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What is the difference between stain and paint?

Penetrating stain soaks into the wood whereas paint forms a thin film on the surface of wood. Stain helps protect and seal your wood.

Which is better: water-based or oil-based stain?

In years past, oil-based stains were popular for their ease of application, durability and coverage. Recently, there have been significant improvements in high quality water-based coatings. Please note, the products used by SureShot Stain and Seal are specialty products and are not available in big box stores.

Each surface has its own requirements. To best determine the right product for your surface, we recommend you consult our experts by scheduling a free estimate via our contact page.

Why should I stain my wood surfaces?

Texas weather is tough on most everything: high summer temperatures, high levels of UV, high humidity, and short freezing periods usually preceded by rain. This unpredictable weather conspires to prematurely age the wood. UV damage turns wood silver and organic growth turns it black or green. Without treatment, these will cause wood to rot prematurely.

Where does wood usually start to rot and what should I look for?

The primary places fences rot are: the bottom of the pickets, usually because the wood is resting on the ground or water has pooled up at the bottom of the fence, between the pickets and the runners, where moisture is trapped and for fences with top caps, where the ends butt together.

Does staining or painting the wood help prevent premature rot?

Yes! Sealing your wood will help with all three scenarios listed above. Stain in particular will wick itself around the end of the boards and penetrate between boards to seal the wood. The one exception is if the wood is resting directly on the ground. The boards need air circulation.

What type of stain do you use?

Our go-to oil-based penetrating stain is Standard Paint’s Wood Defender line of products.

In the water-based line we have had excellent results with Sherwin Williams Super Deck line for both fences and garage doors. This is marketed as a deck coating product, so it wears exceptionally well on vertical surfaces.

What is the difference between transparent, semi-transparent and solid stains?

Transparent stains and paints highlight the wood underneath: the good and bad. Transparent stains are a good choice for new wood or wood that has been well maintained. In the case of transparent stains you should plan on re-staining every 3 yrs for vertical surfaces (fences, garages etc.) and every 2 years for exposed decking.

Semi-transparent stains contain more solid pigment than transparent. While they still allow you to see wood grain and knots, they are going to cover a lot more of the background. This makes them an excellent choice for less expensive grades of wood and older fences that have some cosmetic damage.

Solid stains are just that, a solid coating. They are a good choice when you desire or are required to have a specific color or for wood surfaces that have severe cosmetic damage but are still structurally sound. They cover everything.

Should I treat pressure treated wood differently than cedar?

Cedar is the most common exterior project wood in the DFW area, but not all cedar is created equally. Older fences, decks etc. in our area were all built with northern cedar and even the less expensive grades were relatively good quality. We are now seeing a lot of fast growing young cedar coming in from overseas. It is much cheaper to build with but that comes at a cost. It has a lot more knots and is prone to warping. It also needs time to dry before it is stained, since stain can’t penetrate wet wood.

Pressure treated wood is usually southern yellow pine and it is placed into huge tanks where chemicals are forced under pressure into the wood to help prevent its premature failure. One of the side effects of the process is that the wood is generally very wet when delivered for final sale. You will often see a green tint on new pressure treated wood. You may not choose to use a transparent stain on this wood because the green will show through. This tint can be removed at additional cost by cleaning the wood with a light pressure washing.

Depending on the time of year, cedar is usually ready to be stained 3-4 weeks after installation and it will look good no matter what product you select. Unless pressure treated wood is Kiln-Dried, it can take upwards of 6 months to dry enough to be stained. We use a moisture meter on all of our stain projects to ensure the moisture level is appropriate for the product you select.