TIL my old deck stain was making the wood rot faster

Three years ago in my first house in Tacoma, I put on two coats of a cheap, thick oil-based stain that the guy at the store said would 'seal it up good'. Last month I had to replace three boards that were totally soft, and when I scraped it off last week, the wood underneath was dark and damp. Has anyone else had a stain trap moisture instead of protecting the wood?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_logan16d ago

Switched to a breathable stain, no more rot.

robinson.wren12d ago

Yeah, that lines up with what I read in an old woodworking magazine. They called it "encapsulation rot," which is basically what @blakem13 described. The wood just can't breathe and it all goes bad from the inside out.

blakem1315d ago

That thick goop basically acts like a plastic bag wrapped around the wood. It seals in any moisture that's already there, like from morning dew or a tiny crack. The wood can't dry out, so it just stews in its own dampness. Saw the same thing on a shed where the stain looked perfect but the whole side was mush underneath.