Why does the wood deck paint peel?

I used Olympic stain which had the primer in it in 2015 and by Fall it had started to peel. Called the company and they said it was the humidity. Once they start peeling it is a real mess to clean up. Best not to do it at all.

I am not a fan of deck paint that sits on the surface of the deck and does not penetrate the wood. I live in a cold northern state so winter is very hard on any form of deck product that just sits on top of the wood. Moisture, cold and hot sun destroy these products. Always having to redo the deck. I think it's better to use a product that soaks into the wood. I found this product that actually works: Armstrong Clark Stain. It is an oil based product that soaks into the wood. It comes in many colors and transparent, semi transparent and solid finishes. It will not peel and it has made it through 3 cold winters with lots of snow and ice. It has faded in color slightly over time and has lost some of it's water repelling properties but it does not and will not peel. I know I sound like a commercial but this product is the best and I will never use anything else ever again! I had to sand one deck down to wood, clean it with a deck cleaner and brightener and let it dry well before I put this product down. It was a smaller deck and an experiment to see what happened with this product. SUCCESS! I have replaced the top boards on my bigger deck and when it is time I will use Armstrong Clark stain again and I know I won't have any peeling and I won't need to redo the deck for 2-3 years. YAY!

Did you prime before painting? Paint usually adheres better if sanded and primed.

The deck contractor did it so I would hope so.

"This Old House" pros say that if you want to stain use the transparent stain. It is the solid latex type stain apparently that creates the problem.. I am not sold on paints that have the primer in them already.

Good Luck!!

My good friend has this problem: our guess is that the wood was 'pressure treated' meaning the green stuff that deters bugs. That should not be painted or if you want to ask your paint store rep for the right product and procedure

My husband is right now in the process of redoing our front porch decking. We have the paint but I will tell him about this other product as we have new decking on our side porch that needs painting.

I have used Deckover--worst mess ever! You will probably have to sand and sand to get it all off and even then you will not get it all off if it is down in any deep cracks in the wood. I used a belt sander BUT don't use a coarse belt on the belt sander--it chews up the deck wood really bad--stay with a medium grit. I also used a palm sander around the edges and I could use the coarse sand paper on that. I have heard you can rent a larger sander but I have not tried it myself. Just be prepared for a few days of really grueling hard work to sand everything off.

Sounds like a plan, thank you

Hoping my son inlaw will come with his hardwood floor sander.

Do a lot of research on whatever product you are looking at. I found many of these "deck over" products are not worth your investment. Many have complaints and suits against them concerning the peeling and length of time there product lasted. I was going to do this but ended up doing the clean the deck and reseal it process.

I will thank you