I'm about to redo my deck and need to use a sealant that will last more than just a couple of years. What do you like and how has it performed?

Been searching since the 80's for my 888sf DIY deck
but even the acid-soak-in $$$$ (e.g. Flood) stuff will leach out unless roof covered + the Flood acid brand eats most nails.

Yes, land.arch guys preach the benefits of protection (& of course lumber yard salesmen) but gotta say, raw naked bround-treated 2x deckboard did A-OK over these decades. Replacement of some boards with the inferior global friendly ones began 10 years ago but not back breaking.

That said, a perfect party deck for social/biz climbing reasons, needs protection and finally, there are some EZ-2-apply tools found an Amazon if nowhere else. From sheepwool to soft brushes that load to the brim, etc.
As for me, if involved, I would want a big tank o Devoe/Ben.Moore/equal on a spray push roller plug-in dolly (think vac cleaner machine) w/spray wand attachment for benches - that takes only one hour/1000sf, then vacation for another year.

Since no one answered your Q thus far, thought this might be priming the pump, as I would like to learn real world Texas experiences to share ... from 3 or more years observation betting NONE

I used some Sherwin Williams stuff that had a five year "guarantee," but within two years, it was mostly gone and by three years I had boards that were rotting out.

Ready Seal. It's oil based and doesn't peel.

This is what I just out on my columns in my porch so we will see how the sun facing portions do.

I put the solid color behr premium on a fence and raised garden beds two years ago and it has been really good so far. Over $200 for 5 gallons. Claims it's 10 years for a deck.

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FWIW, I too have had good luck with the Behr semi-transparent and solid color stains. We applied the solid color to some park benches we refurbished about 8 years ago and the still look good (despite being in full sun/no shade). We have used the semi-transparent on our deck, but I don't think we got more than 3-4 years before it needed refreshing.

We have tried many transparent stains, none lasted more than two-three years.

Bonfire97 said:

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Ready Seal. It's oil based and doesn't peel.

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This is my preference but even it only last about 2-3 years if getting direct sun exposure.

Bonfire97 said:

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Ready Seal. It's oil based and doesn't peel.

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But needs to be reapplied every 2-3 years in my experience. It sure looks great though.

TheRatt87 said:

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This thread is why I went composite when I had to replace my existing deck. The cost was close to double vs. replacing with wood, but almost 10 yrs later and all boards & railings are straight, not faded, and look essentially brand new. Maintenance consists of scrubbing it down once a year. Would never have another wood deck.

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I've given a lot of consideration to composite, but my deck was built with 24" joists, which could be problematic. However, I built steps on the west side of my house with 24" stringers and composite steps without any sagging issues after four years of getting hammered by the sun. The other issue with composite is I will have to choose between a lot of butt joints or a lot of waste, as 33 of the 44 boards are 10' long. The other 11 are 16'.

No way of do composite with 2x the recommended joist width.

I'll take a photo of my fence and garden boxes that are in year two and get full sun with the coating discussed earlier. It's almost certainly wh as t I'll be using on my deck when I redo it.

Ryan there's a guy in I think 3rd Ward who sells 16 foot treated deck boards for less than$9 each. I've bought a lot of treated lumber from him ever the years.

This is after 2 years in the sun.

This is after 2 years in the sun.

Indeed, same history here but on redwood siding.
A lumber yard manager gave me the insider dope on all this - such as this pays their light bill.

Flood made something in-the-day acid based that soaked in and "became one" with the wood, even a garden sprayer would apply it with good results.

Bonfire97 said:

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Ready Seal. It's oil based and doesn't peel.

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But does need to be renewed every 2-3 years in areas exposed to the elements in my experience. Really looks great though.

Nothing works long term. Go with Trex or other composite. I did this four years ago and it still looks brand new.

Follow up to this one for some crowd-sourced thoughts. I'm pickup up some solid-color stain this week for my build this weekend. What are y'all's thoughts on a non-wood-ish color? I'm considering grey because it will coordinate with the trim on the cabin and with my house in Houston. I need about 1.25 gallons for the cabin deck and maybe 1/2 gallon for home, so I figured to save money I'd buy the same color for both.

ETA: The cost of Trex was prohibitive.

I just picked up a massive load of treated wood for my deck. I hope you didn't buy from the box stores because there are little barrio treated wood shops all over FB marketplace that are so much cheaper. I got the entire load in this photo for like $1400. Also after doing a little more research I am going to be going with a non solid color on my deck.

That's also only like half of what I need. Even if I could afford to spend $20k on trex my levels of cheapness wouldn't let me.

Sea Speed said:

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I just picked up a massive load of treated wood for my deck. I hope you didn't buy from the box stores because there are little barrio treated wood shops all over FB marketplace that are so much cheaper. I got the entire load in this photo for like $1400. Also after doing a little more research I am going to be going with a non solid color on my deck.

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Well ... Lowe's will deliver it all from Temple for $79, saving me the trouble of hunting down or renting a trailer (and having to make the trip). The couple places I had an opportunity to save more money were pretty far out of the way.

Yea u loading all of that absolutely sucked but a friend helped out. In that pile there are 60 16 foot, 60 12 foot 60 10 foot deck boards and I think 7 2x12x8 foot boards for some stairs. Saved a ton of money. It's all stored and drying a bit right now. Will probably need one more similar load to finish the job.