What we recommend
Two very good exterior wood stains at two different price points. If your budget allows it, we point you to DEC almost every time.
What we recommend first
The premium end of the line, and the finish we’re proudest to put on a customer’s home. DEC penetrates deeply and leaves wood looking rich and dimensional rather than coated — you still read the grain. For a deck, or any horizontal surface you plan to keep looking beautiful, this is the one.
The value alternative
Widely searched for, and widely available — you’ll find it at the big box stores too. It’s a good product and a sensible choice when budget is the deciding factor, particularly on pressure treated lumber. Pressure Plus is good. DEC is better. We’ll be honest with you about which one suits your project.
Sansin also makes a full range of exterior systems — SDF, ENS, Classic, Wood Wash, End Seal and more. Browse all exterior stains and finishes, or ask us which system fits your build.
Start here
No obligation and no guessing. Send a few photos and the details of your wood, and a member of our team will come back with a recommended product, opacity and prep sequence for your specific project.
Wood type, square footage, whether it’s new or being refinished, and how much sun and weather it takes.
Photos tell us more than measurements do. Existing finish, greying, peeling, mildew — we can read all of it from a picture.
We’ll confirm the product, then help you get started with colour selection and prep steps.
Prefer to talk in person? Bring your project photos and inspiration to one of our two stores — see hours and directions.
Sansin exterior wood stain colours
Sansin colours are organised by opacity, not just by shade. The more pigment in the stain, the more UV protection it gives — and the less grain shows through. It’s the first decision to make, and it’s easier to make with a real sample in your hand.
*Colour on a screen is never the colour on your wood. Species, age and opacity all change the result — which is why we’d rather sample it with you than have you guess.
By project
Horizontal and vertical surfaces wear differently, and so do species. Each of these needs a different answer.
The hardest job in exterior finishing. Foot traffic, standing water and full sun on a horizontal surface. Prep and product choice matter more here than anywhere else on your property.
Vertical surfaces shed water but take relentless UV on the south and west faces. We’ll match opacity to exposure so the walls age evenly.
Cedar is worth protecting properly. The right penetrating finish slows warping, curling and moisture damage, and buys you years of service life.
Large area, tight budget, exposed on both sides. There’s a smart way to spend your money on a fence, and we’ll walk you through it.
Pressure treated wood has its own rules about moisture content and timing. Stain it too early and the finish won’t hold.
Before you start
Follow the prep steps properly and your stain can last up to 60% longer. This is the short version of what we tell every customer.
Why redos happen
Stripping and re-staining a failed deck costs several times what it costs to do it right the first time. Almost every failure we see traces back to one of these four things.
New lumber carries a glazed surface from the mill. Stain won’t penetrate through it, so the finish sits on top and lets go. New wood needs cleaning, then sanding.
Above 25°C, or on a surface that’s hot to the touch, stain flash dries before it can penetrate. This is the single most common cause of peeling we deal with.
Recently washed or rained-on wood traps moisture under the coating. Two days of dry weather is the minimum — and a water bead test tells you for certain.
Most stains fail when over-applied and can’t breathe. Sansin is the exception — it needs a flood coat, applied to the point of refusal. Getting this backwards ruins projects.
Questions we get every spring
Barrydowne Paint is an authorized Sansin dealer with two locations in Sudbury — New Sudbury on Barrydowne Road and the South End on Long Lake Road. We stock and tint Sansin exterior stains in-house, and customers regularly come to us from Manitoulin Island, Killarney, Elliot Lake, Espanola, Cartier, Onaping and the Muskoka area.
A penetrating stain soaks into the wood fibre instead of forming a film on top of it. Because there’s no film sitting on the surface, there’s far less chance of it peeling, and the wood can still breathe as it takes on and gives off moisture through the seasons. It’s the reason surface prep matters so much — anything blocking the pores, like mill glaze or an old coating, stops the stain from doing its job.
Wash it with soap and a dedicated wood cleaner to remove dirt, pollen, mildew and grease, then sand with 60 to 80 grit. Cleaning comes before sanding, not after. Pressure washing alone is not preparation — it can raise the grain and drive water deep into the wood, which then needs days to dry. We’ll tell you which cleaner suits what you’re dealing with.
Start with opacity rather than colour. Decide how much grain you want to see and how much UV protection the surface needs, then choose a shade within that opacity level. After that, sample it on the actual wood — the same colour looks different on cedar than it does on pressure treated pine. Browse the Sansin colour collections here.
Sometimes. It depends on what’s currently on the wood, how well it’s bonded, and whether the old product is compatible with what you want to use. This is exactly the situation where a photo saves you a great deal of money. Send us pictures of the current condition and we’ll tell you honestly whether you’re recoating or stripping.
It depends on the product, the surface, the exposure and above all the prep. Horizontal surfaces in full sun need attention sooner than shaded vertical siding. What we can tell you is that proper cleaning and sanding extends the life of a finish by up to 60%, and that maintenance recoats cost a fraction of a full strip and restore.
Plenty of our customers do their own staining well, with the right product and a clear plan. If you’d rather hand it off, we can point you toward painters in the area who know these products — see Find a Painter.
Visit us
Ten minutes with someone who does this every day is worth more than an afternoon of reading. Walk in with pictures of your deck or siding and leave with a plan.
Coming in from out of town? We serve customers across Northern Ontario — Greater Sudbury, Espanola, Manitoulin Island, Killarney, Elliot Lake, Cartier, Onaping and the Muskoka region. Send your project details ahead and we’ll have your stain tinted and waiting.
We're a local family-owned business that has served Sudbury for over four decades, and exterior wood is a big part of what we do. Our staff are trained on these products directly by Sansin, including hands-on product training, so the advice you get is specific to how these stains behave on real wood in a Northern Ontario climate — not read off the back of a can.
And we don't consider the job done once you've paid for the stain. If you get partway through and something isn't going the way you expected — the colour looks different than you thought, the wood is taking more product than expected, the weather turns — call the store. We'll talk it through with you. Getting your project to a result you're happy with matters most to us!
Send photos and details and we’ll come back with the right product, the right colour and the right prep for your wood. Or visit either Sudbury location and bring your pictures with you.
