DEFY Extreme Clear Exterior Wood Stain

So I bought this wood stain two years ago... I could not get myself to apply it because so many products I have used in other outside areas of my home have been a nightmare to apply, didn't look that great or didn't impress. Well if there is a miracle product, I believe I have found it. Since the product had sat at my house for a while, I didn't think shaking the bottle would mix it enough, so I poured it into a bucket and then cut the jug in half to scrape any remaining "pigment" into the bucket also. Thoroughly mixed I began the process thinking to myself, what is this stuff, it is not going to work, it looks like colored water. Wow...so easy. There was no dragging or tugging but instead spread like soft butter on bread. I loved the look immediately and I didn't think it was possible to love it even more with the second coat. My walkway is long and I was not dreading the remaining staining process. I did not have to wait 10 minutes between coats. My wood was very dry and it had been 90 degrees for a couple days. I made sure to stain sections out of direct sunlight, waiting until evening. AND of course the weather man did not report rain, which it did and I hurried to build a tent over the stained sections. The stained boards still held up given the unannounced shower and no damage was done. Can I possibly love this stain any more? Couple weeks later the rain is coming down and beading on the deck. Such a beautiful color and look. This stain has transformed my walkway in a way I could never have imagined. This stain is everything they say it is. I highly, highly recommend this product!

After tons of research using deckstainhelp.com which is a fantastic resource, we discovered that anything at Lowes and HD won't hold up over time. This is rated as one of the best stains out there and we found It was very easy to apply, and the color is awesome. The rain beads every time and it appears to be working as it should. We applied to 1 year old pressure treated pine. Just be aware of the following: - It will stain any surface FAST, to prevent this, just use a wet rag to wipe it off. If you're too late (which you will be) you can try mineral spirits (with a lot of scrubbing and risk damaging the surface). This worked pretty good on the painted Hardie Board, just don't scrub too hard, let the mineral spirits soak a little and then rub. For trim you can just have touch up paint for when you're done. I highly suggest having touchup paint for the surrounding trim surfaces. Way easier and faster to paint over the stain than to try scrubbing it off of trim - The color appeared reddish at first. It freaked us out. It wasn't too too bad, but just disappointing. But then after a few days, it settled into the beautiful brown that it should be - It's crucial to do the second coat within 20 minutes and not wait any longer. This is a wet-on-wet application. If you wait too long on the second coat, then it basically seals and prevents the second coat from soaking in. So if you accidentally get it get it somewhere, you're now committed to come back to that section in 20 minutes. This is really tough when you're doing railings over the floor you're planning to do (since you need to do the railings first), so I suggest putting plastic on the floor as you do the railings above them - Prep well and take your time. Clean the decks well, get the dirt/mold/mildew off a day before you apply. Make sure the wood is ready, flick some water when it's dry, and if the water is gone in a couple minutes, you're good. If not, you need to let the wood dry out. It's a lot of work, but you'll be really happy you took the extra time to do it right - Be hesitant on where you tape. We taped everywhere thinking that would help, and against the siding it did, since the siding is above the deck. But for surfaces below the deck, the stain actually seeped behind the tape and the tape made it worse. So I don't suggest using tape where gravity will work the stain against you. In these places it was just easier to apply the stain and have a wet rag ready

I waited 2 years after applying this to our pressure treated wood deck to write this review. The only prep I did was to give th deck a good, but not "wood splintering" pressure washing and 2 days of drying time in hot weather before applying with 4-inch brush. I applyied two coats. It goes on easy, is water-based so a drip on something you don't want stained (like a vinyl railing) wipes right off if you do it right away, and clean-up is easy. It's gone through 2 Wisconsin winters, and still looks like the day I applied it - beautiful! Read the coverage instructions! I didn't believe it would go so far, and I bought about 4 times as much as I needed.and have almost 5 gallons sealed up in the original container - maybe a lifetime supply left.

The item was of excellent quality and stood up to Canadian weather would recommend this product, however the import duty is high.

Using this brand made my 14-year-old deck look absolutely amazing. I have used other products in the past and they would peel within the first summer. I followed all the process of prepping and cleaning the deck prior to using this. It’s soaked right in and looked amazing. My deck before looked terrible now it looks amazing. It cost a lot more, but the reviews are great and so far I’m loving it. The price was way out In left field. But if it works, and I don’t have to do it every year, it will be well worth the money. I had to buy 2 - 5 gallon buckets of stain and have them shipped to me and I used all of It to do two Coats. But it does soak great into the wood. Update: 2 summers and absolutely no peeling. There are a few spots that get worn by the dogs running in the same place all the time that’s their pathway to the grass. So yes, there’s a few spots that will need retouching but overall, I am so happy with this product. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy with a product in my life as I was with this one. It made an old worn out deck look new again and two years in direct sunlight all day long. I think it held up pretty darn good. And still going strong.But

Wood looks like furniture now

Best strain I’ve ever used!

After a lot of research I did my front deck with this stain and it has held impressively with only minor (and very easy to do) touch ups over a couple years of use (on high traffic areas such as the stairs' edging). I made the mistake of using a different stain all together for my other deck last year (one of the best stains directly available in the Canadian market) and I am already seeing signs of failure ... I wished I stayed with Defy Extreme.