Armstrong Clark Stains in Mahogany, Amber, and Black Walnut Colors

The key to a good wood stain is one that will protect, last long, and reduce the frequency of maintenance recoats. When it comes to IPE and other exotic hardwoods, maintenance can be more frequent than on more typical wood species. This is due to the dense nature of the hardwood. It can be tricky to get a stain to penetrate the wood and once it does, it does not want to hold for more than a year or so. This is really just the nature of exotic hardwood.

Best Semi-Solid Deck Stain

Deck stains come in different transparency levels. The more transparent or the less opaque a stain is, the more the natural wood grain shows through. This category is referred to as the semi-transparent deck stains.

The more opaque less transparent deck stains are commonly called the semi-solid deck stains. So basically the transparency scale in order starting with the least opaque would be a clear sealer, semi-transparent stain, semi-solid stain, and solid stains.