When planning an exterior painting project, you may wonder what’s better for your home: solid stain or paint? It will depend on your type of home, the surface material and condition, and personal preferences. Knowing your options is key in deciding on the best course of action. For advice, speak to your Weymouth painter first, who can let you know whether your home could benefit from solid stain or paint.
What is Solid Stain?
Similar to regular stain, solid stain changes the color of a surface while allowing the texture and grain of the wood to shine through. Solid stain is a good middle choice when deciding between regular or even semi-transparent stain and paint. That’s because it is able to seep into the wood more so than paint, but not quite as much as regular stain does.
Solid stain essentially creates a solid-color coating on the wood without hiding the grain underneath. If you apply enough coatings of solid stain to a surface, it will resemble paint.
Solid Stain vs. Exterior Paint
When facing the decision of paint or solid stain for your home’s exteriors, you’ll first have to consider the surface that will be coated. Solid stain is a good choice when the wood is fresh, as it penetrates more readily into the wood better than paint can. Basically, it acts as its own primer, not functioning as well when coating a previously-painted surface.
New cedar siding and shake shingles are especially good candidates for solid stain, as you don’t need a primer in this case. You can save time and money on how many coats are necessary to complete the job. You don’t really want to apply a solid stain over paint, but the reverse is OK: applying paint over a solid stain. Thus, you may want to use solid stain for the first few years of your home’s life, then switch to paint.
While solid stain certainly has its benefits, paint gives your home better protection and durability, plus you have a wider range of colors to choose from. Keep in mind that solid stain will fade faster than paint and so you need to re-apply it more frequently.
If you apply solid stain on a surface that’s already been sealed or painted, it will end up looking just like paint yet with a shorter lifespan. And due to its less protective qualities as well, it doesn’t have the benefits that a high-quality exterior paint does.
That’s why, in the end, paint is typically the better option. If you really love the texture and grain of natural wood, though, go ahead and try the solid stain!
Contact TB Services
If you still can’t decide what’s best for your home -- paint or stain – call our South Shore painters for advice. Get a quote and consultation on exterior painting when you contact us at 781-901-2294.
