Success with stain — finally!

The long, weary chapter about redoing our front porch is just about over, and we couldn’t be more thankful … or sore and stain-splattered.

It takes a lot of time and effort to sand painted wood down to a bare state, and that’s what we were tasked with doing. We were sick of dealing with a chipping, flaking porch every single summer, and it was all our own fault for doing it wrong the first time around.

As I mentioned last time, we had accidentally chosen a very thick, non-sheer stain formula that was basically a paint (Sico’s Autumn Brown in exterior semi-transparent). Even though you would think “semi-transparent” would mean semi-transparent, it was truly like we’d chosen a dark purple-y brown paint … that chipped SO. MUCH.

We spent several grueling weeks removing all those years of dark stain using an orbital sander, a belt sander and a rented power-washer.

Once the boards were fully bare — just like brand-new wood, except drippy with our frustrated tears — it was time to correct our mistake and choose a stain that would stain, not paint.

Continue reading in my weekly DIY column, My Handmade Home …

Front door colour: “Coral” by Fusion Mineral Paint
Door hardware: Schlage Connect Smart Deadbolt + handleset
New porch stain: Olympic Maximum Stain + Sealant in One in “Russet”