2020 Update on New Wood Application for Defy Stains
For new wood and Defy Deck Stains, the wood does need to season for a time and should be prepped. We love hearing from our customers who have used the Defy Stains or have questions on the application. We appreciate your input, so feel free to leave a comment below and pictures of your completed projects if you have them.
Prepping New Wood for Defy Exterior Wood Stains
Defy has stain products that are excellent for newer, more dense wood. With special penetrating properties, newer wood is shielded against water damage and graying. Defy Stains are not prone to peeling and flaking and will ensure beautiful and lasting results for your new exterior wood surfaces.
It is recommended that wood should be allowed to dry out for 3-6 months before cleaning and staining. New woods that are rich in oil such as mahogany should also dry out for 3-6 months before protecting with Defy Stain for new wood.
After proper dry times, new wood should be cleaned using Defy Wood Cleaner prior to staining with Defy Stains. Defy Wood Cleaner is an oxygen bleach wood deck cleaning solution that is extremely effective at removing dirt, grime, mold, mildew, graying, and mill glaze found on new wood. Defy Wood Cleaning Solution is a biodegradable concentrated powder formula that mixes with water to safely prep new wood prior to stain application.
Once cleaning new wood is complete, the wood will appear darker. This darker appearance is normal and will disappear once an application of Defy Wood Brightener is used. While the wood surface remains wet from cleaning, apply a generous coat of Defy Wood and Deck Brightener to lighten the wood to its original, like new appearance and to open the wood pores for better stain saturation and performance.
After prepping new wood for Defy Stains, allow the wood to dry for 48 hours minimum before continuing with stain application.
Note: Only 1 coat should be applied to new wood and the first time staining. You can apply another light coat if needed in 12-18 months.
I am installing railings to an existing deck. Since they will have metal balusters, I would like to stain the wood prior to building the railings so I don’t have to stain around the metal. Would it be okay to go ahead and do this without letting the wood age for several months? I assume I would use cleaning and brightener first as usual.
Sorry but no, you will need to weather the wood and then prep it first.
I am in the Chicago area with a new pressure treated pine deck. The deck is 1 month old. Sounds like the ideal is to wait 3-6 months before staining. Given our climate that leaves me with the choice of stain early as in now or late as in May which would make it 8 months. Do I stain now or wait until spring?
Wait until Spring.
After I apply the wood brightener you recommend waiting 48 hours before applying the sealer/stain. What is the longest period I should wait before applying the sealer/stain?
Try to stain within 10-15 days of prep.
I have a new deck on the lake house in northern Iowa that is directly underneath several large oak trees. Acorns are already dropping (Aug 28). One tier was built in June 2018. The other tier was competed November 2019 before the snow. Neither tier has been treated, yet. I wanted to get it done before this winter, but now with the trees and temps dropping – would it be best (ok?) to wait until spring even though the deck is still bare? Also, I have existing steps that have dark solid stain or paint in them. What is the… Read more »
You would have to sand the steps to remove the solid stain. You can wait until Spring or do it now. Either is fine. Thanks!
thanks for the quick reply! would I need to sand the steps if just going over with a solid or paint? Or can I get away with power wash and strip prep?
If using a solid stain again you can cover the current solid stain. Pressure wash and strip what is loose for prep.
I have a new redwood deck. It has aged for 3 months. Do I have to scrub the deck cleaner into the deck. Or let it sit for 5 to 15 minutes and then use a pressure sealer to rinse it off? Then rinse.
Apply, let sit for 15 minutes and then pressure wash. Rinse after.
Thank you!
I have a pressure treated deck it’s 4 years old never been stained what product do you recommend I live in Ontario Canada
Prep with the Defy Wood Cleaner and then the Defy Brightener. Stain with Defy Extreme Stain: https://www.defystain.com/wood-and-deck-stains.html
Just completed a cedar deck in western Washington. The info on this web site indicates that we should wait 3 to 6 months before sealing this new deck with Defy stain. Is that correct? After waiting the 3 to 6 month period, then we need to follow the proper process to clean and brighten the new deck before staining the deck. Again, is my thinking correct? Thanks for your help.
Yes and all is explained in the above article. Thanks!
I just built a pressure treated pine deck. It is in full sun. Which Defy stain is best for UV protection?
Use the Defy Extreme.
How should the deck cleaner be applied? Is it ok to us in a pressure washer?
Apply with a pump sprayer and then pressure wash off. It cannot be applied through a pressure washer.
Today i used defy cleaner , scrubbedm and then used brightener on My pressure treated deck. There are still some stubborn green stains that wont come out despite 2-3 passes with the cleaner and scrub brush, is this normal? Can i still stain it with those green stains?
It is most like in the wood and will not come out. You can still stain the wood.
Hello. We are building a new cabin. The wood is northern spruce, being shipped from the Baltic region, and is not pressure treated. Therefore, we are concerned about leaving the wood untreated for any amount of time.
Time from manufacture to receiving shipment is about 3-4 months. WOULD THIS BE ENOUGH WAIT TIME?
WOULD I STILL NEED TO CLEAN AND PREP THE WOOD?
No. It has to sit outside and weather after install. Yes you will need to clean and prep it.
I applied applied Defy on a new deck after allowing a year for seasoning. I followed all manufacturer directions. After just one year, the stain was lifting from the wood, and fading the horizontal surfaces were fading badly. Note that the wood displayed “silvery” patterns. I contacted Defy customer service to explain all this, and they sent me a gratis 5 gallon can of Defy stain, suggesting that I use Defy Brightener, and then wash the deck surfaces with water. I did this. This year, the vertical surfaces all look fine, but all horizontal surfaces are again fading badly, and… Read more »
The prep sounds correct but do not over sand. Too smooth and the stain will not absorb as well as it needs to.
I have upper and lower wrap around porches to prep and stain on new wood that has weathered for two years. I had planned to stain last year but weather would not permit. Now I’m afraid I will be in same place almost impossible to get four days in a row of no rain in Missouri. Can I bleach and brighten and then wait with rain in between before I begin staining? If so how long do I allow to dry after rain before I can stain? If not do you have any suggestions. Thanks
Yes, it can be prepped and have it rain between staining. If it does, just wait 48 hours after the rain to stain the wood. Try to stain the deck within 2 weeks of the prep.
Last fall I applied one coat of natural pine to new wood (built earlier in the spring) I have quite a lot of leaf stains and other marks that have build up on the deck boards over the last year. Was planning to clean, brighten and apply more stain now, is that wise? If so, do I apply just one coat or the usual two coats, wet on wet approach? Also, if cleaning and brightening in phases, should I clean and brighten together or, can I clean the whole area over a couple days and then come back and brighten?
Just wait until Spring. Clean and brighten for the prep and apply one coat.
Okay. What could I use now to clean up the leaf stains other marks on the deck boards?
The Defy Wood Cleaner and pressure washing in the Spring will clean this up.
On the defy.com website it says for new wood to apply 2 coats of Defy Wood Stain but your site says to apply just one coat. So I am unsure of what to do. Please advise! Thanks!
Only one for new wood.
When you state to only apply one coat to new wood, yet the website states 2 coats and wet on wet application, its confusing. I installed pressure treated yellow pine decking, it has been sitting for 9-mths so far. So is this considered “new wood” and how many coats apply in this situation?
Not two coats for new wood. 1 coat only. Your wood is new.
I have a new western red cedar deck, a month old now. Worried about it greying and weathering over winter if left untreated. Would you suggest still waiting until spring to stain? or do it just before bad weather kicks in?
Yes. Staining too soon and the product will not soak in and could prematurely fail.
I have a new pressured treated pine deck that is two months old located in Northeastern Illinois. How long should I wait before staining? Is it better to do before winter or wait until next year?
3-6 months as the article states. Best to do in spring of next year.
I have 4 cabins that are 264 sq ft. How much product should I purchase?
We would need the sq footage of the 4 exterior walls for each cabin added together, not the sq footage of the interior floors.
Why do I need to wait 48 hours between cleaning and staining?
So the wood can dry after the prep.
I have a 16×16 ft pine wolmanized deck put up in August 2017 . I treated it with Thompsons water proofing in June 2018 and would like to retreat in October 2018 with the Defy clear pine stain. Would I need to remove the Thompsons water seal prior to applying the Defy clear stain? And if yes, with what solution do I remove it with?
Yes, you will need to remove the Thompsons. Use the Defy Stain Stripper and pressure washing. Neutralize with the Defy Wood Brightener after.
If I want to do a light sanding on new unstai ned wood (6 months old), do I do it before cleaning?
Yes.
I currently have one coat of Natural Pine on a 2 year old Cedar deck. I would like to change the color to Light Walnut. Do I need to strip off the Natural Pine first?
Yes that would be best.
I’m getting ready to build a cedar pergola and the lumber company is telling me the cedar will have been kiln dried. From what I read, US standards are around 6-8% MC for kiln dried lumber. I’m in Reno, NV which has pretty low humidity. Will I still need to wait a few months before applying your stain or can I stain before building?
Thanks.
Hi Marcus, see this article about new kiln dried wood and Defy: https://www.defystain.com/kdat-and-defy-wait-period-for-new-wood.html
Hello. I cleaned my new 9 month old redwood deck with the defy cleaner. I did not use the Brightener, but now the deck has dried for 48 hours and I was planning to stain it. Should I go back and brighten now or is it too late?
Thank you!
Defy does suggest using the wood brightener after using the cleaner to neutralize and open the grain of the wood better.
Used Behr deck cleaner on my one year old cedar deck. Should I use your brighter before your stain?
Yes.
I’ve used the defy cleaner and brightener, but the brightener seemed to leave a residue, so I power washed again. It’s Weathershield 2 wood FYI.
I plan on staining with the extreme in two days, but the forecast calls for rain on the 3rd day. I’ll have to do the stain in the evening. Will there be issues if the stain is exposed to rain in 24 hours?
No issues.
Is 36 hours adequate drying time with relatively low humidity?
Yes.
Hi. We are installing a new pressure treated deck and are unsure about staining. Waiting the minimum 3 months would put us into December. Everyone says it’s important to seal before winter, but with your minimum wait recommendation we wouldn’t be able to stain until next spring. What should we do? We are located in Maryland.
Wait until Spring.
I have a new deck that was built in march and I’m now ready to tackle the staining job. I understand that I should use just one coat for new wood. My question is how thick should this be applied? Similar to the same technique used in painting? Do you apply the full length of each board or can you cover 2-3 boards at a time, continuing to cover there entire length? This being a one person job, I would also like to break up the work into section, meaning doing the cleaning, brightening and staining in stages. Doing a… Read more »
You want a thin coat. Defy is a penetrating stain so it needs to soak into the wood, not lay on top of the wood like a paint. Do 1-2 boards at a time and their entire length. You should clean and brighten all wood first and then break the staining up into sections if needed.
I had a new redwood fence installed 4 weeks ago. The vertical boards are rough cut, the horizontal 2×6 and 1×4 used for the fence cap are not. Planning to stain in a couple week.
Will these preparation steps be necessary for this application?
You should prep the smooth wood first before staining.
Hi, my pressure treated deck is about 4 years old but has never been stained. In the “Wet on Wet” article it says not to apply a second coat to “brand new wood” and you could do it in 12 to 18 months. Is my 4 year old deck still considered brand new wood because it has never been stained before? I am trying to determine whether I should be applying a second coat or not? Thanks
Hello, just wanted to confirm application techniques. I have just completed a Pressure Treated(PT) pine deck(02/01/2016) installation. It is a dock in a salt water location. I was planning to check the deck for absorption and apply Defy extreme stain (Natural Pine) in May. The dock is in the sun most of the day, early morning application may work, but the deck will be wet (dew). Will this be an issue, or is it OK to apply in the sun after the dew has evaporated? Since the PT deck is new, should I still apply the Defy Cleaner and Brightener… Read more »
Yes it will be okay to apply after the dew has dried, late in the day. Best to use both the cleaner and the brightener for the prep. This will remove dirt, oxidation, and mill glaze.
I have had already applied the cleaner-brightener to the entire deck and then later applied the stain to 50% of the deck. But due to weather (rain) conditions applying the stain to the remaining half was delayed by a month. How do you suggest me to proceed for the rest half – just applying the stain only or cleaner/brightener-stain or go through the entire process of cleaner-brightener-stain ? Please advice. I’m planning to do it this week as the weather would be good (cold though). Or wait – until when?
DefyHelp..please reply
Clean and brighten all again is the best way to prep.
Just used the cleaner and some of the boards have a white film? So the boards thart have darker parts should, i just re clean to try to even out the color? I’ll be using the brighter before I stain, but not sure brightener will even out color??
More then likely you did not remove all of the oxidized wood cells when you scrubbed or pressure washed. Try re-cleaningand maybe using a little bit more pressure. Brighten all wood to even color after.
I just cleaned my deck and it’s been 2 days I haven’t applied the defy brightner. I’m planning to apply it on the 3rd day of applying the cleaner.
Do, I Need To reapply the cleaner before applying brightner? Will direct application of brightner detoriate the look of the deck?
No need to apply the cleaner again. Just apply brightener, wait 20 minutes, and rinse.
can I use defy wood cleaner safely on a bronze marker? It’s such a good cleaning agent I was just wondering if would be safe.
It may have a reaction. Hard to say and we have never tested it on that type of surface.