Wisely Choosing Colors for Deck Staining

Choosing colors for deck staining can be a bit confusing until you understand the terminology. When you decide to stain a deck, you begin by deciding if you want to bring out the natural grain of the wood or use a color that hides the wood. Generally, the better the grade of wood the less color you will use. In the end though, the decision is strictly one of personal preference.

There are hundreds of deck stain colors you can choose among when it’s time to refresh your deck. There are also many different brands of stain, but in most cases, the stain can be categorized in several different ways. The categories are based on how well the stain color hides the actual wood.

Choosing Colors for Deck Staining

The first kind of deck stain is called transparent. The transparent stain is
exactly what it sounds like – transparent. It’s ideal for use on decks you want to protect from weathering without changing the color of the wood or hiding any of the grain. Semi-transparent stains have color pigment that is noticeable, but it’s not enough to hide the grain of the wood. This type of stain is used to add color but actually enhances the appearance of the wood.

Semi-solid stains will almost hide the grain, but not completely. It’s as close as you can get to a solid stain without complete cover-up. The solid stains are the most practical in that they can be used on any deck because they cover any stain previously applied.

Choosing colors for deck staining is dependent upon the type of stain you use. As you move from transparent stain which has no color to solid stain which is full color, you have more color choices. The easiest way to start narrowing your color choices is to determine the shades or hues that will fit best with your house color scheme. For example, you want your deck color to blend with the other colors in your house and landscaping so the deck doesn’t look out of place. You can look at the color of your house or house trim, or of you fence for example.

Even after choosing colors for deck staining, the next step is to test several colors on a piece of wood so you can see how it looks after it dries. You can use an unobtrusive spot on your deck. You want to apply it over your existing color so you can see how it will really look. By the way, you can also consider using more than one stain color on your deck. You can stain the deck one color and use a trim stain color on the railing for example.