Last Updated on January 25, 2024 by Defy Help
2024 Update on Water-Based vs. Oil-Based Decking Stains
Water-Based vs. Oil-Based Decking Stains questions? We appreciate your input, so feel free to leave a comment below and pictures of your completed projects if you have them.
Many people wonder what the advantages are of water-based vs. oil-based stains. Looking at the facts can reveal a lot and they might even surprise you. No doubt oil-based stains have been around the longest. For decades they were the only choice for staining and protecting wood surfaces, and not to take anything away from them. Oil-based stains have done a great job of preserving and protecting the wood for many years. However, water-based stains are now comparable if not better than old oil-based stain formulas due to recent technology.
Water-based stains may have gotten somewhat of a bad rap in the past but with today’s technology, they are hard to ignore. In fact, the evidence is piling up that water-based stains may take the trophy in the battle of water-based vs. oil-based stains. Using breakthrough technology, water-based stains are more durable than oil-based stains. With the light stabilizing innovation of the water-based stain Defy Extreme stain performance is up 600%. Using high-grade resins and a nanoparticle technology mimicking something of sunscreen, this water-based stain reflects harmful UV rays like no other tinted wood finish in its class.
Water-based vs. oil-based stains has another head to head battle when it comes to “fungal growth”. Oil-based stains are actually prone to mold and mildew, which may lead to wood rot…. Yikes! While on the other hand, water-based stains like Defy actually formulate their stain with a zinc additive. Zinc is a natural mildewcide and UV inhibitor making it resistant to fungal growth.
Water-based stains are more eco-friendly and are readily available to ship to all 50 states. Moreover, some oil-based stains cannot be shipped to all 50 states due to VOC laws, and not all oil-based stains are VOC compliant. A water-based stain like Defy is Green Certified. Water-based stains clean up more easily, are more durable, and dry more quickly than oil-based stains. With the latest technology of water-based formulas, it is hard to disagree that water-based vs. oil-based stains is not much of a debate anymore.
hello, live in florida ,looking for a coating to cover joist under mobile home extremely humid area . they were wet and saturated (plumbing issue) .now dry and concerned about preventing mold and rot . would like a none flammable quality coating protectant to help prevent issues, any suggestions? Thank you R Neuberg
Sorry but Defy coatings are not designed for this.
We have a deck that is 15 years old and was treated with other stains previously. This year there was no existing stain left and then we cleaned it with pressure washer and defy brightener. My son and his friend applied the first coat, then the next day applied the second coat. It looks good but appears that the second coat stayed on the surface. They did not read about applying 2 coats wet on wet. They said that they applied the second coat onto a sticky/tacky first coat so it will be fine. The second coat is now sticky to walk on after 2 sunny days. Is there a solution to prevent the surface from pulling up and the stain from being tacky? Would sun and rain get it to cure eventually? Will the thick surface coat peel?
No, there is not an easy way to fix this as they did it incorrectly. Hopefully it dries but eventually you will have to remove it all and start over.