Ready Seal 535 Exterior Stain and Sealer for Wood, 5-Gallon, Mission Brown

P.S. We paid for our product-- this isn't a paid endorsement! Our deck was 3-yrs. old, never stained, grey, weathered so badly [first 2-photos]-- some of the steps were deteriorating into a "checkered" pattern, i.e., disintegrating. Blasting hot Southern sun, monsoons, wind. More sun. More grey. Rapid aging. Never stained it because product review were so BAD! Until... Tripped onto Ready Seal on Amazon after reading dozens, hundreds of reviews of so many different products. Skip the 5-Star-- just read the 1-Star Reviews. Loads of research over these 3-years, but nothing popped. Until Ready Seal came on the horizon. Minimal 1-Stars. Started watching every video I could find on RS. YouTube, Amazon, Ready Seal's proprietary videos. Reading data sheets on RS's website. Tons more research. Months pass. Convinced. Buy two 5-gal. totes of Natural Cedar. I wanted the "most orange" color RS offered. I call this "Backwards Prep." Order the supply before I'm ready to do the work. This gives me the incentive to "go all in. Not back out. Forge ahead. Wait for the monsoons to stop. Research a little more. Learn how to turn this amateur gig into professional. Techniques. Tools. Materials needed. Temperature range required. Moisture! Ready Seal has GREAT Customer Service. Phoned twice. Second time, a super-hot-shot very UP on his game figured out I was using the WRONG Moisture Meter (for interior, drywall-- wrong). Off to Lowe's for a Kobalt Pin Type Moisture Meter #SC-MM150 Digital #4882343 Model #SC-MM150. See, that is great Customer Service when the Rep. listens so intently-- they can figure out what you're doing wrong (getting wonky readings) and help correct the problem. Staining a requires PATIENCE, kiddoes. Especially if you're goofy enough to stain your deck during monsoon season. Dry as a bone in the a.m. Start to stain-- finally! STARTS POURING DOWN RAIN halfway through. This prompts a call to RS: usually 12% or less moisture is required for staining-- but since you live in Monsoonville, you can go 15% on the first application. This gives the green light-- this deck wood will NEVER be 12% this wet summer. Moisture meter checks every day. Finally a narrow window opens up-- dry for just a few days, long enough for a staining Marathon. Ready Seal is everything we needed it to be. Easy to open. Easy to stir. Easy to apply (I started by using a beautiful brush. Ended up using a sponge as it made it SO easy to stain in-between boards and was easier on the wrist. Deck is 8x12-ft. Took 20-hrs. TOTAL for everything-- was able to squeeze-in 2-coats during the few days of sun. Stained everything: topsides, railings, in-between the boards, UNDERNEATH the decking, underneath the steps, 4x4 uprights, sides of boards-- every square inch of that deck. Twice. NOTE 1: if your deck is badly weathered, you'll need MORE than you think. Ran through an entire 5-gal. can doing two coats, plus maybe a Qt. from 2nd 5-gal. tote. That's two coats on an 8x12 deck. Our wood, especially the steps, were so badly "chapped" that all the wood soaked up the thin stain like nobody's bidnezz. The stain is "thin," not gloppy. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was water base. Use gloves! Old clothes. We laid down a layer of cardboard under the deck to 1/ Catch drippings 2/ for a clean, slick surface to slide around on to reach all those nooks and crannies. To me it didn't make sense to just stain topsides and leave unstained wood underneath our deck. Obviously if your deck is just a few inches off the ground, you won't be staining underneath! NOTE 2: Great addition to 1/ Protecting the steps from SUN and WIND and 2/ Safety was the addition of the STAIR TREADS [Rubber-Cal "Diamond-Plate Non-Slip Rubber Tread Stair Mats (6 Pack), Black $35.64 for six]. They really set off the Natural Cedar and really make the Ready Seal POP! I wanted some way to protect the stair treads from the brutal sun, to stop the "checking" damage. NOTE 3: ANOTHER great addition to our deck, that also keeps the SUN off and will add more years to our deck is that I erected Deck Sails [SUNNY GUARD Sun Shade Sail 10'x10'x10' Triangle Grey White Tripe UV Block Sunshade for Backyard Yard Deck Patio Garden Outdoor Activities and Facility] using 1-in. Galvanized Electrical conduit as "masts" attached to the 4x4 uprights. No cement needed. The sails keep the deck COOL, and minimize UV rays from ruining our beautiful Ready Seal. [Photos.] Sunny Guard has various sizes and shapes. We've since put up 5-Sails on this 8x12 deck, to keep our kitchen COOLER in summer. Makes a HUGE difference. The deck stays cools even though it's on the roasting WEST side of the house. Use "J-Hooks" on the 1-in. metal poles and bungee-cord to the Sails, then you can easily take them down for an approaching bad windstorm.No shortcuts. But every DAY I thank God we took the time to research this project and to do it right (waited until deck wood was <15% moisture). And got in two coats. The treads. The sails. Looks like a completely different deck, and now is a really gorgeous outdoor space-- that somehow even seems a bit bigger now, too. THANK YOU READY SEAL. You will NOT be sorry.

I used the color Mission Brown on approximately 1650 sq ft of new pressure treated pine fencing (weathered 30 days) and it required almost 11 gallons to complete the job. This is one of the easiest stain/sealers I’ve ever worked with (contractors daughter here). My project is only 3 weeks old so I cannot yet speak to the longevity but so far the color is great and water beads nicely. The stain is pretty goof proof as long as you know a little bit about application. I used a combination of spray rig, small roller, paint/stain brush and a chemical resistant spray bottle to get hard to reach trim areas. I do not recommend the lawn/garden type sprayers as it’s very difficult get an even result and it distributes products in globs and uses too much stain. YouTube is helpful with application ideas and if this is your first time doing it yourself I’d recommend watching a few tutorials to determine which method is best for your project. The Mission Brown color is a medium rustic brown without red tones which I love. This is a semitransparent stain so you will still see the highlights of the wood peeking through but will definitely get a full color change. Note: color will vary depending on number of coats applied, wood type and age. The older your fence the darker the color will be and some may desire two coats for a really deep rich brown. The more you apply the darker it will become and it will take about 14 days to completely settle into its true color which will be slightly lighter than when it’s first applied. I was a little hesitant to buy this type of product online but the 5 gallon metal buckets I received were free of blemishes, dents & leaks and had a convenient, easy to use pour spout. Overall I love this product because of the modern color choices, even coverage and the ease of application. It’s also reasonably priced compared to competitors. Please pardon the ugly yard pics as we recently had an irrigation system installation.

#2 Yellow Pine treated fence pickets about 8 months old (very dry) when applied. I used the Dark Walnut and am VERY satisfied with the warm medium dark brown. When I had to order the second 5 gallon can I stopped after 2 pickets because the color was WAY darker on the second than the stuff I had already completed 3 days prior. However, as it dried over the course of 1 day it blended perfectly. Seriously I was VERY hesitant to keep going because it was very dark compared but don't worry if that happens to you. Coverage was 215 Six foot tall 5 3/4" wide fence pickets with a 6" rot board at the bottom (all good side of the fence with no 2x4's to cover or 4x4 posts). I used a cheap pump sprayer (don't waste your money on an expensive one because you do NOT want to use a pump sprayer for applying this product as the only way of applying it. It will take 3 times as much stain easily if you do. I used the pump spayer to spray a good wet area on about a 1' x 2' area of picket and then an 8" roller brush with a thin/medium nap to quickly spread it before it soaked into the wood and was no longer spreadable. It does go on MUCH easier on a cedar picket because of the oils in the cedar. I would say that cedar will take 1/2 to 1/3 of the amount of stain that dry pressure treated pine does. I only had a 5'x6' section of cedar but wow what a difference on consumption of stain! Very little compared. The rot boards took in a lot less stain as well due to their more milled/slick surface. The pump sprayer really helps to get the corners soaked so you don't have to work quite as hard to get the stain worked into the corners. I am wondering how long this will last and look good for though.

Excellent product extremely easy to use

My deck is cedar and I chose Natural Cedar for the colour. This product went on like a dream, it’s stunning with absolutely no lap marks etc. I stained my 550sq ft. deck, railings and two sets of stairs with one 5 gallon. You can tell it beautifully soaks into the wood. I will update next year after the Canadian winter and see how it holds up, but I can already tell it’s completely different than the previous stain we used. Shipping took a long time, over a month to get here, but it was worth the wait. I couldn’t be happier. :)UPDATE:: Added a picture of the deck post winter, it has faded some but absolutely no peeling which is most important.. Still looks beautiful. And held up to our two rambunctious dogs nails! We have stained this deck yearly with other garbage stain and by spring it was always peeling and hideous. This is a dream.

The product is a good product sprays well and even. We used it to finish our privacy fence. Didn't like having to pay $100 more for the second 5 gal pail that was required.

Excellent stain. Still looks good since 2021

We used this on an eleven year old deck, treated but unfinished boards. They had held up well through western prairie summer/winter conditions, but were starting to show their age.This is a penetrating oil. Easy to use, a 5” brush did best and neatest coverage on the 12’ x 16’ surface.Still about 1/3rd of pail left.Prep was just a light fast surface sanding.Other decks in past years had various paints and stains, but they all eventually peel and crack and cause more work. This oil soaks right into the board grain.Excellent product. We will continue to use it.The applied colour is darker than the ordering sample, but that more likely is due to the aged boards.