A neighbor's comment about my deck stain job made me rethink my whole process

I was staining my deck in Seattle last spring and a neighbor walked by and said, 'Looks good, but you're going to see brush marks in a week if you don't back-brush.' I had no idea what that meant. He showed me how to lay on the stain with a roller and then immediately go over it with a dry brush to smooth it out. I redid the first two boards I'd done, and the finish was way more even. Now I always keep a dry brush handy for any big stain project. Anyone have other simple tricks for a smoother finish?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakotal192mo ago

My uncle swears by thinning oil stains a little.

the_miles2mo ago

Your uncle @dakotal19 is onto something, that trick is a total game changer.

betht3229d ago

Hold up, is it really that serious though? I mean brush marks on a deck stain who's gonna be inspecting it that close except for that neighbor? I painted my fence last summer and it looks fine just from rolling it on, nobody's walking by with a magnifying glass. Unless you're selling the house next week I doubt anyone cares if the finish is perfect. People act like every little DIY job has to look like a pro did it, but sometimes good enough is actually good enough.