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I went to Home Depot and Sherwin Williams and I was unable to find a deck stain that looked like the shiny blondish color of the following image:

At Sherwin Williams they said that their stains were all matte.

Does anyone make glossy stains that are appropriate for decks?

Would it be appropriate to just use a matte stain and then go over it with some sort of glaze? I have a gallon of Shield-Crete which is supposed to make cement shiny. Could I use that over the top of a matte stain?

Ideally it'd be great if someone could just point me to a place online to buy a glossy blond stain like the one in the image. I've googled for a while, but nothing seems quite like that.

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that's not glossy, it's matte but lit up really nicely to make it look shiny and attractive. – longneck Jun 1 '11 at 16:56
It's also really, really, really clean! – Steven Sep 3 '12 at 18:22

3 Answers

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I would suggest using outdoor polyurethane varnish.

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up vote 6 down vote

The other answers not withstanding, please keep in mind that a glossy finish will probably be more slippery when it is wet (maybe even when it is still dry). This may be why you are having a hard time finding a glossy deck finish. I think you will find that surfaces that are great for traction and safety (rougher, sandpaper like) will be the exact opposite of what you need for a great gloss finish and vise-versa.

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If you're set on a glossy finish, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. One, it will require more prep and maintenance than a stain/water barrier finish (i.e. Thompson's). For a glossy finish, the wood needs to be dry, then sanded, stained (if desired) and sealed prior to the final glossy application. For the final glossy application, the most important characteristic is a product with good UV protection. This will keep it from drying out and scaling off too fast. Even so, you'll need to do some yearly touch ups. Depending on the weather in your location, you'll get maybe 2 or 3 years out of the finish before needing to strip and re-coat. The best outdoor finish products are made for the marine industry, so you'll want to check into those. As a reference, check out http://www.pettitpaint.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=56

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So just to be clear, I should stain the deck with a matte stain then cover that with Thompsons water seal, then go over the top of that with possibly multiple coats of marine varnish? Why do I need to use Thompsons water seal if I'm going to use marine varnish? – HappyEngineer May 31 '11 at 20:31
For a glossy finish, you don't want to use Thompson's or any other waterproofing product. Stain then coat with marine varnish. Most stains will seal so you won't need a separate sealer. – Dave Barker Jun 1 '11 at 18:37

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