If your deck is wooden, for example, you have the flexibility of painting or staining it. In case your deck is created using concrete, then staining is the best option for you.

In most cases, you will find people opting to paint their decks in place of staining because painting is a little cheaper.

Another thing about wooden decks that you should know is the type of wood used to make the deck. Softwoods and hardwoods use different stains. Softwoods also require priming to get the best of your staining product. Also, softwoods need solid deck stains for the best results. Hardwoods are great with a transparent or semi transparent deck stain.

• The Color of Your House’s Exterior Palette Plus The Color Wheel Rules

You don’t walk to your local store or go online to shop for any stain and use it for your deck. You first have to study the appearance of your home. Take into account all the existing color combination that you have used in your home, refer to the color wheel so that you can tell stain colors that would bring the best out of your walls.

I’d advise that you go for the supportive stain colors because they are likely to coordinate better with the exterior of your home. A general rule suggests that you use bold colors if you have a combination of subtle colors in your home. The deck stains with lighter colors do well with bright hues. 

Another thing that you must not fail to consider is your patio furniture. The furniture in this generation tends to work well when paired with darker stains such as chocolate brown or dark grey shades. In case you have bare wooden furniture, it would help if you go for more sophisticated and neutral color tones. 

• The Kind of Wood Grain Appearance You’d Want

From my point of view, a natural-looking deck is more appealing to the eyes. However, you don’t share my preferences; you can use a solid color deck stain. Individuals who cherish the natural appearance of the wood and would love the grains to show should use transparent or semi transparent deck stains.

Much as I’m a massive follower of exposing the wood grains with transparent stains, I love something about solid color stains. Solid stains are crucial in the instances where you are looking to hide imperfection from the surfaces of your wooden structure, such as the deck.

Semi transparent stains are a blend between the solid stains and the transparent one. In most cases, you will find that this stain type comes with a sheer finish with the right hint of color that makes it one of the best in the business.

• The Maintenance Requirements

The deck is an exterior structure and is subject to harsh conditions. Depending on your deck’s use, it will either wear out soon or take a little longer before it takes a hit.

As an exterior structure, the maintenance practice remains essential to help prolong your deck; therefore, the amount of time you spare to look after the deck is critical. Thus, before buying a stain, you should always ensure that you are aware of the maintenance required. Much as you must clean your deck daily, the reapplication of stains varies from one stain to another depending on the durability of the stain.

It is challenging to remove solid colored deck stains compared to others, such as the neutral-colored deck stains. 

• Carry Out Patch Test of the Deck Stain Before You Buy 

This method has proven effective for those looking for ways to choose a deck stain to coordinate with their homes; you might have to spend some money to get the stain samples though in small quantities. Even so, it is better than buying all the stains that you need for your project and realizing that it does not coordinate with your house.

Here, all you need to do is to apply some layers of the deck stain on a small piece of wood or your intended surface and assess the look. Determine whether or not it will coordinate with your house. If so, you can go ahead and buy the stain in large quantities in preparation for your project. If the stain appears like a no match, you should continue your search until you get the perfect product for your structures.

Additionally, you can choose to conduct online research on different colors of stain. Some forums discuss stains and outdoor spaces decoration that might prove helpful in guiding you through the right deck stain that can bring the best out of your home.

Is it Better to Stain or Paint a Deck?

Paints are slippery than a stain; therefore, staining of a deck is better than painting over it.

As with most stains, these formulas are flatter and cures into a less slippery finish, unlike the paints, which are usually thick and slip when water spills over them. If safety and slippage concern you, which should, then you need not think and use stains in place of painting a deck.

How Many Coats of Deck Stain Should I Use?

Generally, you are free to apply as much stain as your wood can absorb. In most cases, you will find that this is only 2 coats. However, if you are dealing with very dense hardwoods, you might need to apply only 1 coat of the wood stain.

How many coats of stain? Watch the video below:

Conclusion

Staining your deck should be a serious thing that you need to handle with care to end up with the best finish possible, especially if you are looking to match your deck with your home. So,

Are You Still Wondering How to Choose a Deck Stain to Coordinate With Your House?

Well, I hope not because I’ve provided some of the best tips that you need to consider so that you get the perfect match of stain between your house and your deck.

If you are looking to find a deck stain that brings the best out of your house, I believe that at this point you know how to go about it. Did you find this post helpful? Kindly share your opinion and questions in the comments section below.