semi transparent vs solid pros and cons?

[a68cudas]

What are the major pros and cons between semi transparent vs solid stains? which do you prefer to use and why?

[John Orr]

What are the major pros and cons between semi transparent vs solid stains? which do you prefer to use and why?

Neither for me. I prefer a transparent stain. Semis and solids are too "finicky" for me - plus, I prefer the natural look of the wood. Disclaimer: 99.9% of the decks in my area are pressure treated pine.) Armstrong Clark has a much more user friendly variety of transparent, semi and solid stains that I plan on using this year.

[deach]

I guess it depends on what I'm staining. For decks I honestly prefer Transparent or Semi, I do a lot of cedar sided homes however that are solid already so for that we go back to solid color and many times actually change the color of the home for the homeowner.

[Scott Paul]

Natural looking deck vs. painted looking deck

Most people prefer to have a natural looking deck with the grain showing through.

[nlantz]

semi transparent. Cant seem to find it anywhere but we used oil based Olympic Natural semi transparent fir pine. It was semi user friendly as long as your worked whole boards. Cant seem to find oil based products as much anymore tho. Im unsure of any main advantage of having a solid stain. Semi's on the other hand protect great and look good. I'd say never use a non pigmented sealer because the pigment is what protects from sun damage.

[Beth n Rod]

Opacity.
The higher the opacity the greater the protection from UV rays. Semi-transparents are lower in opacity vs solid stains which are totally opaque.
The rest is like others have posted in addition to aesthetics and personal preference.

Rod!~

[John Orr]

Neither for me. I prefer a transparent stain. Semis and solids are too "finicky" for me - plus, I prefer the natural look of the wood. Disclaimer: 99.9% of the decks in my area are pressure treated pine.) Armstrong Clark has a much more user friendly variety of transparent, semi and solid stains that I plan on using this year.

P.S. I define a stain as not being "finicky" by being able to apply using a pump-up sprayer.

[Tegrey]

The solid stains are used for longer protection. They are more durable and will last a lot longer. They protect the wood longer also. If you like the solid look we use it. It is good for 3-5 years without any peeling. The semi transparent stains are less effective. They allow UV to penetrate more rapidly. They are usually good for 1-3 years. The toners are less yet. They allow most of the UV in and are only good for 1-2 years. This is a good choice if you can set up a maintance program. Last would be the Natural stain. No UV protection. Strickly for repelling water. Usually done every year. The choice is pretty much what the HO wants to pay for. The cost goes up from the toner, semi, solid. All in all we don't loose any money. The better the package the more it cost. Thank you.

[PressurePros]

Solid stains are paint.. completely ugly but that's just my opinion. The customer owns a solid stain once its on there. In addition, bare wood floors should be primed first which requires a third trip to a house. I would never put a solid stain on a wood deck unless one was already there. I leave that to the painters (no disrespect meant to Terry)

[GTRider245]

How about semi-solid vs. semi-tranparent?

[plainpainter]

The solid stains are used for longer protection. They are more durable and will last a lot longer. They protect the wood longer also.

I find this statement to be a load of B/S. I find that even solid oil stains just flip off like mad from horizontal surfaces worse than a semi-solid or transparent. I painted a whole house with solid oil stain - all new construction with pre-primed lumber. I even re-primed all the window sills even though they were primed and oil solid stain is a self priming product - no matter, the stuff still flipped off the window sills back down to bare spongy new growth pine wood.

[Tegrey]

Dan, Sorry about how you feel about a solid stain. I guess it is all in the knowledge of prep and quality of product you may be using. Our solid stains last quite a long time. Properly preped and applied, we have solid stains 12 years old, which show no problems at all. Read and follow the label?

[plainpainter]

Dan, Sorry about how you feel about a solid stain. I guess it is all in the knowledge of prep and quality of product you may be using. Our solid stains last quite a long time. Properly preped and applied, we have solid stains 12 years old, which show no problems at all. Read and follow the label?

You know Terry - I've forgotten more than you'll ever know when it comes to painting. And I like how you worded your sentence about 12 year longevity - nobody gets that on a horizontal surface.

[cande]

I have some AC semi-solid, can't wait to see what it looks like.....

[Tegrey]

You know Terry - I've forgotten more than you'll ever know when it comes to painting. And I like how you worded your sentence about 12 year longevity - nobody gets that on a horizontal surface.

Dan, Sorry you are so intelligent yet always looking for work? Must be a miss print or a wannabe? Have a great day sir.