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Newly stained deck rain damage

Hi there, i have a question regarding our outdoor deck which we've just had stained.

We hired someone to stain our deck a few weeks ago and the job finished up a few days before non-stop rain hit (it's rained for about a week). We now have horrible light brown blotches all over the place. Can someone tell me if there's any way of fixing this? Or does the job need to be completely redone?

Given that winter is the rainy season in Hobart I also wonder whether tradesmen should warn clients of this risk when staining in winter. Any thoughts and advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

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Jason

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @annekeleroux. We're so pleased to have you join us and look forward to reading about all your projects and plans for around the house and garden. We're sure you will get plenty of helpful information, advice and inspiration from our amazing community members.

Sorry to read of your disappointing experience. I will ask @MitchellMc to assist when he gets back on the site tomorrow. Thanks for your patience in the meantime. You might also like to share a couple of photos of the deck so Mitch and other members can see what you are working with.

Thanks,

Jason

redracer01

Hello @annekeleroux

Welcome to Bunnings Workshop. Is your deck brand new? If stained too early this patching effect will happen. You need a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks of good strong sun to season your deck. If tannin is still coming out of the timber do not stain it as it will just get pushed out. The same effect will happen if stained and strong rain floods the deck. Again it needs good strong sun to absorb the stain. At this point in time if there is no good weather ahead I suggest putting off the re-coat of your deck. If you get a forecast of good weather for at least 6 to 8 weeks that would be the best time to stain your deck. If you have any other questions or anything else we can help with please post it here on workshop.

Cheers,

Red

MitchellMc

Hi @annekeleroux,

I, too, am sorry to hear of your experience. If it was one of our products, I'd be happy to contact the manufacturer and work out the best course of action for you. However, as @redracer01 has mentioned, at this point, it's best to wait for dry weather before proceeding. You might also like to contact the person who stained the deck for you to see if they can return to remedy the issue. I would imagine most manufacturers would recommend against staining before wet weather.

If you could show us some images of the affected areas, that would be helpful and give us an idea of how bad the issue is.

Mitchell

annekeleroux

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/13837#Comment_13837

Thanks so much for both your responses @Jason , @MitchellMc and @redracer01

The deck was built quite a few months ago (more than 5 months) so it wasn't brand new when it was stained.

I don't believe the stain was a Bunnings product, but can't be sure.

After a break in the rain and a few days of sunshine things have started looking better. It does seem that every time it rains some of the marks return, only to disappear again once it dries out. The 1st image below shows the marks just after the rain, and the 2nd and 3rd were taken after a few days of sunshine.

We have spoken to the tradesman who has suggested waiting until the end of the rainy season to see what happens, and doing any touch-ups then if necessary. If either of you have other ideas please pass them on!

Thanks again for your help,

Anneke

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MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/69475#Comment_69475

Hi @annekeleroux,

You might need to use the in-built image uploader instead of the method you've used, as I'm having difficulty seeing those images. There's a little landscape picture above where you input text for your post. Alternatively, you can email the images to us at workshop@bunnings.com.au, and I'll add them for you.

If the issues aren't too bad when the deck is dry, I'd agree that waiting until after the rainy season sounds like a good plan.

Mitchell

annekeleroux

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/97760#Comment_97760

@MitchellMc here are the images again.

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/115557#Comment_115557

@annekeleroux,

I was expecting a more mottled effect than the definitive lines where the joists are and the patches where there appears to be no oil penetration at all. I would have thought if the entire deck received rain on it, you would see a uniform discolouration across all of it. These patches are very isolated to specific areas. I also find it quite odd that the areas above the joists appear lighter with rain on them and darker when the deck is dry.

As mentioned, to fix the issue, you'll need dry weather. You can either let it age and re-coat, or the only other option I can think of is stripping the oil out of the deck and beginning again.

Mitchell

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