Deck Stains and Sealers for Exterior Wood

It is often a common belief that the reason to preserve your exterior wood deck is to "seal" the wood so that it "beads" like a car wax. This is absolutely not true! This is a marketing ploy by the "Big Box" manufactures. While it is helpful to prevent water damage, the main reason to treat your wood is for UV damage. If left untreated, the Sun's ultraviolet rays will oxidize and damage the exposed layer of wood cells. When using a transparent tinted wood deck stain or sealer, the tint will act like "sunglasses" for your wood. The tint will absorb the UV and prolong the oxidation that turns [ ... ]

MPI (Master Painters Institute) had a vision for a architectural coating industry that produces paints and coatings with balanced performance, safely and appropriately. In the past wood and deck coatings weren't always environmentally friendly! Oil Based stains can contain both organic and inorganic compounds or materials, some of which may impact our environment by releasing solvents into the ozone layer through their life cycle. Now there are MPI Green Certified Wood Deck Stains on the market that embrace this vision!  

Since 2005 there has been many changes with many states adopting new 250 VOC architectural coatings regulations. As it stands there are 15 states across the country with these regulations and another 8-10 states looking to adopt around 2009. What does this mean for exterior Wood and Deck Coatings?