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Last Updated on January 30, 2023 by TWP Help
We are here to help you with your TWP exterior deck or wood restoration project for 2024!
TWP is an advanced wood preservative/protectant registered by the EPA. Performance and longevity can vary though depending on the wood type, how the wood is prepped, the age of wood, and how the TWP is applied. We want everyone who has decided to use TWP 100, 1500, or 200 Series to have the best possible results.
TWP Stain Tips and Help
When asking questions please give us some information about your wood restoration project:
- What structure is your wood? Examples would be: Deck, Wood Siding, Fence, etc
- What species is the wood? Examples: Treated Pine, Cedar, Redwood, Ipe, etc
- Is the wood new or older than 1 year?
- Has the wood been stained previously with a different brand? Please specify brand name and type of stain used: Examples: Solid stain, Semi-Transparent Stain, etc.
- Any additional info that would be useful
Once you supply us with the information, we will able to give you advice as to how to prep your wood and any needed instructions for the TWP application.
Please ask your questions in the comment area.
Thanks
I have a pressure treated deck. Half the deck was done last summer and stained at that time. The rest of the deck was done this summer – no stain yet. Problem is that last years PT wood was a different brand (Elite Decking) with a redish color and this years brand (Outdoor Wood) in more orange. Several questions:
1. I’m sure I need to strip the old stain (planning on using Restore-A-Deck Injectable Stripper), should I strip everything even the non-stained wood PT wood? 2. Will a brightener even out the color somewhat (planning on using Citralic Wood Brightener)? 3. What TWP stain should I use for Western Oregon in the woods – wet, damp, shady.
Is this product recommended for application on a cedar roof, after a power wash?
Hello can I choose to apply a darker twp color and apply it over an existing cedar tone twp color for the purpose of getting a darker shade without prep? I have a chestnut color home but the deck is cedar tone. Thx.
I just built a 6ft cedar fence with 6×6 pressure treated post, Which stain would give me the best color match between the cedar and pressure treated pine, and give me the best longevity?
Thanks,
My husband cleaned the deck last evening with the cleaner and then pressure washed it.. it has feathering on the wood now. Should we wait a while longer than the 48 hours to dry or can we stain it with the “feathers” ?
which product would you recommend for new PT pine deck. It has seasoned about 9 mos. Is it east facing and gets full sun. We live in the Chattanooga, TN area. We will prep with the gemini cleaner/brightener kit and pressure washer. Also, can you recommend a stain color. The house is dark chocolate brown with some natural stone around the foundation. thanks
Which stain? We installed a new pressure treated pine deck about 9 mos ago. we’re ready to prep with the gemini kit/pressure washer and stain. the deck is east facing and get blasted by sun. the house is painted a dark chocolate brown with natural stone. we live in chattanooga TN area. winters are cold but not much snow. can you recommend 100 vs 1500 and what colors you would think would work best. thx.
Hi. We are in Silver Spring, Maryland. Our fence is exactly 11 months old, made of pressure treated pine, with cedar top boards and doors. We want to use TWP 1500 Dark Oak. I can’t tell for sure if we need to use the Gemini cleaner/brightener kit or not. And, if we need 1 or 2 coats. Please let us know. Thanks!
Hi there,
Our cedar deck is a year old. At 10 months of age we sanded, then use restore-a-deck brightener, then stained using TWP 100 (Pecan); single coat, as advised on the instructions due to the age of the deck and absorption level. Since staining two months ago (June) we’ve noticed the lustre of the stain finish has significantly faded. It looks like it could do with another coat to freshen the look up.
Can we apply another coat? Would you expect this significant level of fading normal?
The deck is in full sun most of the day which may have attributed to the fading. Thoughts?
Question: we’re preparing our deck (stripping, replacing boards, filling cracks, etc.). Naturally, the new board we’re using to replace a rotten one is new and hasn’t been weathered for months. Should we avoid staining this one? it’s going to look pretty awful. Thanks!
Is it OK to wait 6 days between brightener and stain?
I have recently installed a cedar deck and am waiting for the cedar to weather for 6 months before applying TWP stain. The cedar has been down a couple of months and is already showing signs of mildew. Apparently, mildew is quite aggressive in my application. What can I do during the weathering period to prevent mildew? Will TWP alone prevent mildew once applied or do you recommend additives? What maintenance is recommended in areas at high risk for mildew?
I am surprised that I am at high risk for mildew (but cannot argue with the observations) – here are the details:
Climate – mountains of southwest VA
Orientation – east facing deck; plenty of sun until ~1p; shade in the afternoon
Ventilation – approximately 10 feet above ground; open underneath
Drainage – generally good – sufficient spacing between boards to drain; but some of the boards seem to retain a little water in the center like they are very slightly cupped even though all flat grain boards were installed “bark side up” (I did it myself so I am sure); mildew is NOT limited to the boards that cup.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike
I applied TWP 1500 to our cedar deck last summer after a thorough cleaning and brightening of the wood, which had gone too long since the last oiling. Have been very satisfied with the result. Lightly pressure washed the deck a week ago to remove dirt, and would like to do something to the horizontal surfaces to maintain them without doing a full-blown cleaning and re-oiling, which the deck doesn’t need right now. Do you recommend a process that would add a very thin coat of TWP 1500, perhaps using vigorous rubbing with a rag, and immediate wiping off of excess product? We live in Seattle area.
400 sq ft, cedar 2X4 deck, stripped, brightened and ready to stain. Considering TWP 100 or 1500 for Western Washington? Considering “Rustic” to match the original old growth cedar look. Feedback appreciated.
Hi we have an 8 year old Eastern White Pine house we bought that has consistently been stained with TWP. We are continuing with that maintenance with the CedarTone 101 product, however I’m varying a bit on the prep. I’ve been using a nylon bristle brush lightly with the Gemini Wood Brightener product. This seems to get the dirt and grime off while also brightening the wood. Please let me know If I’m missing a critical step in skipping with the cleaning product. As there are limited dry and cool days around here, Id like to keep the prep and staining limited to 2 steps. Thank-you.
Very frustrated! 2 years ago, I built a 650 sq ft covered porch, and coated each cedar deck board with TWP 1500 (top and bottom) before installation. 2 weeks ago, I cleaned and brightened using the Gemini products, and waited for 4 days before I laid down a wet on wet of 1500, staining a small area, waiting 10-20 minutes, and applying an additional light coat. If any area looked wet after 30 minutes, we used a dry paint roller to absorb excess stain.
We had great drying weather, but 8 days later, some areas were still sticky to the touch. After 10 day, the top coat peels off just by rubbing your hand on it! What a mess!
I ended up power washing the entire thing! I am now looking at sanding and washing all 650 sq ft! What did I do wrong?? I followed the directions on the bucket AND on this web site? Can you give me suggestions on how best to proceed??
We have an 18 year old, 1450 square foot pressure treated pine deck,
small amount of redwood for steps around hot tub.
In Alabama, temperatures very hot. Most of deck gets full sun most of the day.
Stained every few years with a semi-transparent stain. Last stained in fall of 2011 with Cabot Semi-Transparent stain.
Most of the stain appears to be gone. Rain does not bead. The deck is well
constructed, but some of the boards are looking very weathered. We have already cleaned, brightened, and done mild pressure washing to prepare for staining. Plan to replace about 6 boards. A few smaller shaded areas appear to have patches of old stain. Due to the previous stain peeling, we decided to switch to TWP 100 or 1500 and hopefully use it exclusively from now on. We are wondering if stripping
is necessary because of the weathered condition of the horizontal boards and the lack of stain on most of the deck. We were following instructions to prepare for TWP 100, but it seemed like stripping might damage the weathered boards. Should we use TWP 100 or 1500? We had been planning to use 100.
Thank you.
Do you have a list of color matching caulk for particular TWP colors? I
will be using pecan 120 on white pine, and I am probably going to look
at a few different brands. Big Stretch is one, and I have also heard of
Conceal textured caulk. This will be going on a home with log siding where many joints will be caulked. Any guidance here?
We used 1500 on a very dry deck. The stain soaked in immediately. We ran out of day light and thought we’d be able to reapply a second coat the following morning. Obviously, we did not read the application directions thoroughly enough. I now see that we needed to reapply the second coat within ten minutes. What do we do now? Will we need to wait a few months, or just wait another year?
Yesterday, used the cleaner and brightener kit on the deck. The deck was very very dirty. It definitely looks better but are concerned about the still black spots on areas that are in the shade more. Also expected the “square” where the hot tub used to be, to go away but it is still different than the wood around it. Need advice please! We were planning to begin staining tomorrow because of rain later in the week. But we want to do it the right way. We still have some of the cleaner but ran out of brightener.
I live in Washington State near the Pacific ocean. I am staining the siding of a cedar shed that has been washed and bleached to remove the mildew and ready to stain. We have a lot of mildew in Washington. Which product is best for mildew protection in my area, 100 or 1500?
Pressure treated pine decks built last summer
Have not had anything applied to them. Decks are in the hot Ga sun most of the day
Which series to use? 100 or 1500?
I had a new cedar deck installed in mid-Missouri last October so it has weathered for about 8 months. It’s approx. 8-16 feet, so not a very large one. The wood has grayed but rain still doesn’t soak into it very quickly. Not sure if i need to wait longer to stain or if the cleaning and brightening will help it be more absorbent. I have ordered the Gemini deck cleaner/brightener. TWP 1500 series is not sold here but I like to be as environmentally conscious as possible. Would you suggest I order the 1500 or just use the 100 series which is available locally?
Stained new cedar deck today with 115 Honeytone TWP 100. Cedar has been installed for approx. 4 months and prepped with wood cleaner/brightner prior to 72 hrs prior to staining. About 2 hrs After stain was applied we got a pop up rain shower unexpectedly for 20 minutes. The water beaded in most places and did not appear to pull up any stain, but cannot tell for sure. We are concerned about the stain appearance and curing with the rain. What are options going forward? Maintenance coat or total clean/restart staining process.
New cedar deck installed about 4 months ago. Washed/prepped following recommended methods. Got done staining and everything looks great, but then got a pop up rain shower about 2 hrs after application. Forecast (of course) called for no rain. Water appears to be beading up well. What should I do? Wait for 48 hrs or so for deck to dry and touch up?
I stripped my deck, power washed, and used neutralizer. Then I sanded the deck with a square buff sander and the railings with an orbital using 60 and 80 grit. The deck is 17 years old and is made out of cedar and the railings PT. I let it stand for a couple of weeks. I was washing it down with a hose to get any dirt the had built up on it as I was planing to stain it this weekend with twp 1500. I noticed some spots on the deck and posts and rails where the water was beading up. Will this prevent the stain from absorbing or cause blotchy spots? What would cause this?
Do I need to clean it with something else before I stain or wait longer?
I used 1500 on a newly built pine (untreated) picnic table and
benches. Sprayed it on about 18 hours ago and touched up with brush.
Left it over night and it’s still wet and a greasy.
Should I wipe the excess off now, let it dry more (it’s in the sun now and it’s about 80 degrees F), or something else?
Thank you!
I used 1500 on a newly built pine (untreated) picnic table and benches. Sprayed it on about 18 hours ago and touched up with brush.
Left it over night and it’s still wet and a greasy.
Should I wipe the excess off now, let it dry more (it’s in the sun now and it’s about 80 degrees F), or something else?
Thank you!
Hi – we just had a cedar deck built, contractors finished Monday. I have been told by some to stain within a couple weeks and others to wait a year. I see you mention waiting 4-12 months. I live in Minnesota and our deck gets full sun. It is pretty hot and humid around here, so I was going to wait until September, however sounds like maybe November would be better if the temps stay above 50 degrees or possibly wait for the Spring? Also, I was going to use your wood cleaner/brightener kit, that is recommended for new cedar too, right? Lastly, should I use the 100 or 1500 series? I want to order some samples now so we have our color in mind. Thanks!
I had a contractor stain my deck with TWP Stain 1500. He used a sprayer and it splashed on the stucco and cement. Apparently, he had only worked with water-based stains in the past and thought he could pressure wash the messy spots off. What’s the best way to clean the stain off the stucco and cement? Thanks!
I live in Minnesota and the contractors finished our cedar deck this past Monday. I was told by some to stain in a few weeks, but I see you say to wait 4-12 months. It is pretty hot and humid around here so I was going to wait until September regardless, but sounds like I should wait until the Spring or possibly November if it ist still above 50 degrees? I was planning on using your restore-a-deck product before staining too to remove the mill glaze, is that the right choice for a new deck? Lastly, should I go with the 100 or 1500 series? I want to get some samples to at least pick out a color now. Thanks for your help!
I am installing a bamboo ceiling over a covered deck. The bamboo product is brand new and is factory-stained a mahogany color. I’m looking for something that I can apply before installation that should not need to be recoated for many years.
The bamboo will not experience any sunlight exposure and minimal rain since it is under a roof. However, it is outside, so will experience temperature and humidity changes.
My main goal is to retain the look and color of the wood as close to factory as possible for as long as possible.
What product would you recommend? Thanks
I stripped my deck, power washed, and used neutralizer. Then I sanded the deck with a square buff sander and the railings with an orbital using 60 and 80 grit. The deck is 17 years old and is made out of cedar and the railings PT. I let it stand for a couple of weeks. I was washing it down with a hose to get any dirt the had built up on it as I was planing to stain it this weekend with twp 1500. I noticed some spots on the deck and posts and rails where the water was beading up. Will this prevent the stain from absorbing or cause blotchy spots? What would cause this?
Do I need to clean it with something else before I stain or wait longer?
Thanks,
Jim
Had been using TWP 200 in Cedartone to stain deck for 13yrs. It worked really well. Is it not available anymore? Deck is located in Westchester, NY. Deck gets about 10-12 hrs sun each day. What can I use instead? The 100 or the 1500? What prep work is needed before use of the new stain?
What TWP series is best to use on IPE wood
Hello, we have a newly completed pressure treated pine wood deck (4 months) complete with wood railings and two entrance gates. We live in Florida and have chosen TWP 100 series stain, however we are unsure which stain color will look best. We love the way the deck looks after a rain (picture below). Which color stain will best achieve this look?
Thanks for your help!
I have a pressure treated deck 450 sq ft that
was stained and sealed with Olympic maximum .The deck is approx 5 years old. The deck wear is normal for its age . I will be sanding the deck to remove the old finish. I am located in Charlotte NC. Which product do you recommend ?
Help please—we just stained the railings of our 15-20yr old deck with TWP 100 Natural Cedartone. Color was MUCH darker and redder than the sample but we went with it because it looked nice. Looked really good going on but as it dried a light white coating developed over the surface (almost like tiny tiny dots if you look really close)–12 hours later it seems dry to the touch but some of the color does come off when wiped with a rag–and the white coating is still there. Prep info: we had cleaned, brightened and sanded the entire deck very well with 80 grit sandpaper. Applied in 80 degree weather–2 coats within half an hour of each other. We had actually tested the sample color the previous week on one of the prepped boards we later had to remove for repairs. Only difference was the sample board wasn’t sanded quite as thoroughly. It dried to a nice light even color with none of these issues. I know everyone with problems thinks this but is it at all possible we received a bad batch of stain? Also the 5 gallon can was extremely dented on the sides and the bottom of the can had expanded out into a convex shape. Strange since the box it came in showed no signs of damage. thanks for any advice.
Deck
Redwood
10 years old
Power wash, Tung Oil Finish
CT
I have a small deck/back porch made of Redwood. I usually power wash lightly and hand brush on one coat of tung oil finish every few years to give it nice sheen and reveal the beauty of the redwood. I have been reading that Tung Oil Finish breeds bacteria and should not be used for outdoor projects.
What I would like to do is simply “oil” the deck, but with a product that will not mildew and maybe last longer than Tung Oil Finish. I also do not need to add color so I’m looking simply for a product that will absorb into the wood. Would you recommend TWP 1500 in a clear finish? I really don’t want to add color that can later flake off or show irregular wear.
I also have an IPE deck in the back that I do the same thing. Would TWP 1500 work there as well?
Structure: Fence
Material: Cedar
Age: 10 months, never previously stained
Location: Austin, TX (high heat, some freezing)
Questions:
1 – Is it OK to stain only my side of the fence?
2 – Is TWP100 or TWP1500 better for this application?
3 – How should I prepare the fence?
Thanks!!
I have a new cedar deck that was installed 3 weeks ago. I see a lot of posts about new green treated pine but wanted to make sure that the same 4-12 month drying period applies to new cedar decking. This is not rough cut cedar but rather 5/4 x6 cedar.
Thanks
Deck banisters and stairs – natural cedar
Deck skirt – fir
Previously stained 2.5 years ago with a semi-transparent stain, but had a “waxy” coating to it.
We are not sanding this wood as it is naturally textured and we don’t want to lose that. A steel brush was used to get most of the old stain off as well as a chemical stripper, however water still beads up in areas – does that mean that we do not have enough of the old product off yet even though the color of it looks mostly gone?
We are in Colorado and was considering using the 100 series – I have samples on the way..
Help, just stained deck with TWP and 24 hours later the deck is shinny and sticky. Why is this? How do we fix it? Could it still be drying? We did sand the entire deck before staining. Thank you for any help!!
I have a 6 year old cedar fence that I stained with Cabots natural four years ago. After power washing, it is ready to be restained. Do you recommend the TWP1500-1 or do you have a different suggestion. I live in Oklahoma, Thanks.
Is twp recomended for new cedar roofs? When I say new I mean 1 year old
We have cedar that is 9 years old with wearing Cabot Timber Oil. I plan to strip and brighten the deck today. what is the time it should sit before rain comes? I have a 4 day window to get the project done. Is 18-24 hours enough time to cure before pending rain falls? Also, would you recommend doing the 2 coats wet on wet.
Regarding expiration — the 5 gallon container has a 4/19/2013 date on it; I had bought it in summer 2013. Please comment on when the expiration for this product is. Thanks.
Around August of last year (2014) I applied TWP 1500, Cal Redwood to a new redwood deck. I followed your instructions — let it weather 4-5 months, cleaned and brightened it with Gemini products, then applied 1 coat of the TWP 1500 stain. it is now less than a year, and I find about 30-40% greying on the deck. How do you recommend I treat the deck, and should I re-stain it with two coats wet-on-wet? Also, could you let me know how to check to see whether the 5 gallon of 1500 stain has not expired? (Should not be since I bought it a year ago). Thanks.
Thanks for answering my question but I don’t remember what part of the TWP Website I was on but I have a follow-up question. New cedar deck, I understand I should wait 4 to 12 months to stain. My cedar was kiln dried. Should I still wait that long?
Just finished 2-stage Restore-a-Deck treatment on an 800 sq.ft. bare wood deck (had been sitting for 6 months after completion). With summer storms very frequent here in Georgia, is it possible to install TWP stain in 24 hrs. instead of 48 hrs? I medium pressure washed off 2nd stage so it is very clean. Also, can stain make it if it rains 24 hrs after application, instead of 48 as recommended?