We put Wolmans Dura stain on our deck 2 years ago and it is peeling really bad. We got this stain becaus i said it would las at least 5 years. We are really dissappointed in the way it looks. Now we don' know if we ave to scrape it befre we put another coat on or not. Do we need to use deck wash again? Please let me know what wedid wrong

Unfortunately nothing last for more then 3 years on a horizontal surface before it starts to fail. Your best bet will be to strip off as much as possible then reapply a light coating.

Main reasons it may have failed early:

1. Not prepping the wood properly
2. Over application

Janice,
I've treated our Port Orford Cedar multi-level deck with Wolman Durastain Semi-transparent 3 different ways. The first time, I hand painted, the second time, I used a airless sprayer and the 3rd time, I used a pump sprayer and Shur-line Deck pad on a 7 foot extendable pole. I needed to treat the peeling horizontal surfaces again. Keep in mind, the first two times, I applied Durastain EXACTLY according to the manufacturer's recommendations. To the "T".

As far as application goes, by far, the fastest and best results came with the pad. I sanded the entire deck down. My wife handled any nooks and crannies with a brush as I went along. Wow, that was great.

Port Orford Cedar is the hardest of all cedars. The Wolman Durastain directions for the semi-transparent do no work for this type of Cedar. It covered too thick and peeled. Believe me, I tried - twice. On the second attempt (with the airless sprayer), I was running out of paint on the 3rd level, so I had to thin it with water. (Durastain is water based). Years later, that level of the deck still has the best adhesion and durabilty, it was the best at actually being semi-transparent, and just looked the best. The knots kept the stain, unlike the other areas. It covered so good that I didn't re-treat it this 3rd time.

I found that following the manufacturers directions for the semi-transparent on Port Orford Cedar results in an opaque covering that does not let any of the woods beauty come through and can hardly be called semi-transparent. But there is an answer.

This time I took 3 gallons of Durastain and mixed in one gallon of water in a 5 gallon bucket. Perfect! It took three try's over the years to figure this out (by accident). And it went on great and fast using a hand pump sprayer to lay on the paint, then applying and pulling the stain with the pad. The beauty of the wood is awesome!

If you haven't done it, make sure you do not attempt it in direct sunlight. The waterbased stains will dryout really fast. Wolman's Durastain was ranked #1 by Consumer Reports a few years ago so I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. This worked great!

I went down to Home Depot and rented a belt and ocillating sander. The belt sander really flattened out the boards and the ocillating sander removed all my little noticable problems from the belt sander. . It took a day and a half to prep (sand) the two horizontal deck surfaces and two hours to apply the stain using this method. A weekend job.

I hope this information is helpful. I know that I would have liked to have gotten this advice after my first failed attempt.

Does this semi transparent wood stain protect weathered wood from mildew growth and grime? How is the finish normally after the durastain process is over? Another important question is with regard to its endurance of sun's heat in different climates.

Nothing "stops" mildew and grime but the durastain definitely will help minimize this. Temperature is not so much important as the Ultra Violet Radiation. The higher the UV index for your area, the quicker your wood stain will fade.

I live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon and it rains a lot! In the areas that are in the shade all the time, there is some (not a lot) green mildew on the surface. It started the very first year, I've sanded the decks down (see above) but it still comes back. In the areas that get daylight every day, there is not a problem. And we do get a LOT of rain so water is standing on the deck quite often in late fall through spring and early summer. I have not tried adding an additional mildewcide additive (Durastain includes mildewcide) but I wish I had added extra. I'll do that next time.

The green is algae. I would use a mild wood cleaner that contains Sodium Percarbonate to clean it off once in awhile.

How to remove solid color stain from deck? Will prepping suffice? Are wetting and scrubbing necessary? We need suggestions to remove color stain from deck.