Santa Monica · Deck Services
Deck Staining
Sanding, staining, sealing and refinishing that puts the colour back and keeps water out of the grain.
Deck Staining · Santa Monica
What Staining And Sealing Actually Does
Wood outdoors fails in two ways and a finish addresses both. Ultraviolet light breaks down the surface fibres, which is why an untreated redwood board goes silver-grey within two seasons on the Westside. Water gets into the grain, swells it, then dries and shrinks it, and the repeated cycle raises the fibres, opens checks and gives mildew somewhere to live. A pigmented stain blocks the UV and a sealer keeps the water out, and applied on a proper schedule the two together are the difference between a deck that lasts fifteen years and one that lasts forty. The work is mostly preparation. Coating over a dirty, weathered or previously sealed surface produces a finish that peels within a year, which is the single most common reason people conclude that staining does not work. We wash, we strip or sand back to sound bare wood, we let it dry properly, and only then do we coat. We match the product to the timber, because a penetrating oil that is perfect on ipe will sit on the surface of a pressure treated board and a film-forming solid stain that suits an old, tired deck will look wrong on new cedar. This is refinishing, restoration, resurfacing and recoating work across Santa Monica and the Westside, on redwood, cedar, pressure treated pine and hardwood. Composite and PVC do not get stained, they get washed, which is Deck Cleaning. If the boards are past saving rather than tired, that is a Deck Building conversation.
Why Have Us Refinish It
Refinishing is easy to sell and easy to do badly, because a fresh coat looks excellent for about eight months regardless of what is underneath it. The prep is where the money should go and it is the invisible part, which is exactly why it gets skipped. We wash, strip the old coating properly where there is one, sand back to bare timber, replace any board that is too far gone before coating rather than painting over it, and we wait for the moisture content to drop before the first coat goes on. We also tell you honestly when a refinish is throwing good money after bad, because a deck with soft joists does not need a stain, it needs a builder.
- Full preparation: wash, strip, sand to bare timber, then coat. Not a coat over whatever is there.
- Moisture checked before the first coat, because sealing damp wood traps the water inside it.
- Failed boards replaced before finishing, rather than coated over and rediscovered next year.
- Product matched to the species, so a penetrating oil goes on hardwood and a film stain where a film belongs.
- Railings, stairs, fascia and skirt done as part of the job, not treated as extras.
- An honest answer about whether refinishing is worth it, given what the framing underneath is doing.
Reasons To Refinish A Deck
Wood usually asks for attention before it demands it. The signals:
The colour has gone grey
Silvering is UV damage to the surface fibres. It is cosmetic at first and it is the point at which a sand and re-coat is cheap. Left long enough the surface cracks and checks and the repair costs more.
Water soaks in instead of beading
The simplest test there is. Splash a cup of water on the boards. If it beads, the seal is intact. If it darkens the wood immediately, the seal has gone and water is getting into the grain every time it rains.
The existing coating is peeling or flaking
A film-forming stain that has lost adhesion will keep peeling until it is stripped. Coating over it makes the problem worse and the second failure is faster than the first.
The surface is rough underfoot
Raised grain and splintering come from repeated wetting and drying of unprotected wood. Sanding brings it back to smooth and the sealer stops the cycle repeating.
Black or green patches are spreading
Mildew and algae grow where moisture sits and shade lingers. They need cleaning off before any coating, and the coating is what stops them re-establishing so quickly.
It is two or three years since the last coat
That is the interval most softwood decks on the Westside need. Beach-adjacent addresses are at the short end of it, shaded inland gardens at the long end.
Send us a close photo of the worst section and we can usually tell you whether it is a sand and coat or something more. Call: (310) 564-8939
How A Refinish Runs
Three to five days on most decks, and most of that is preparation and drying.
1. Inspection and board assessment
We probe for soft timber, check the fasteners, look at the joists and ledger from below where we can get to them, and identify boards that need replacing. You get told what we found before the work starts, not after.
2. Clean and strip
Low-pressure wash to remove dirt, mildew and algae, followed by a chemical strip where an old film coating has to come off. Pressure alone does not remove a failed stain, and using enough pressure to try shreds the wood.
3. Sand and repair
Sanding to bare, smooth timber, with any failed boards swapped out and popped fasteners reset. Then the deck is left to dry to the right moisture content, which in cool weather can take a couple of days on its own.
4. Stain and seal
Coating applied to the boards, railings, stairs, fascia and skirt, with end grain and cut ends given particular attention because that is where water enters fastest. Curing time depends on the product and the weather.
Coatings, Species And Schedules
What actually determines how long a finish lasts:
Transparent, semi-transparent and solid stains
Transparent shows the most grain and gives the least UV protection, so it needs recoating soonest. Semi-transparent is the usual compromise and what most redwood and cedar decks get. Solid stain covers grain almost entirely, protects the most, and behaves like paint, which means it can peel and eventually has to be stripped.
Penetrating oils
Oil-based penetrating finishes soak into the fibres rather than forming a film on top, so they wear rather than peel and recoating needs no stripping. They are the right answer on ipe and other dense hardwoods, and they keep the brown colour that ipe otherwise loses to silver.
Deck painting
Paint gives the most colour choice and the most UV protection, and it is the hardest to reverse. Once a deck is painted it stays painted, because stripping paint off horizontal decking is an unpleasant and expensive job. It suits older pressure treated surfaces where the grain is no longer worth showing.
Waterproofing coatings
Elastomeric and membrane coatings are a different category, used where the deck sits over living space or where the surface itself has to shed all water. They are a building-envelope product rather than a finish, and applying one over a deck that needs to breathe causes problems.
Sanding and resurfacing
Sanding removes the damaged surface layer and takes raised grain back to smooth. Resurfacing goes further: the existing framing stays and every surface board and rail is replaced. That is a good answer when the structure is sound and the boards are finished, and it costs far less than a full rebuild.
Board replacement before coating
Coating a rotten board is money wasted twice. We swap failed boards first, matching species and profile, and let new timber weather briefly before finishing it so the coat takes evenly.
Maintenance intervals by material
Softwoods such as redwood and cedar want a clean and re-coat every two to three years here. Pressure treated pine is similar. Dense hardwood oiled to keep its colour is roughly annual, or you let it silver and leave it. Composite and PVC never get coated, only washed.
Salt air and sun exposure
A deck three blocks from the beach in Venice or Marina del Rey works harder than one in Culver City. Full southern and western exposure shortens the interval further. The schedule should follow the address rather than the calendar.
What Refinishing A Deck Costs
Refinishing is priced by area and by how much preparation the surface needs, and preparation is most of it. What moves the number:
- Square footage, including the railings, stairs, fascia and skirt, which together are often a third of the total surface.
- Condition. A deck that only needs a wash and a coat is straightforward. One with a failed film coating to strip is a different job.
- Whether stripping is required. Removing an old solid stain or paint is chemical work and it is slow.
- Sanding. A rough, weathered surface needs more passes and coarser starting grits than one that was maintained.
- Board replacement. Any failed timber gets swapped before coating, priced per board.
- Product. Penetrating hardwood oils cost more per gallon than a standard semi-transparent stain, and hardwood drinks more of it.
- Access and complexity. Multiple levels, tight railing spindles and elevated sections all take longer than an open rectangle.
On a sound structure a refinish is a fraction of the cost of replacement, which is exactly why it is worth doing on schedule instead of waiting. If the boards are past it but the framing is good, resurfacing sits between the two. If the framing has gone, that is Deck Building. Regular Deck Cleaning between coats stretches the interval considerably, and everything we do is listed under deck building, repair and refinishing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should a deck be stained?
On the Westside, most redwood, cedar and pressure treated decks want a clean and re-coat every two to three years. Beach-adjacent addresses in Venice and Marina del Rey are at the short end because salt and sun both work harder there. Dense hardwood such as ipe is roughly annual if you want to keep the brown colour, or you can let it silver naturally and leave it alone. The water test is more reliable than the calendar: if water soaks straight in instead of beading, it is time.
What is the difference between staining and sealing?
A stain adds pigment, and that pigment is what blocks ultraviolet light and stops the wood going grey. A sealer repels water and keeps it out of the grain. Most modern products do both in one application, which is what we normally use. A clear sealer on its own protects against water but gives almost no UV protection, so the boards will still silver.
Can you stain a composite deck?
No, and it should not need it. Capped composite and PVC boards have their colour and their protection built into the cap, and coating them creates a film that has nothing to bond to, so it peels. What composite does need is regular washing, because surface grime and algae film build up on it the same as on anything else. That is covered under Deck Cleaning.
Do you have to sand before staining?
Almost always. Sanding removes the UV-damaged surface fibres, takes raised grain back to smooth, and gives the new coat sound timber to bond with. Skipping it is the usual reason a finish fails within a year. The exception is a well-maintained deck being recoated on schedule with a penetrating oil, where a thorough wash and a light scuff can be enough.
How long does the deck have to stay off limits?
Typically 24 to 48 hours after the final coat before normal use, depending on the product and the weather. Furniture should stay off for longer, ideally three days, so nothing prints into a finish that has not fully cured. The whole job, from first wash to walking on it again, is usually three to five days on an average deck.
My deck is grey. Is it too late?
Almost certainly not. Grey is surface UV damage, usually only a fraction of a millimetre deep, and sanding takes it straight off to reveal sound colour underneath. What matters is what the wood is doing below that. If the boards are structurally sound and the framing is solid, a sand and re-coat will make it look close to new. If a screwdriver pushes into the timber, that is a different conversation.
Planning a deck in Santa Monica?
Tell us what you want to build and where it sits, and we will come out this week with a free estimate and a fixed price.
Or call us now: (310) 564-8939