You have to stain and seal them regularly. Consumer Reports' long-term tests find some deck treatments last a lot longer than others.
In order to find the right product, Consumer Reports coated some 500 boards with a variety of deck stains and left them out under the open sky. Testers rate their appearance after one, two, and three years.
A second test area beneath some trees is used to evaluate how well the products perform on decks in the shade.
Consumer Reports evaluated three types of products: opaque, semi-transparent (which shows some wood grain), and clear (which shows a lot of wood grain).
Generally we found that clear treatments don't last as long as the other treatments, which means you'll be refinishing your deck more often.
Testers find in general that opaque stains stay looking good much longer--three years or more. An excellent performer is Cabot Decking Stain 1480 for $29 a gallon.
Consumer Reports finds some semi-transparent stains can do a good job, too. Wolman DuraStain 18146 is a good choice for $23 a gallon. Get a good stain, and you won't have to refinish your deck so often.
Consumer Reports is always adding new deck treatments to the test decks. One new product got top scores in its first year. It's Flood Solid Color Deck amp; Siding Stain for $20. But Consumer Reports looks for three years of good performance before it recommends a deck treatment.
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