New deck. Now what?

[N80]

My wife and I just completed a little 8' x 18' deck on the back of our log cabin. The decking is 2x6 treated limber. The yellow stuff. It is not covered and will get sun in summer, almost none in winter. Our front porch, which is 11 years old is also made of treated 2x6 limber and it has been fine with no stain or water seal but it is covered by the porch roof.

How should I protect my deck? How long should I wait before doing it? Any help greatly appreciated. (The small stoop and steps that were back there originally were made of treated lumber and were pretty much shot after 10 years).

 

[mbohuntr]

I would let dry a bit, say a week. Then coat it with an OIL based stain. Those latex based stains are pretty, but won't penetrate into the grain and keep the moisture off. Don't let the wood dry to cracking, or, the water will go right into it and be much harder to seal out.
Try to find a product that inhibits mold/mildew as well. :2cents:

 

[N80]

Sounds like good advice.

 

[mark02tj]

Someone on another thread posted this link a while back... Specifically made for pressure treated lumber.

 

[roadhunter]

The Sherwin Williams deck products are nothing short of amazing. Might be worth a look.

 

[SirReal63]

Ideally, you would wait until the wood is acclimated to it's environment, which is typically about 12% moisture content. Depending on how wet it is from the treatment, it could take weeks or months to reach equilibrium and be ready for protectant. Thee is no downside to waiting until the wood is properly dry but there is a downside to applying anything before the wood is dry.

 

[haroldy]

I waited 2 summers to make sure wood is dry

 

[EddieWalker]

I agree with the others that you need to wait a bit. You can usually tell when it's ready just by how it feels. The wood comes with a certain amount of moisture in it and for best results on your stain or sealant, you want that moisture to be at a minimum. I tell my clients to wait a month when they want to stain or seal it themselves. I also recommend going to Sherwin Williams for the stain or sealant. The other specialty paint stores are good too, just don't waste your time with the box stores and what they have to offer. Lowes used to carry Cabot's, which I liked, but they are now pushing that really lousy Olympic brand stuff. Home Depot has always had poor stains and ever since merging with Kilz, it's gotten even worse. Instead of using the Behr brand and improve the junk Kilz has, they went down to the level of Kilz.

If you spray it on, be sure to use a brush or something to spread it around to make it more even.

Eddie