Re-staining + Painting the Front Porch

It was a bit of a fiasco when Andy originally stained the front porch. The night before, we looked over stain sample chips, and agreed on our favorite. Anyone who knows me – especially my husband – should know just because I say something is my favorite doesn’t mean it will stay my favorite. I need at least several days to agonize back and forth, questioning my selection, starting from the beginning at least two more times until I reach a final decision.

The next day, suffering from a migraine, I was asleep when Andy woke me up asking what the stain name was that we liked. I mumbled it and went back to sleep.

By the time I woke back up, Andy had stained the entire back deck and front porch. I hated the color. Up close it was pretty, but it lacked any contrast to our dark grey siding. To be fully transparent, I wanted to fix it immediately, but there were too many other pressing projects to get done first.

When it was time to install the porch ceiling, we took our time to find the perfect color. To get the exact color we wanted, we tested several Cabot semi-transparent stains and ended up with a custom color by layering one on top of another.

One layer is Cabot Chestnut Brown Semi-transparent Exterior Wood Stain and Sealer which is a yellow/orange light brown. The second color is Cabot Cordovan Brown Semi-transparent Exterior Wood Stain and Sealer which is a richer walnut brown.

Step # 1

Prep work.

The first step was taping off the siding to protect it from any stain stripper, new stain, or paint.

Step # 2

Removing the old stain.

Andy applied a stain/finish stripper and pressured washed the old stain off. We didn’t remove the stain from the lowest part of the deck because we would be pushing the rocks up against it to less the step and hopefully will be doing additional landscaping around the side next spring.

Step # 3

Dry time.

Once the old stain was gone, we let the deck dry out for a few days.

Step # 4

Applying the new stain.

You could do a conditioner at this step before applying the stain, but we decided not to. Andy rolled the stain on and then used a brush for in-between the boards and to clean up any drip marks. He used a mitt for the least messy application on the railing and post. The stain we used also contained a sealer (Cabot Semi-transparent Exterior Wood Stain and Sealer), but you could do that as a separate process if you prefer.

Step # 5

Painting around the door.

The last piece of the porch refresh was to paint around the door black with Rust-Oleum® Stops Rust® Door Paint. Eliminating the white was a small detail, but it made a big difference.