Penofin F5ESIQT Blue Label Premium Transparent Stain (550-VOC), Sierra, 1 Qt

Yes, this is expensive! We use it annually to keep our natural wood looking beautiful!

My deck looked great after prep and application in June of last year. I pressure washed first, then used the Penofin Pro-Tech cleaner to lighten and brighten the wood. My neighbor even commented on how well it looked, and I was pleased with the effort. Now, not quite a year later, my deck has turned dark and weathered-looking. I just thoroughly pressure washed, expecting a lot of the winter organic material that tends to coat decks here in the Pacific Northwest to wash off — but nope — the dark, Spanish-galleon appearance is not a surface layer and was not removed, as I've had success with in the past with other oil-based sealers. It appears now the only option to restore the beauty and vibrancy of the wood will be to completely strip the deck and start over with another product, which is a lot of labor. Very disappointed in this product. I want to point out once again that it looked great when first applied, but for me, failed in a test of time.

This stuff is amazing. It is a quality sealer. The photos were taken right after application. I did pressure wash the deck before application.