Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - Staining Deck Railing

I have a small deck. The railing and decking is cedar. I sand and stain it every other year. It has west and south exposure in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a lot of work, and really looks like it needs it every year, but that’s too much work.

I recently sanded the railing (2x6 cedar) down to bare wood, and stained it. Last week I thought I’d try a little steel wool to see if I could make the railing a little smoother without damaging the stain. It worked, so I did all the railing. Within a few days, ugly black spots began appearing all over the railing to where it looked so bad, I just went ahead and sanded it all back down to bare wood and re-stained.

The stain I use is a Polyurethane fortified semi-transparent oil. The color is called “Natural Cedar”. I know little to nothing about stains, but I sure wish there was a stain that would last more than year of looking good.

What caused all the black spots to appear within a few days of using the steel wool?

What caused all the black spots to appear within a few days of using the steel wool?




Probably rust. Because of the elements it is hard to get a long life from any transparent stain on decks. They just get too much exposure. A heavy bodied stain or paint will last longer but won't look as good. Just be thankfull you only have a small deck to contend with.

You mean tiny pieces of the steel wool may have become imbedded into the wood, and rusted causing the black spots?

As for having to sand and stain every other year, it wasn’t till after I logged on and posted my question before I saw all the other threads on that subject cause the default view of the forum before logging in didn’t show all those threads. I did a little reading, and got that part of my question answered.

You mean tiny pieces of the steel wool may have become imbedded into the wood, and rusted causing the black spots?





Yep. It is also a big problem inside when someone uses steel wool and latex varnish.

Thank you. Guess I need to learn a little something about the use of steel wool. It did smooth the railing out nicely tho.