# Second coat of oil based deck stain?



## cgoll (Apr 23, 2008)

I had a local crew power wash, sand and stain my deck with oil based Cabot semi-solid stain. Normally I do it my self, but they gave me such a good price ($350 plus I buy the materials.) They told me 4 gallons would be enough.

Well, I come home today and they did a very thorough job of sanding, and they were very neat, but they didn't use enough stain. They only used 3 of the gallons and it just looks thin.

Can I recoat the floor boards or will that be a problem?


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## Matthewt1970 (Sep 16, 2008)

That's the beauty of stain. You can go right over it again.


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## 4ThGeneration (May 3, 2009)

cgoll said:


> I had a local crew power wash, sand and stain my deck with oil based Cabot semi-solid stain. Normally I do it my self, but they gave me such a good price ($350 plus I buy the materials.) They told me 4 gallons would be enough.
> 
> Well, I come home today and they did a very thorough job of sanding, and they were very neat, but they didn't use enough stain. They only used 3 of the gallons and it just looks thin.
> 
> Can I recoat the floor boards or will that be a problem?


This is why you should always be leery of the cheap prices you get for specialty work. 

Any reputable contractor in my opinion would complete your job with the right materials as well as enough of them even if they quoted you on the low side.

I know they are trying to feed their families and you are trying to keep a budget, but the other day I had a home owner try to get me to do their deck for $400 because they are "Tearing it down" Next year.

I did not accept their offer and told them to hire a handy person. a jack of all trades would not be who I would want, but if they could not afford the specialist I guess a general maint person would be o.k. for them since they are not looking for quality.

What size deck do you have anyhow? Spindle shape, how high from ground, how many stairs off deck, type of wood?


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## cgoll (Apr 23, 2008)

To follow up: I used the remaining gallon and about 3/4 of another and recoated the flooring boards and the top rail. It now looks great!

The main reason for my question/concern is that Cabot's instructions on the can say "this product should be applied in one coat" or something similar. But, two coats seems to have dried just fine.

4Th, to answer your questions, the deck is about 16' by 24', 2 stair treads, about 2' off the ground, basic PT lumber with 2x2 square spindles and lattice below. And I agree w/ you, the (extreme) low bidder is rarely the best choice. However, in this case, it worked out. 

I was able to inspect three other decks they did before I gave them the job and found neat, professional looking work for my neighbors. Two of those jobs were with solid stain and the other a clear coat only. Why they choose to skimp with the semi-solid stain I had already bought (and could not return) is beyond me. Regardless, it was easily fixed with about an hour of work!


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## ledgestone (May 4, 2009)

The reason that the can says one coat is this. An oil based stain penatrates into the wood and "sets". If you try to put on another coat after the first has dried it has no way of penatrating the wood and just sits on top of the old. If you had no problem with the second coat drying then congradulations but I have seen some disasterous results. Sometimes what happens is the second coat doesn't completely dry and becomes very tacky and spotted.


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