Best Exterior Stains for decks and homes Crystal Lake IL

If you own a home in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, Such as Crystal Lake, and you have a Deck or wood siding home, then you will be thinking of what type of stains to use at your house. Today we are sharing a video, about Best Exterior Stains for Decks and homes in Crystal Lake IL area.

I am David Cook, of Dfranco Painting here in Huntley, IL, and today’s question is about best stains to use for the exterior of your home, fencing, decks. So we will start with a video from the Store Manager at Sherwin Williams in Crystal Lake, IL. Even though Scott has some great information, you can use this information in other areas such as Elgin, St. Charles, Barrington, Bartlett, or Pingree Grove.

Transparent or Solid stain?

If you have wood decks, then odds are transparent stains are typically what are used. A transparent stain is basically is a clear finish with some color in it. It does a great job of adding a water resistance or water proofing to help keep water off the wood surfaces to protect the wood for years to come. Keep in mind with all stains in the Chicago area, this is a maintenance program. You will have to keep adding stain or coatings to protect the wood as the weather will wear and tear on wood surafces.

Solid stain is almost like paint. It is made to grab or bite, into the wood. It is kind of like paint to protect the surfaces, but it also gives a great barrier to keep the elements at bay. The stains are a richer look and feel compared to paints.

Should I use Oil based stains ?

Oil based stains can be a real pain to use. The smell, you have to use gloves, you need to have hazardous materials to clean up with, and they are difficult to dispose of when done.

That being said, Oil based products resist the elements much better than some of their water based or water borne products. Oil based products can become more fragile as they age- so they peel or crack after some years, where as the water based products usually will flake off just wear away (from our experience)

Oil based products also will need chemicals to strip them when they need to be redone, so there is more of an expense there as well.

Water borne or water based stains

The best part of these stains is that they are easy to clean up, easy to strip, and easy to get tinted. They are not meant for long-term use- not much is when it comes to water resistance and wood. The hybrid versions are waterborne, and they do offer a longer life than traditional water-based products.

I like the hybrids alot, and they seem to perfomr better over all, from our persective as painters at least.

What stain should I use?

This is a you get what you pay for, so answering what are the Best Exterior Stains for decks and homes, Crystal Lake, IL can be subjective a bit. Price, preference, color make a difference. However, the better the products used the better the life span of these products. We are Sherwin products for the most part as the stores are close to where we work, have good delivery, and great pricing, and they really do work with us to warranty their products.

Do you have question? Best Exterior Stains for decks and homes, Crystal Lake, IL