retropia

We have a pressure-treated pine deck, about 11 years old. It's always been stained with Olympic semi-transparent oil-based stain in the Cape Cod Gray color. I believe the old stain we used was linseed-oil based. It's been about five years since I last stained the deck; it doesn't actually look that bad considering, so I'm happy with the product we used. However, it is apparently being phased out for this new product that I guess has penetrating oil but is water-based? Is this product similar to Flood? I called Olympic technical support and they said Max isn't linseed-oil based, but they wouldn't tell me/didn't know what kind of oil is in it. They said it would apply fine on top of our old stain. I've hired a handyman to clean and stain the deck, and I've purchased this Olympic Max semi-transparent. Has anyone used it, and are there any tips or thoughts about it? Thanks in advance!

Unfortunately, the finished job didn't turn out well. My handyman cleaned and scrubbed the old finish, and I lightly sanded it. The new stain appears to adhere ok, but is uneven in appearance. In the past, I've always had good results with the linseed-oil based Olympic semi-transparent stain. It was no problem feathering in with a brush, or brushing out drips or runs. If the high-traffic areas looked too light after the first application, I could easily go over the lighter areas with a second coat to blend and even out the color. This new stuff skins over so fast, none of that is possible. You can't second coat it, because it won't absorb or lay flat. I think the only way it can be feathered properly with a brush would be to do one plank at a time. Maybe the pros can get better results with this stuff, but I think it is too unforgiving for a non-pro. If this is the future for semi-transparents, I would think the DIY market will switch to clear sealers or the solid acrylic latex stains. Olympic tech support tells me my options are to strip it and reapply the semi-transparent, or apply the solid acrylic latex on top of it; supposedly that will stick without stripping. The retailer (after I showed them photos) said they would replace the stain with anything else I want to try. They gave me the phone number of their Olympic sales rep. I'm going to call him tomorrow and see what advice he has. The easiest thing for me to do would be to cover the deck floor with the solid acrylic latex, so that's probably what I will do, if I don't have to strip the existing finish. The railings mostly look ok, so I don't think I'll fuss with them until next year. Thanks for all of the advice. It seems to be more complicated these days with the new stains. I miss my linseed-oil stains!