Wood Stain Buying Guide

To avoid performing frequent maintenance on your house’s exterior wood elements, you’ll need a long-lasting stain that holds up through weathering and regular wear and tear.

Wood stains are also a must for older decks. Before 2004 most decks were made of lumber pressure-treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) to fend off rot and insects. But concerns that arsenic, a toxin, could leach into the soil led to the introduction of other preservatives. If the wood in your deck is pressure-treated with CCA, the Environmental Protection Agency recommends regularly applying a penetrating coating, such as a semi-transparent or clear stain, to help reduce the leaching of arsenic.

If your deck is made of CCA lumber and its finish is flaking, we suggest calling a pro equipped to safely remove the old finish, dust, and debris.

But even on a new deck free from CCA, a good wood stain is crucial. Correctly applied, it can lend to the appearance of the wood while helping it last as long as possible. 

To evaluate exterior wood stains, CR’s test engineers apply two coats of stain to pine boards and place the boards on the roof of our headquarters in Yonkers, N.Y. We face them south and at an angle, like a roof, to intensify the effects of the sun and elements and to accelerate weathering. Because of our location in the Mid-Atlantic region, these boards are exposed to conditions typical of the Northeast’s four distinct seasons.

One year of testing tells you how a stain will look after one year on your deck, or about three years of weathering on your home’s vertical surfaces (siding or fences), as you’ll see in our wood stain ratings. 

“The sun and water beat down on a deck, snow can pile up, and even dirt and mildew spores can settle on the flat surface,” says Rich Handel, the project leader who oversees CR’s tests of stains and paints. “All those issues are minimized on a vertical surface.”

The worst stains don’t hold up a year. The best remain close to new after three years, without fading, cracking, or mildew buildup. Some also fend off dirt. You’ll see these test results in the full view of our wood stain ratings by moving the Ratings & Specs slider bar to the right.

Need a little more help narrowing down your options? Check out CR’s list of the best and worst wood stains.

Today’s wood stains have to meet environmental rules that call for lower volatile organic compounds. VOCs are linked to pollution, smog, and respiratory problems, and can cause headaches and dizziness. Some may even be carcinogenic. Top stains from our tests meet these environmental standards and still look good after up to three years on a deck.

A newly built wood deck is ready to stain four to eight weeks after it’s installed. (This gives the wood, which is wet from the pressure-treating process, enough time to dry out.) Just clean the surface with soapy water and a scrub brush. Let it dry for about 24 hours, then apply the stain.

If you’re restaining a wood deck built before 2004, we recommend calling a professional to handle the cleanup and staining. Otherwise, you can take on the task yourself. Washing and sanding are typical first steps. If you’re using a pressure washer, read the machine’s manual before getting started and cover adjacent landscaping with plastic sheeting. The pressure needed is typically 1,500 pounds per square inch; a wide-angle spray tip of 25 to 40 degrees creates a relatively broad spray that protects the wood. Angle the spray and keep it between 6 and 12 inches away from wood surfaces. For more on pressure washing, read “Can This Surface Be Pressure-Washed?”