Water Based vs Oil Based Fence Stain - Which Is Better For Fence Staining?

When we talk about increasing the lifespan of your

fence

, you know we're talking about

stain

ing and sealing it. It's the easiest way to extend the life and preserve the beauty of a great investment you've made in your backyard, but what does it do? you use it to dye it and seal it. There are hundreds of products on the market today. They generally fall into two camps:

water

-

based

and oil-

based

, so in today's video we'll talk about both and end with the product I prefer to use. by

stain

ing and sealing all of our

fence

s, but before we get into this week's video, it would mean a lot to us if you liked the video, hit the like button below and if you found the video helpful, hit the subscribe button below of the notification button.

YouTube will let you know as we upload new content every week, so for now let's close the debate on the first

water

-based sealant stain for your next fence. This is Joe, Everest defense expert. My family has been perfecting their way of building. fence for over 60 years, three generations, although there is more than one way to build a fence, I am here to share with you our journey, so as I said at the beginning, there are two main camps when we talk about

staining

and sealing fences. The products will be oil-based and water-based. Let's pick two pros and two cons of each and at the end talk about

which

one I prefer and specifically

which

product I prefer for oil-based dyes.

You have two advantages and one has less maintenance. The costs mean that two or three years after

staining

and sealing that fence, you can go ahead and just put a maintenance coat on top. You can reapply the product without having to remove the old one with water-based sealants that you normally have to do. Remove the old sealant and then put the new sealant back in there, so in the end, lower maintenance cost is great for oil-based stains. The second advantage of using an oil-based stain is that the oils in the oil-based stain go away. To mimic natural cedar oils, they will actually hydrate and preserve the wood instead of simply sealing the wood with a paint or just a solid color.

It will actually be

better

for the wood to use an oil-based stain. Now for the cons of using an oil-based stain to stain your next fence. First, oil-based stains are extremely sensitive to humidity. Typically, you need to have a moisture content of less than 15 percent in the 2x4 post of the board, whatever you're sealing, before you can do it. apply the wood, if the wood holds too much moisture it won't actually allow the oil in because oil and water don't mix, but if the moisture content is less than 15 you can obviously go ahead and stain it, but in a year like this. year we've had an extremely wet spring means you probably won't be able to stain your fence as soon as you want if the wood is really wet, the second negative when it comes to using oil instead of water-based sealer is the fact that which is more transparent, you can actually see more wood and more of the character of the wood with oil instead of water, so why is that a negative if you are repairing a fence before sanding and sealing it? you have newer boards next to older boards, then newer boards next to older boards, you will definitely see that more with an oil base, usually the darkest you can get is a semi-solid, it is closer to a solid , but you still will be. able to see the new board versus the old, so if you have a fence that has new and old boards, you are more likely to want to use a solid color, so you will probably want to use a water-based sealer, it is okay, so we've talked about oil based dye, now let's talk about water based dye, same thing, two pros and two cons, so like we just talked about, with an oil con, it's a plus for the water yes If you have uglier wood or if you have mixed and matched wood, water-based stain will do a great job of covering it up if you have to make repairs to the fence or the fence boards just don't look as good.

You don't really want to show the tables outside of the waterbase. Water base will be an excellent option for such a fence. The second advantage of water is also a negative of oil, since you can use a water-based sealer when the wood is very dry. more humid if you live in a humid climate or if you apply the stain and sealer during a more humid time of year. Water-based sealer can be applied to boards that are considerably wetter. A 20 to 25 percent moisture content is not unheard of when you're applying a water-based sealer, so like I said, if you're in a more humid climate or a more humid time of year, the water-based will probably be the option for you, so now let's talk about the two negative aspects of using a water-based sealer.

Water-Based Sealer – The first negative aspect of using a water-based sealer is that it is more likely to crack or peel than an oil-based one and that is because most water-based sealants water will form a film, which means that, as it seems, they will form a film. over the top of that picket two before posting, which allows them to be more solid, but they don't actually penetrate the wood, they don't become part of that wood product, so as they age it's more likely that they peel off and crack or chip and become unsightly. The second negative is somewhat related to the first, as when you have a sealant that forms a film, it will seal everything inside the wood, all the moisture that is there to stay cannot breathe, which means that if If we are sealing in a significant amount of moisture, we could be promoting early rot in that wood product, so when deciding what type of product we were going to use as a company, we weighed the pros and cons of oil versus water and ultimately, We landed on an Oil Based Product because in our opinion it looks quite a bit

better

and penetrates, sealing the board from the inside out.

Now you lose some of the coverage capabilities. You still see the grains in the wood when you use an oil base, but I. Honestly, I think there is a huge benefit to using the oil. I love seeing how the stain and sealer bring out and enhance the character of the board, which is why we as a company chose an oil-based sealer, but even when we talk about oil-based sealants. There are many, many oil-based sealants on the market today, so which one do you choose well? I can tell you about the one we chose as a company after we decided we were going to use an oil based dye product, we still had several companies.

That provided high-quality oil-based dyes for the sealants, so how do we choose the stainless steel experts? I think it could be best described using the who, what, when, where, why method to first describe the stainless steel experts, who of the stainless steel experts. It's going to be Caleb, the owner, much like me, he comes from a multi-generational fence company, so when he developed a stain, he developed it from the point of view of the owner of the fence company, the operator of the company of fences and their customers, rather than a company that just happens. To make the product, he makes it specifically with a product that comes from the fundamental knowledge of fence companies and their customers.

Okay so they obviously make an oil based stain and sealer, but what makes them a little different is what really stood out. What we care about is the fact that it is a low VOC product, now VOC means a volatile organic compound and without being a scientist and without getting into very technical details, it basically means that it is a safer product for you to use. use my boys, but it's also safer to be around. Now, typically when we stain a fence, it's around kids or pets, so we want to make sure that when we stain that fence, we stain it with a product that's safer for those kids and pets to be around than it is. . a low VOC oil based stain and sealer is good for the win, according to their website, they have been producing stains since 2012, which certainly gave us pause initially, but after speaking with Caleb in depth and finding out that his story was similar to mine, multi-generational fence guy, it really gave me confidence to at least give the product a good try after being around for three seasons.

Now I feel confident letting you know that this is the product we use, we have used it on many fences. Excellent results, it is a product that we really like due to wear and tear. The Stainless Steel Experts are based in Nashville which means they are a USA product and that means a lot to me. I know we've already talked about several of the reasons we use stainless steel. experts, but I'll summarize one: It's a low VOC formula, which means without being a scientist it's safer for kids and pets to be around, it's also safer for my boys to use.

Both reasons make me sleep much better at night and also because it is a formula with less VOCs, it is also more environmentally friendly, it is better for the planet, which also makes me sleep better at night. Plus, they have a nationwide distribution network, so it doesn't matter where in the country we are if we're staining a friend's house with new clothes. York or a cousin's house in California, there is a distribution network that is already set up and ready to take care of us and if we have any problems, it is a direct customer service relationship, which means that when you pick up the phone, you usually get someone within the first three. or four ringers who has in-depth knowledge about the product.

I have never had the problem of not being able to pick up the phone and talk to someone about someone who had incredible knowledge about the product and that means a lot to me. Summarize this video When you decide to stain and seal your next fence, you will now have two options: an oil-based product or a water-based one, while we prefer an oil-based product which, according to stained seal experts, will surely will find. If you want to weigh the pros and cons of each camp and each dye manufacturer and make a decision that is good for you, ultimately do yourself a favor and dye and seal your fins to promote longevity and also preserve the beauty of the biggest investment in your interior patio