DIY: How To Stain A Pine Patio In 7 Easy Steps With Cabot's

I am thrilled to work with Cabot's an Australian company known for their quality wood oil and stain products on our new deck and patio project.

We tried their exterior product range for oiling our new timber deck and staining our new pine patio which I'll share in two separate blog posts.

So what is the difference between a stain and an oil ?

If you like the look of the timber and just want to protect it you use an oil - this is what we are using for our timber deck as its made from beautiful Merbau timber and we want to enhance the natural look of the timber and protect it. With an oil you paint it on and it absorbs in and drys like a clear coating so your natural timber can shine through in all its glory.

Whereas if you don't particularly like the look of the timber and want to change it to a different colour then you use a stain - this is what we are using for our treated pine patio because we don't like the look of pine and want to stain it a darker colour to match the Merbau timber deck.

What do you need to stain a pine patio ?

You don't need a lot for this DIY which keeps the cost down considerably, all you need is the stain, a paint brush, buckets and drop sheets that's it!

• Stain - We used Cabots Deck and Exterior Stain (water based) in 'New Jarrah'
• Paint brush - A wide angled brush works best for painting around framework
• Small bucket - To decanter stain into and keep refilling as you work
• Large bucket - Filled with water to wash brushes when finished
• Drop sheets - To protect work area

How to stain a treated pine patio in 7 easy steps

1. Pick a colour - Once we decided to use a stain we had to pick a stain colour and narrowed it down to two colours New Jarrah and Marbau. We painted the stain onto some treated pine off-cuts to see which one we liked the best and the New Jarrah has a nice red tint to it whereas the Merbau was a bit too brown so we went with the New Jarrah. Besides how can I call my blog namesake Jarrah Jungle and not pick jarrah!

2. Get the site ready - Before you start be aware you need to leave new wood to settle for a few weeks before staining its best to check the manufacturers directions for this (our pine was out in the weather for over 4 weeks before we stained it). Make sure the woods surface is clean of any dirt or dust before you start, we used rags to wipe the pine clean. Put down drop sheets to protect the ground from any drips (in our case our beautiful new deck!) and you are good to go. We worked from a scaffold which made it so much easier and safer to access the patio from that height.

3. Get the stain ready - Give the stain a good stir with a stick and then decanter a small amount into a bucket to work from. Put the lid back on the stain to keep the air out so it stays in good condition. Keep refilling the bucket with stain as you need to.

4. Paint it on - Pick up your paint brush and start painting the stain on using long fluid strokes. Remember if you leave a blob of stain and come back a minute later it will dry like that blob because the stain absorbs into the wood. So clean up any drips and blobs as you go with the paint brush.

5. First coat - The first coat always takes the longest - it took us 10 hours to paint a 10 meter long patio with ceiling frame work and side poles. The stain absorbed quickly into the pine and it was really good to work with and gave great coverage. A 4 ltr tin of stain did the first coat.

6. Second coat - It is dry enough for re-coat after 2 hours however after 10 hours of staining spread over the weekend we didn't get around to doing the second coat until a few days later. The second coat always goes on a lot quicker than the first, uses less product, and best of all it took us half the time.  We used about 3 ltrs on the second coat.

7. Clean up - The stain is water based which makes clean up really easy just wash your brushes out with water. This is why I always prefer to use water based products - there's little to no smell and clean up is so easy without the use of chemicals or cleaning products.

And that my friends is how in 7 easy steps you can turn a treated pine patio

into a more expensive looking timber patio !

I am so happy with how it's turned out all thanks to Mr P who worked like a trooper in the hot summer heat to get the patio stained and ready for the carpenter to finish it off by installing the roof sheeting and new fence.

Coming up next I'll be writing a blog post on How to oil a timber deck using Cabot's exterior products.

What would you like to stain at home ... Outdoor furniture? A deck? Something else!


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Disclosure: Thanks to Cabot's for providing me with these stain products for review. I have not received any payment or compensation. As always, all opinions are my own.

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