Behr Deck Stain & Sealer Review Follow-up @ 7 Months & 2 Years
Two Summers ago, we wrote a review of Behr Premium Weatherproofing Sealer. The general sentiment of our initial review was positive. The color wasn’t exactly what we had hoped for (it was too orange), but if the sealer held up over time, we’d be OK with the results.
When we were considering different deck sealers, Behr’s product was advertised as guaranteed for four years on decks, six years on fences. If you look closely on the picture on the right, you’ll see the 4/6 on the lower right of the container. Our primary reason for purchasing this sealer was its expected long life, as our deck is large and sealing it is a multi-day project.
Over the past 22 months, we’ve been monitoring the sealer’s performance and periodically taking pictures of it. Unfortunately, we’re unhappy with the results, as are many others (read the comments on the initial review–there are many).
Before we show you these pictures, I’d like to say that we’re generally very happy with Home Depot. In fact, we publish Home Depot’s Coupons on our site and we do about 1/2 of all our home improvement shopping there. Just like many of you, we don’t spend a lot of time singing the praises of our good experiences, which outnumber the bad ones 10 to 1.
Behr Sealer at Time of Application
Here’s what the sealer looked like two days after application of two coats:
As you can see, the color is pretty uniform and dramatic. While we weren’t a fan of the orange tone, it grew on us overtime (and actually turned out to darken a bit within a few months).
Behr Sealer @ 7 Months
Here’s a picture of the sealer at 7 months. To be fair, this shot is taken in the late Fall with different lighting and just after rainfall. You’ll notice that the color has faded quite a bit. Perhaps more concerning is that the sealer is no longer universally beading water.
Behr Sealer @ 22 Months
Finally, here’s the sealer just 22 months later. You’ll notice that the color is no longer uniform and water beading is a thing of the past. We’ll definitely need to refinish this deck with a new sealer.
How Long Does Deck Sealer Last?
After doing an extensive amount of research online, the general consensus is that every deck sealer lasts about a year, even when they claim a longer wear time. With that prognosis, composite materials are looking pretty attractive.
What do you think? Do you have a good or bad experience with Behr or another deck sealing product? Let us know about it in the comments.
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10 Responses to Behr Deck Stain & Sealer Review Follow-up @ 7 Months & 2 Years
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April 6th, 2010 10:00 am
Oh man that’s such a bummer it can’t last longer! you guys have such a huge deck!
April 6th, 2010 10:14 am
We finished some wooden stairs going from the house to the patio. The finish lasted about a year or a year and a half before it was completely gone and the stairs started looking awful. So our experience was about the same. I’d be interested to know if someone knows something that will work better – as I have to refinish the stairs soon.
April 6th, 2010 12:24 pm
Your experience with sealers is common. What makes them last more than one year is all about the preparation before applying the stain/sealer, cleaning of the deck regularly after it’s been sealed, and the weather. The biggest mistake most people make is just re-applying the material right over the old material. The deck surface must be cleaned and rinsed well, and stripped if the old material is still beading up at all.
Normally a solution of bleach and water is sufficient to clean a deck for re-sealing, or a commercial cleaner/stripper works fine. The deck must be scrubbed by hand with a deck scrubber on a pole – avoid using pressure washers!
Composite decking (such as Trex) doesn’t require sealing/staining, but after a few years, the color DOES fade – each manufacturer of composite decking has specific products they recommend for sealing/staining laminate material. Staining compostite decking is purely cosmetic…
April 6th, 2010 2:08 pm
Well we’ll definitely follow up once we re-seal it this summer. We’ve used Thompson’s clear-coat on the privacy fence at our rental property, and that seems to be holding up a little better. But we’ll do a one-to-one after I re-wash (sigh) and we re-seal the deck this season.
@ Mikey – our deck’s way too large to scrub by hand, but I have read that we can spray it down with stripper (we’re going to try your bleach/water recommendation – thanks!) and then pressure wash it after that soaks in. It had never been stained or sealed before this time, so it wasn’t for lack of a ready surface that it didn’t “take.” It beaded for a couple of months, then just stopped. Very disappointing.
April 7th, 2010 12:42 am
We used Sikkens Cetol Dek on ours, it’s lasted over 2 years, but starting to look thin where there’s lots of traffic. We’re going to have to redo it this year too.
April 8th, 2010 3:19 pm
You guys are not alone. However, I may have finally found a better solution. Last year I tested One Time deck sealer
http://www.homeconstructionimprovement.com/one-time-wood-protector-review/
Now that the snow is gone i’m really amazed, the deck still looks like new! I plan on writing about it soon to show what it looks like.
The true test will be after another long summer in the sun.
April 18th, 2010 8:57 pm
Just got done staining my deck with One Time deck sealer today. I am resealing directly over the One Time I put on about 5 years ago. My deck gets hammered with sun, so it’s gotten beaten up pretty good. I’m in NW Ohio so it gets hammered during winter as well.
I put on the red cedar both times, which is pretty dark. First, I never washed the deck, not once. It lasted well for 5 years, but the last year it started losing the color. I think it was still protecting it, but the color wasn’t as vibrant and it looked gray from dirt in high traffic areas. This spring I cleaned with a pressure washer and frankly it looked pretty good. The gray went away with the wash, but it was much lighter so I decided to reseal. You can just stain the deck right over the old One Time-easy.
Sealing the deck takes 3/4 day to powerwash and a 1+ days to stain. I am sold on One Time because I don’t want to do this every year or every other year. It’s very expensive but I figure it lasts for years where the other stuff doesn’t.
I got it Andersons and Ace Hardware and will be back in 4-5 years to refinish again.
April 19th, 2010 5:43 pm
Thanks for the input, Bob! That’s very timely for us (since we hadn’t settled on a product for this year’s redo, yet)!
July 22nd, 2010 2:32 pm
Decks are a whole different animal than fences etc. and stain is the same.
Their are so many varaibles that will effect the quality of the finished job and the durability. Cleaning and proper prep is the # 1 reason for any product failure form the cheapest low tech to the most expensive high tech. The second reason for failure is inproper application and less than optimal conditions. Staining a deck takes a lot of work and time to be done properly.More is not better it is more and not what stain is all about.It should not be applied like paint and the durability is majorly affected by the age, type,chemicals in the wood and prior use of bleach which will be the end of any staining project and kill the life of your deck.The stain will not make a neglected 3 to 5 year old deck new it will whitewash the surface for a year or so and fall off because the surface is no longer wood it is a mixture of everything that has been allowed to stay on that deck and spilled on that wood for 3 to 5 years.Painting or staining on sand or cardboard with the best possible product would be about the same.and expecting it to stand up for 5 years. Not going to happen no matter what you use.All tests are done on the best prepped surfaces possible to optimize results and hergo the claims and paper gurantees.
Good Luck Better Chance with lots and lots of prep NO BLEACH!!!
September 4th, 2010 12:00 pm
The plastiron 7 year warranty stain they say has very high metals content is this better than very high acrylic or oil? The guy said that high metals is like mirrors reflecting the sun and metal lasts longer than plastic in the weather. do you know bob?