Why part of my timber wont absorb the stain?

[Joodles]

  

Hi everyone! We’ve stained our outdoor fence using Intergrain UltraDeck Timber Stain (charcoal) and it looks fab. I’ve got 1 section of the retaining wall & fence left, but the stains not absorbing into this part. I’ve tried 3 coats (rest of the timber looks great with 2), and even with the 3rd coat I can still see some of the timber. Im not convinced a 4th coat will make a difference - is there a way I can get the timber to absorb the stain better? Thanks I’m advance for any tips/ideas I’ve uploaded a photo of the 3 coat and the remainder of the timber to be stained incase that’s helpful.

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Joodles,

Had it rained recently and were the sleepers still wet at all?

I suspect it is a section of timber that has a different porosity or density than the rest, or it has to do with the penetrative H4 treatment of the sleepers. I notice the horizontal sleepers to the left also have a variation in their colouring. How did they turn out? 

It's a bit hard to know why the stain hasn't penetrated, and I'm really not sure what the solution might be to get it to penetrate. Let me mention @EricL to see if he has any suggestions.

Mitchell

[Joodles]

Thanks for your feedback! No rain/waited days after the last shower. The horizontal ones were actually ok. It seems the back unpainted row is newer. Have a look at the other end of the unpainted row below - the slats to the right of the horizontal ones look older. So perhaps treated differently 🤷🏼‍♀️ Hopefully Eric has some input else we’ll get someone around to have a look. Thanks again!

 

[EricL]

Hello @Joodles,

It's great that you've received information from @MitchellMc on the possible causes for the stain not working on your sleeper.

The other possible causes could be petrification, where the timber has formed a hard timber armour on the surface preventing any stain from getting through. Another cause is the preservative inside the timber is still close to the surface of the sleeper causing the same effect.

In order to allow the timber pores to open and absorb the stain, you can sand the surface to expose the raw timber. You can also use your pressure washer to achieve the same effect. Please note that the timber has to be very dry before attempting to stain it again.

Please keep us updated on your project.

Eric

[Joodles]

Thanks so much for the tips! We’ll have a go this weekend, I’ll let you know how we get on. Thanks again