Olympic Maximum 1 gal. Canyon Brown Transparent Exterior Stain and Sealer in One Low VOC

I had used Wolman Semi-Transparent for years and years. I find the Wolman product wears incredibly well. However, sometime in the past year or two, Wolman decided that "cedar" would now be a dark, dingy brownish shade. It is devoid of all hints of orange and just not pleasing to the eye. I started researching and ended up going with Olympic, good price, decent quality. I will update this review as it wears, but so far it has been on my deck for about a month and it looks great. Obviously the proof is in one full season. It stirs easily and goes on well. It has great coverage. Go by the coverage on the can. It is very accurate. My deck is about 23 years old. I cleaned it and power washed it, and the coverage was spot on. My deck is about 300 sq ft, plus railings, balusters, and two sets of stairs (typical 5-7 stairs and 4' wide). I used about 1 1/3 gallons and it covered well. I brushed it on, which takes longer but I always find to be neater. The only thing I did not do is my side lattice work for the deck foundation, but the remaining 2/3 of a gallon will easily cover that. Coverage is consistent and the color adds some orange "cedar" type color to the deck boards. Although it looks brown in the can, it is pretty transparent, so if you have various shades of deck due to age, discoloration, etc. this will not cover that, so lighter wood looks lighter than darker wood, etc. - like any other semi-transparent. The review photo is from a cloudy day, so in sunlight, the boards appear a bit lighter and with slightly more orange to them. Again, my deck is old and some of my boards are darker so my color is not going to be as consistent as on a 2 to 10 year old deck.

Staining and sealing a deck is quite a process. And if you watch the Youtube videos, you get panicked. They act like every drop, smear, uneven stroke is going to be the end of the world. Well my son and I tossed this stain on using the absolute cheapest brushes and cheapest roller. We did not powerwash the deck before hand. We sanded away a couple areas which were kind of green and moldy, and then we went at it. The deck hadn't been treated for ten years. But this product goes on so easy and even kind of fun. Yes it is liquidy so it drips about. We had some cardboard etc. But we were not being super cautious. The results however look like we really tried. Not one line appears from the roller, and we didn't even roll with the grain every time. Not one drip or brush funkiness appears either. It just looks nice. Now there are a couple spots that need work only because on our decent sized deck we went with just one gallon. Shockingly the product covered it. Took my son and I about four hours to apply (mostly because those railings take time, especially when the wood is as dry as ours was) --- But when we got to the bottom of the gallon, there were little spots toward the end that could have used just a bit more. If only they sold quarts. Still, we are going with this. Job done. Great results. Already survived a couple rainy days. Very happy with this purchase. And ignore those persnikkity overly fanatical youtubers. You got this.

stain goes on easily, looks good, easy cleanup. one thing all 3 one gallon cans apparently out of round. No worries, good product.

Excellent product. Great coverage and pretty quick drying. I found 2 coats necessary due to the age of the pressure treated wood that hadn't been stained in over 8 years. After the second coat the results were great, deck looks like new again.

Stain came in lumps . I had to strained it like 3 times to be able to use with brush. I couldn’t usefyhe spray gun at all

If you are looking for CLEAR coat, this is not it. The coat is actually a dark honey, even though the description says it is clear. It is pretty thin and goes on well. Only time will tell how well it wears, so there is no way to answer that in a review. It takes a LONG time to dry, at least 72 hours to fully dry. So, do not use it if there is rain in the forecast. I found that it takes at least 4 coats to get the wood to seal. That is pretty horrible. Of course, as this stuff is not actually clear, you never get an even looking finish. It is not possible. The manufacturer changed the cans so that the current ones have tops and bottoms about the strength of a coke can. Every can I have gotten in since they changed cans has severely expanded at the top and bottom of the can. I doubt the lids can be put back on once opened as they are so thin. The new cans come with a hazmat plastic ring around the top to keep the lid from blowing off in transit. Plus, the handles get detached in shipment They are impossible to put back on so they will stay on once they come off. Also, NEVER use bleach on anything you treated. The bleach will each the finish and leave it looking terrible, no matter how long it has cured. You will probably be sorry if you buy this product.

Love this stain and went to buy more to match the color and in less than one year, the price had gone up. Mat 2024 it was $124 and now it had gone up $60???? That's outrageous

Very nice color and went on well. For best results use a staining brush not a roller. Keep stirring the bucket every 10 minutes so the color doesn’t sink to the bottom of the bucket. Everyone should know that this is a dark color so when the sun is beating on the deck it gets very hot. Make sure you are wearing sandals or it’s like walking on hot coals.