Haymes Dexpress deck stain, how to use it

Dexpress is a stain, and that matters

The first thing worth sorting out is that a decking stain and a decking oil are doing two different jobs, and people use the words as though they are the same thing, which is how somebody ends up with a finish they did not want. An oil soaks in and feeds the timber and leaves very little on the surface, so it goes grey gracefully and wants doing more often. A stain like Haymes Dexpress carries colour and pigment, so it changes how the deck looks and the pigment is doing a lot of the work of shielding the timber. Neither one is better than the other, they just suit different people, and the honest question is whether you want the timber to look like itself or you want it to look like a colour.

What we have in the shop

Dexpress comes in three lines. There is a Merbau, which is the ready-mixed red brown that suits a merbau deck, a Natural, and a stain tint base that gets tinted to order from the Haymes range. Between them they run in tins from 1 litre up to 10 litre. The coverage and the drying times are printed on the tin and that is the place to read them, rather than taking my word for it in a blog post.

It is worth coming in and looking at the colours on a piece of timber rather than on a screen, because a stain sits in the grain and picks up whatever colour is already in the boards, so the same tint on merbau and on treated pine gives you two quite different decks.

Prep is most of the job

Nearly every deck finish that fails, fails because of what happened before the tin was opened.

• Clean it properly and let it dry right through. Not surface dry. A deck that looks dry on top can still be wet a few millimetres down, and a finish going onto damp timber will not bond.
• Do the water drop test. Flick some water onto a few boards. If it beads up and sits there, the old finish is still doing its job and the new coat has nowhere to go. If it soaks straight in, the timber is ready.
• Sand the rough bits back. Splinters, furry grain, cupped edges, and anywhere the old coat has flaked and left a lip.
• Punch down the nails and run over the screws. Better to find the proud one now than with your hand later.
• New merbau needs weathering or washing first. It leaches a red brown tannin that will run out onto your paving with the first rain, and it is far easier to let that happen before you coat it than to chase the stains afterwards.

Putting it on

Work with the grain and do one board at a time, the whole length of it, without stopping in the middle. That is the bit that decides how the deck looks when it dries, because every place you stop and start on a board leaves a lap mark where the wet edge has gone off, and once it is dry you cannot blend it back in. If a board is long enough that you cannot do it in one go, have somebody working the other end towards you.

Cut in around the posts and the edges with a smaller brush first, then run the boards with the wide one. Keep off it in full sun and keep off it when there is rain coming, because both of those ruin a good job for reasons that have nothing to do with the product. Whether it wants a second coat, and how long you wait, is on the tin.

Then leave it alone for a while

A coated deck wants a wash and a look over once a year and a recoat every few years, and the recoat is a much smaller job than the first one because the prep is already done. The decks that turn into a nightmare are the ones nobody touches for eight years, and by then it is a sanding job rather than a staining job.

Shop related products

• Utility Synthetic Paint Brush, 100mm. The wide one for running the boards.
• Uni-Pro 75mm GP Brush. For cutting in around the posts and the edges first.
• Uni-Pro Aluminium Extension Pole, 0.6m to 1.2m. Your knees will thank you about halfway along.
• Uni-Pro Canvas Drop Cloth, 1.5m x 3.6m. For the paving and the steps underneath.

Haymes is in the shop only, since it cannot be shipped, so Dexpress and the Haymes Woodcare exterior decking oil are both things to come and pick up rather than order online. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf, or have a look at the paint mixing page for how the tinting works. The brushes and the drop sheets are in paint and accessories.

Keep reading

• How to oil a timber deck with Haymes Decking Oil
• Prepping a verandah for repainting
• How to protect outdoor timber furniture with Haymes oils

I am still the person who starts at the wrong end of the deck and works herself into a corner, so learn from me and have a think about which way you are going before you open anything.

Cheers,

Candeece

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