Best time of day to stain a deck in summer? Also, how long till its rain safe?

Question

I'm going to be putting Cabot ATO on my cedar deck this week, and its a hot one (upper 80s, low 90s). The product says to avoid direct sunlight when applying. I can avoid it by doing early morning or late evening.

If I go during the morning it will be a cooler surface but will be hit by direct sunlight shortly thereafter,and have to endure that the entire day. Is that a problem, or is it only a problem if its hot WHILE applying?

On the flipside, if I stain in the evening, the deck surface will start out warm as I apply, but it won't have hours of hot sun to worry about.

So the question is - which scenario is better?

I'm also wondering how soon it is safe against rain. The instructions just say not to apply when rain is imminent. Well, rain is always imminent, I just don't know on what timeline!

Thanks!

Answer 1

I'm actually doing my deck right now...which is HUGE.  I've been working well into the heat of the day 90's/Direct sunlight.  Truthfully, I haven't really noticed any difference between when I apply.

However, I am applying with a hand paintbrush.  Rollers, Wipes, etc. all seem to leave stopping/starting marks.  I'm using a stain/sealer combo by Olympic...it's not the opaque stuff or the clear stuff, you can still see the wood grain through the stain.  

I will say that I find that I get wonderful results if I do a quick sanding with a random orbit sander (60 grit-anything finer and the wood does not absorb the sealant very well) before I apply the stain/sealer...it really comes out perfectly even and no one spot absorbs quicker than other spots.  Humidity in the air also seems to effect the stain more so than heat or direct sunlight.  The lower the humidity the better I've found.

Try testing techniques out on scrap lumber if this is your first go around with staining/sealing a deck.  I find a nice big paint brush does the job better (although not necessarily quicker) than any of the other methods.  If you get any puddles left after 15 seconds or so make sure to have an old rag/towel to wipe them up.

I can't emphasize this enough, if your working with the kind of sealant and stain combo make sure that stuff is stirred up extremely well and keep stirring as you go.

If it gets 5 hours of direct sunlight 24 hours of time before it rains should be more than plenty.

Good luck.

Answer 2

The best time to start a deck project is in the morning. That way you can work in the cool of the morning. You are right, it is not good to apply in the heat of the day. It will look best if you apply it all at once. It will go on even and then it will dry evenly. You seem to have it all worked out.

Rain? Just get the product on the deck before it gets hot. The heat will help dry it throughly.  You should be fine.