Restore-A-Deck Semi-Transparent Wood Stain 1 Gallon

Looking to darken new garapa decking. Ordered Restore A Deck Samples and after light sanding to remove the mill glaze, wiped dust, applied stain, all newly stained sample pieces are still quite light with little shade difference between them (Natural, Cedar, Light Walnut and Dark Walnut). Is that to be expected? The darkest color, Dark Walnut was not dark or even medium toned at all. ~Thank you~

I'm planning on using the Semi-Transparent Dark Walnut stain on a recently prepped deck. I may have completed a few steps in the wrong order and wanted clarification before staining.
I stripped and brightened the deck Sept 24-25. I noticed there were several areas that needed some sanding after the deck completely dried out. I ended up completely the sanding process Oct. 1-2. Am I ok to go ahead and apply the stain, or should I use the brightener again directly before applying the stain? Or do I need to use the cleaner and then brightener and then stain?
Second question, when applying the stain I believe I read you guys recommend a deck staining brush for the decking and pads for the railing. Is using a stain brush (paint brush style) ok for this? I don't believe a pad will hold up for very long while staining the rails. 
Thank you!

I had used your cleaner and then the brightener.., and then started sanding. The fibers of the treated yellow pine were coming out. (The boards were put in last year but not dried out in time before the cold weather came to stain so the wood had weathered over the year) And it appears I didn’t rinse long enough to get the brightener washed out as I see areas that appear a little bleached out. Though When the wood is wet you don’t see it those areas at all.But my question is I had first sanded with a 120 Grit as it was what I had but realize I need to use 60 or 80 Grit. Once I re-sand… do I need to use the cleaner and brightener again or just rinse off with water to clean it up and then stain? *One note is I’m not getting my stain until next week… (I was going to use another stain product I had but changed my mind and ordered yours). Thanks!

1. It will take me a week to stain my entire deck.  We're finishing sanding today. Can I clean and brighten the deck all at once, then stain in sections?  If there is a few days of rain and I need to stop staining could I just pick up where I left off? I'm using the RAD semi-transparent.   
2. Also, I have a fence that got it's first coat of stain last year and will need a new coat this year. I read somewhere else I can wash and stain without using the brightener?

Can left over semi-transparent natural stain be used 6 months to a year later?

I used your stain for my deck and it looks great. However, I have a few spots that dripped over the sides and dried like in the photo and doesn’t look good. Is there anything I can use to wipe it and blend it a bit so it’s not as noticeable?

I have stripped and brightened the first deck.  I appears that the two sections were added at different times. I used the booster additive, but the two sections are not yielding similar colors.  I opted for the natural stain, but wondering if I should order a darker shade to allow the sections to match, or used different shades on each section to try and get the colors closer. I've not used the product yet, so I don't know how much it actually darkens.

another photo.. 

Looking for guidance on cleaner vs stripper for my deck. (photos attached) The spindles & railings still have stain on them but the horizontal boards don't. The stain left on the spindles is TWP. I am planning to use RAD semi-transparent. Do I use stripper on all of it? The last time I went a little rogue with the pressure washer and I would like to sand some of the furry areas I left behind on spindles. What is the recommended order that I do things as far as sanding? Also, I have an opened bag of brightener from 2-3 years ago that isn't mixed up. Is that still any good? Thank you! - Jessi 

Given that this is a semi-transparent stain, what percentage of UV protection should I expect? Very little, some, or? The product description says it protects from UV oxidation and graying, however this is a semi-transparent stain, and they typically provide very little if any UV protection at all. 

My deck is about 300 sqft with a 10'x10' section that steps down to a 14'x14' section. There are also 3 steps that are 4' wide in addition to the two sections. I am only going to be using this on the deck floor for the surfaces mentioned. It is new pressure treated yellow pine that I installed in April so following what I've read, I should only need 1 coat of the stain after doing the prep. Will 3 gallons of dark walnut be enough? Also, do the cleaner and brightener have to be applied using a sprayer or is there another method that also works?

I applied the semi-transparent light walnut stain to a large cedar deck (over 600 SQ"). The deck is approximately 11-months old and the prep (cleaner/brightener) was done 3-weeks prior. 
Unfortunately, weather forecast has been challenging and I finally had a small window to apply the stain with a period of 24 hours of no forecasted rain. I knew I was pushing the prep-to-stain timeline so I decided to go with the staining with temperatures around 85 degrees F and the day turned out to be full sun to overcast during the last hour of the application.  
I applied the stain with a low pressure garden sprayer and a high quality pole mounted 12" stain pad that I kept wet using a large roller pan. I maintained wet-on-wet and typically did 2-boards at-a-time with the grain, the entire length (about 60'). The stain pad worked well allowing pressure against the wood and the ability to back brush leaving the surface consistent with no pooling. I was very cautions to not over-apply and have any pooling.
The color and consistency of the deck looks awesome but the next day, I have some concerns that I might have made the mistake to not have pre-misted the deck surface with water. One reason that I did not pre-mist was the overall size, knowing that by the time I was halfway through, the surface would be long dry and with the caution to pick a day with no subsequent rain, I certainly didn't want to mist boards with spray getting on adjacent stained boards. 
24-hours after the application, the surface is not tacky to the touch but it is slightly tacky when walking on it. I have read other posts and realize this will go away as the stain cures. I am wondering if the fact that the surface is slightly tacky 24-hours later, if this is a good sign that I did not experience flash-drying from the heat and sun? I did find that if I dripped some product on an adjacent unstained board that waiting as little as a few minutes to coat over would not always hide the splatter. Also, very surprising to me 24-hours later in the last section of deck that I did, there is a very distinct shadow through about 20-boards (perpendicular) that resembles the shadow of the top 2x6 railing, perfectly straight down the deck about 6" wide. The area is lighter in color and appears to have perhaps absorbed the stain into the wood more. Thinking back, we do not remember the sun providing a shadow at the time of application and actually believe it was cloudy at that point. I am wondering if the sun had just heated up the deck at this point with the exception of where the top railing was shading the wood? Can you help me with an explanation as this pattern certainly was not showing during the application and obviously is not from the stain being applied differently in this area.
And if I have experienced differences in the penetration of the stain due to temperature, am I destined for problems such as future peeling? Again, I was careful to not overapply and there was no pooling and I have a slightly tacky surface 24-hours after applying.
Lastly, I am assuming with this cedar deck (11-months seasoned), that I do not need to apply a second coat of semi-transparent stain as might be needed with a solid stain.
Thank you for your thoughts on this.
-Joe

Is there a measurement for how much square footage is recommended per gallon?I have a pretty small deck (177.5 sq ft) and want to make sure 1 gallon of stain is enough

What is the self life of the semi-transparent dark walnut?   I think an unopened 5 gallon can has been in my garage for 3 years.  

Can different colors be mixed? I'd like something between the cottage grey and cedar.

I would like to stain a pressure-treated pine covered-porch floor that is about 10 years old and has never had any stain or paint. It has only been weathered by blown-in rain and snow, and hosed off on rare occasions. Would it be considered to be weathered from that after 10 years, or still pretty-much new wood? What should we do to prepare it, and how many coats of the semi-transparent stain should we apply?

after first coat seems to be some tacky spots will this go way with the summer sun and hot weather?

For a an old deck pressure treated deck (30+ years), do you suggest brushing or spraying as the way to achieve best results?

What is best way to remove the semi transparent stain from the vinyl siding? It has only a few days.The system work great just need to finish a couple of hard to reach spots, very happy so far!thanks

Can Bug Juice be added to the semi-transparent stain with affecting its performance?

We applied both the RAD cleaner and brighter to a 600 SQ’ cedar deck that was new 10-months ago. We have not yet applied the RAD light walnut semi-transparent stain.
We maintained a wet surface during the application of the cleaner and scrubbed with a hard bristle brush. We worked the surface till the white/grey oxidation appeared gone.
The area was thoroughly hosed off and the brightner was applied and also thoroughly hosed off. All directions were followed exactly as stated.
The following morning after checking the dried deck you still see spots of white/grey especially around knots. The look is very consistent throughout the entire deck.
Before applying the stain, do we need to reapply the cleaner/brighter to remove additional oxidation? Or will the light walnut semi-transparent stain provide a consistent coverage?
Thank you for your help!

DOES CYPRESS RAILING & CEDAR DECK LOOK GOOD TOGETHER OR BROWN OAK RAILING BETTER

How long does this stain last in caribbean rainy season type weather? Full sun and rain for 7 months. 

On about 1/3 of the boards on my upper deck, I sanded off the old stain down to bare would.  After seeing how much work that was, I used the RAD Stripper,  followed up with the RAD Brightener.  I followed all the instructions, including "flooding for 30 minutes,"  using a pressure washer.  After that dried, I also sanded the entire surface using a 60 Grit Belt Sander & 60 Grit orbital.   I applied Light Walnut semi transparent to the entire deck, using "wet on wet" for two coats.  On the section where I did not use the RAD Stripper & Brightener,  the results were great (see photo).  On the section where RAD was Stripper & Brightener were used, I have a "chalk" like presence on the wood surface (see photos).
What's strange is that not all of the boards that were treated with RAD Stripper & Brightener (see photo) were effected in this manner.

What do I do now?

HI i have roughly a 1415 sq ft deck to stain. old stain was oil and should come off easy since most of the deck is in the sun and is faded. How much stain est.  would i need? there is no railings. Thank you

I live in Northeast Ohio in the "snow belt."  6 years ago, I used Sickkens oil based semi-transparent on my pressure treated deck.  I used Olympic Premier Deck Cleaner with a pressure washer which removed about 90% of the finish.  I sanded the entire deck with an orbital sander using 60 grit, which further removed the remaining finish.  The boards look clean and ready to be refinished. 
I'd like to use the Restore, water based light walnut.  Is there anything else I need to do at this point?

Will you be adding a redwood color to your RAD semi-transparent stain?

How do I apply the stain? Will paint brushes work? Or rollers?

I need a little advice and a pep talk on tackling the stain application on my 16' square pergola. I'm working alone and it took me 25 hours to strip and brighten it and, while it isn't perfect, by golly I'm calling Steps 1 and 2 done. According to RAD stain directions, I need to do verticals first (one coat), then horizontals (two coats), and make sure to finish the entire length of each board while the stain is still wet. First of all, isn't pretty much everything here a vertical, except for the tops of the upper boards and the lower surface of the detailing around the sides? Second, with all of the crisscrossed boards I've got, standing on a tall ladder, climbing up and down between the rafters, should I be working from the top down, or the bottom up? Whichever direction, should I do all one layer at a time? E.g. if top down, then do all the narrow top boards first, then the 2 x 10 rafters, then the sides and detailing below that, then the posts? If I do topmost boards first, is it best to do all four surfaces at the same time, or wait and do the bottom surface when I'm doing the rafters just below them? Finally I'm not going to be able to keep the wood damp during the entire application process because I just won't be able to work fast enough. I've got a window of 3-4 hours in the morning before the sun hits it, and another 3 hours in the evening after the sun falls behind the house.

Applied stain on 12 month old wood. Used provided brush. I'm not sure why there are so many horizontal lines along the wood? I also have some spots where the stain dripped off the brush and apparently wasn't spread fast enough and spots are now visble. Also some areas (such as by stairs as pictured) are very dark compared to the rest of the deck. I spread the stain pretty quickly and what seemed to be evenly so I'm not sure why any of this happened. I was kind of running out of stain and maybe didn't apply enough. I'm hoping another coat can remedy these issues?