Should I stain my newly installed pine deck or wait for it to weather?

[jessv294]

Hi,

We recently had a new pine deck installed using h3 treated pine decking from bunnings. The question is do we need to stain it right away or should we wait for it to weather? Also do we need to sand before staining? 

Thanks! 
Jess

[EricL]

Hello @jessv294 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about staining your deck.

If you have a brand-new deck, I don't recommend staining it straight away. I suggest having a quick look at this discussion - New Deck Staining by @Antipodes. You'll find in the discussion a very good explanation of waiting for your deck to weather naturally or to use New Timber Prep, but there is no need to to do both.

At the moment your decking panels are still brand new, and oil and tannins are leaching out of the panels. Painting it now will result in the stains not being absorbed by the panels and you will get a patchy messy finish with parts that refuse to dry up. 

Generally speaking, the decking panels must be clean, dry and free of oil and tannins before staining them.

Here are some handy step-by-step guides:

• How To Clean Your Deck 
   
• How To Oil Your Deck. 

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric