'Solid stain' usually doesn't stack up

Q: DEAR TIM: I visited a national brand paint store and talked with an employee about solid stain. I told him that I wanted a solid color on my home but that I didn't want to paint because it would peel eventually. The salesman said I should use solid-color stain. I bought 10 gallons of a custom color on his recommendation and took it home. When I opened up the first can, I was shocked to see how thick the product was. It was full-bodied, just like paint. The label says it's non-returnable because it's a custom color. Will it be a mistake to apply this to my home? What should I do? -- Bobbie B., Edison, N.J.

A: DEAR BOBBIE: The first thing I would do would be to go back to that paint store and discuss the situation with the store manager. You got very bad advice.

With all due respect, the employee who helped you probably does not have a chemistry background. Furthermore, he probably hasn't had extensive training to know the difference between film-forming coatings and penetrating wood stains. You wanted to buy a product that would not peel. What you were sold was a paint that's marketed as a stain. You should ask for a full refund.

You're not the only person to run into this problem. It happened to me 25 years ago on my own home. I discovered the hard way that some paint companies play a little shell game so that you buy one product thinking you have something else entirely.

I went to the same kind of paint store asking for the same product you wanted. I didn't want paint that would peel, so the employee told me to use a solid color stain that would never peel. Guess what? I can show you many places on that house where the "stain" is peeling. Both you and I equate the word "stain" with a colored liquid that soaks into the pores of wood and doesn't lay on the surface of the wood. Thus, it can't peel. Imagine if you label a thin- or even thick-bodied film-forming liquid as a stain and sell that? Yes, you'll confuse many people.

Not long ago, I attended an association meeting in the community where I live in New Hampshire. It's called Waldron Bay, and it has a stunning clubhouse on the shore of Lake Winnisquam covered with lap cedar siding. Years ago, the wood siding on the clubhouse was treated with what I believe to be an acrylic solid stain. It's peeling in places and needs to be recoated.

Last year I was asked to write a specification for painters to follow so they could give us a bid. The association board wanted the clubhouse to be a solid color, just like your home. The president of the association visited a local paint store and got the same advice you did. The association members voted to coat the exterior of the clubhouse with a solid color stain that in reality is a lower-quality paint. In a spirited debate, I defended my specification to use the best paint available that's made in the United States.

When the votes were counted, there was one person in the audience who voted using solid color stain -- it was me. The sad thing is that for the amount needed to paint our clubhouse, there was a difference in price of less than $180 between the solid color stain and the best paint on the market.

Here's my advice to anybody who buys "stain": If you open can after can and the stain has the consistency of paint, that's what it is -- paint. Paint is a film-forming coating. It's supposed to lay on the surface of what's being painted and bond to it mechanically and sometimes chemically. Paint doesn't soak completely into wood pores, taking the tiny color pigments with it. Thin-bodied stains that have the consistency of water are formulated to do just that.

Since you want your house to be a solid color, you're forced to use a paint. There's nothing wrong with that. But to minimize future peeling, you want to purchase the best paint you can afford. The chemistry of paint is nearly identical to that of many adhesives. Think about it: Glues or adhesives are formulated to stick to things or bond two things together. Paint is simply glue with color in it. Great paints stick very well to skin, wood, metal, clothes, rugs, etc. I'm sure you know all about that if you've spilled any.

You want to bond the paint film to the wood, so you want to buy the best glue (paint) made and follow the directions on the label to the letter to ensure it will stick for a very long time to the wood. The best thing you can do is wash the outside of your home with soap and water by hand to remove any and all dirt that will interfere with the ability of the glue to stick to your home.

Tim Carter can be contacted via his Web site, http://www.askthebuilder.com/printer_Submit_Question.shtml.