This post was updated on May 1, 2024
2024 Behr Deckover, Olympic Rescue-It, Rust-Oleum Rock Solid Deck Restore News
We would love to hear from you if you have used the Behr Deckover, Rust-oleum Rock Solid (formerly Deck Restore), Olympic Rescue-it or any other Deck Resurface type stains. If you have any pictures of your experience with the Deck Resurface Stains, you can add them in the comment area with a detailed description of the product brand and your experience.
If selecting a Deck Resurface Stain, keep in mind that most users have had a bad experience with products from Home Depot and Lowes. While the majority of comments and user experiences reported are negative,  the Gulf Synthetics Deck Revive has been favorable.
Deck Resurface Stains like Behr Deckover, Olympic Rescue-It, Rust-Oleum Restore – Do They Work?
Homeowners are always looking for an alternative to a deck replacement. When wood is neglected, it can be expensive to have it restored or replaced. A few companies like Behr, Rust-Oleum, and Olympic to name a few, are selling a deck resurface product. They claim it is the smart alternative to deck replacement. It can be applied to wood surfaces such as decks, stairs, docks, composite decking, and more. So is it a good alternative or is it just a waste of time and money?
Deck Resurface products are basically similar to an extremely thick paint. They are designed to mask the wood and fill large cracks or voids. Deck resurfacer coatings will not show any wood grain. Please note that this product is far beyond conventional wood restoration.
Pros of Deck Resurface Products
The one plus that is being reported by deck restoration professionals is that these products have a very good UV rating. Even after several years, there is little sign of UV fading. This, however, is typical for most solid paint or stain because of the high volume of pigment.
Another benefit of using a deck resurface product is the wide range of colors to choose from. Being more like solid thick paint, these companies are able to offer consumers many color choices.
Cons of Deck Resurface Products
What tests are showing is that these products are prone to peeling despite what the manufacturers are claiming. With any film-forming product, peeling is always an issue. It still seems to stand true that anything subjected to the elements will not hold up for more than a couple of years.
Olympic Deck Rescue-It Peeling Photos
Another issue with the deck resurfacing products is that they create a whole host of maintenance and removal issues. With conventional wood restoration, the ease of maintenance using a wood stain is what helps the deck look so good for many years. It also allows you to easily remove the product if you want a different look. With deck resurfacing, maintenance is almost non-existent and good luck trying to remove such a thick heavy product. Basically, once the product is on the deck, you are stuck with it.
Rust-Oleum Rock Solid (Deck Restore) Peeling Photos
The cost per square foot for a deck resurface product is extremely expensive. This is mostly due to the poor coverage rate of these product(s). The average cost is around $1-2 per foot. This is astronomical compared to the more conventional wood restoration stains.
These products are also known to become very hot when exposed to direct sunlight. This can make the entire deck space too hot to enjoy or to walk on with bare feet.
So despite the manufacturers claiming the product lasts many years, we are hearing reports and seeing firsthand these products failing and peeling within 2 years. It is expensive to apply, has a horrible coverage rate, and is hot to the touch in direct sunlight.
Note:Â Class Action Lawsuit has been filed against Rust-Oleum Deck Restore 10x:Â Â See Here
Update Spring of 2024
Please read our article on Gulf Synthetics Deck Revive Review We believe this product has real value if looking for these product types that actually work.
Disgruntled Rust-Oleum Rock Solid (formerly Deck Restore) Customer on YouTube
If you have any questions or experience with these deck stain products, please post below
See Similar Product Reviews Here for:
Gulf Synthetics Deck Revive Review
Rust-Oleum Rock Solid/Deck Restore Review
Hi. Six years ago I covered our deck with Rust-oleum Restore 10x and have been relatively satisfied with it, but it’s a bit ragged in spots and there are a few very small areas (on the edges of the wood) where it has come off. Is there a way I can “restore” Restore. I don’t see the need to replace what I have, but it has reached the point where routine maintenance seems like a good idea. Any suggestions? Many thanks!
It will not blend if you spot applying. You would need to do a full redo.
Regarding the Rustoleum 20x deck resurfacer paint. Prior to using this product I tested a small amount on several types of substrates including plywood, dimensional lumber, galvanized sheet metal and several types of plastic. It fared poorly on the plastics and I found that it dried rather soft and chalky on the metal and could be peeled off the wood. So I mixed in 1/2 cup of waterproof wood glue with 10 litres this paint and then applied it as per the instructions. The results were quite different. It adhered well to all the products and had a very hard surface that could not be easily chipped or peeled. The paint was then applied to our worn and cracking wood deck in June of 2018. It is now September 2022 and the paint is still holding up well.
I have had Olympic rescue it on my deck for 3 years now. It’s finally starting to peel and I need to put another resurfacer down. I see you are a fan of the gulf synthetic product which I will try. How do I prep the deck that is now covered with Olympic rescue it. Can I pressure wash and paint right over it? Does it need to be peeled away and sanded?
Thanks
You should remove it but that may not be practical or easy to do. If you do not remove it fully, then your new coating will be at the mercy of the Olympic potentially failing under it.
I have a deck with red resurfacer over the top of it, just recently had an addition put on for the pool with the deck extended to meet the pool. Rather than sand the entire large deck could I just put a different darker color of deck paint over it?
Not paint but a Deck Resurface Coating like the Gulf should work: https://www.deckstainhelp.com/gulf-synthetics-deck-revive-review/
Can you use a deck stain over painted wood floors? What brand if so.
No.
I live in NW Arkansas. I’ve power washed my red cedar decks. A large job, 2 levels with wrap around decks.
Wood is in excellent condition and beautiful. I want to keep the natural color of the wood as much as possible with longevity.
What product would allow me the best results at a reasonable price?
Look at using one of these brands: https://www.deckstainhelp.com/the-5-best-deck-stain-reviews-and-ratings/
I have a question, we have a 20+ year old deck that is in rough shape but structurally sound. Even year or so we sand it down and re-stain it with a solid color stain (only because the wood is in such poor looking shape) but nothing seems to hold very long, it starts to peel and come off. We live in Washington state where the summers are hot and humid and the rest of the time its raining…alot!! Were just so frustrated with constantly painting and sanding the deck over and over again, I know it really needs to be completely replaced but its just not in the budget right now. Any recommendations on a paint/stain that will help restore the decks appearance yet last and not peel off? Thanks so much!
Post some pictures of the current condition.
So this is our decks current condition, obviously we still need to sand it down.
Pressure wash first, sand after. Try the Gulf Synthetics:
https://www.deckstainhelp.com/gulf-synthetics-deck-revive-photos/
I have a very large older deck that I just sanded down (removed Olympic mountain cedar stain) I never want to sand again. What would be my best option to keep it looking good? Thompson water seal? Could that be reapplied when needed without sanding?
Should I leave it bare and just use a cleaner when needed?
You want a penetrating stain that can be cleaned and reapplied as needed.
https://www.deckstainhelp.com/the-5-best-deck-stain-reviews-and-ratings/
We have new redwood posts (some wood still wet) and other areas on an open gazebo that has trex decking. We are in the Santa Cruz Mtns. in CA. Suggestions for these vertical surfaces? Semi transparent would show more wood beauty. South facing- so alot of sun. There is a l000 gallon tiled spa/hot tub in the center. Perserva Wood at the local paint store had a nice redwood and canyon brown color sample in the Premium Timber Oil. Just don’t want to make another mistake…
Looks at one of these brands:
https://www.deckstainhelp.com/the-5-best-deck-stain-reviews-and-ratings/
Ask a local painter. Santa Cruz has a lot of salt in the air and that means products that work well in other locations might not work well for you.
I’m in eastern Canada (milder than New England winters but very wet) and I have a 20 year old deck that is structurally sound but has some cracks and is very greyed. I tried the Behr Deckover 2 years ago in August and it peeled up the following spring. I put in a lot of prep time. Is it likely that I would have the same result with pretty much any similar product?
You would have to remove the Deck Over to fix this and then apply the Gulf Deck Revive coating.
Thanks for the amount of work that you have put in to these reviews and bringing attention to the Gulf products. I am seeing on other sites the Rust-Oleum 10x is known for peeling but the 20x seems to not. Do you have any experience with this?
All the Rust-oleum products peel.
I resurfaced my deck with Restore six years ago.95% of the deck is in great condition. Can i reapply another coat Restore with out stripping the old off?
You should be able to afetr pressure washing and using the primer first.
where is Restore available? I had good luck with it and this year I decided to sand the rough spots and repaint, using a can I had left over from four years ago. Now I need more and I found that it’s unavailable. Any suggestions? (It was Restore light duty in Timberline but I’d use the heavier Restore if I could get it.)
I have a 27 year old deck that is in poor shape (cracking and splinters) but structurally sound. Wondering if you think I should try the Gulf resurfacer or just replace the deck boards?
Gulf would work great for this.
We have an above ground wood pool deck in the sun 12 hrs a day in the summer we were wanting to put something to protect the deck but provide anti slip and resist splinters do you have any advice
Try the Gulf Synthetics: https://www.deckstainhelp.com/gulf-synthetics-deck-revive-review/
My son used cabot’s deck correct and it has done wonderful around his pool.
Gald it worked for him as it fails for a vast majority.
A few questions here:
How can I identify a stain as a penetrating stain vs a film forming stain? Products don’t exactly spell it out it seems.
What is a good opaque/solid color penetrating stain to use on an old badly weathered deck with a few new boards in as repair to have a uniform and non-peeling finish?
Is there such a thing as a solid color penetrating stain? My parents have this on their house siding and has been great. It’s been a “paint” that rolls on and does not peel but only fades. It was an opaque decking stain they bought in coffee color but they used it on their wood siding. I want that or something very similar but cannot identify what they have.
You cannot just identify by reading a label. It is more or less based on experience. There is no such thing as a penetrating solid stain, they are all film-forming.
What about Cabot semi soild stain? It has “deep penatrating oil” on the can.
It dries on top of the wood, does not fully soak in.
Thank you. I’ll go with one of your recommended semi transparents.
Let me start by saying that your website is amazing, and extraordinarily helpful. I wish we had found it a little earlier in our laborious process to revive our 16 x 12 deck. We need some assistance with figuring out what product to use on the deck. Our location is Northwest Michigan where we live at the eastern shore of a very large lake. The deck is exposed to direct sunlight from about noon until sunset year round as well as the usual rain, snow and humidity. It is 27 year old, wolmanized pine with many layers of stain, solid stain, and solid deck coverings, the last of which is Cabots Deck Correct (CDC) applied 2 years ago. It had failed in a few places (due likely to inadequate prep), so we thought we would simply scrape down those areas and reapply. It soon became evident more work was necessary so we: applied a cleaner, power washed, scraped, sanded with a belt sander, scraped more, power washed, etc. I’ve attached photos of the current status. A few places resist further sanding, some places the wood has small splits, but it’s in remarkably good condition. The question now is what to apply. We have read many of your articles, but still left wondering if we can apply a heavy solid stain, or if we have to use a deck resurface product. The TWP is interesting, but the deck and steps (210sf) will require ?3? kits and gallons of paint. We could have replaced the boards for less $$. So, what product would u recommend to give the heaviest coverage on the deck as u see it? Note: the boards closest to the door have CDC which is completely intact. The steps still need a bit of work. Lastly I should say we hope to change color to lighter shade. Thanks so much for your input and advice.
Sorry but you have no choice but to remove 100% at this point. Nothing will work over the DeckCorrect and last. Your other option would be to replace all the flooring. Once you remove/replace all, wait until Spring to clean/brighten the wood and paint the sides white again and then use a penetrating stain for the floors: https://www.deckstainhelp.com/the-5-best-deck-stain-reviews-and-ratings/
I live in Ireland. Where we live we expect rain 200 days a year but UV is less of an issue.
The leading brand for decking restorers and deck rescues is an English company called Ronseal. I haven’t come across the products such as Rust-oleum other than in reviews from your side of the Atlantic.
Ronseal deck rescue paint is very expensive at €65 for 5 litres. That’s about $60 for a US gallon. That’ll cover about 10 square metres with 2 coats. Our deck is 23 square metres so it costs about €120 ($140) a year to keep it in reasonable condition. We are pensioners, so this is a significant cost for us.
Decking in Ireland is always built with at least 300mm (1 foot) clearance from the ground to allow air to circulate. Nevertheless moisture seems to penetrate the wood from underneath and this is the cause of failure of the deck rescue paint.
How do you get the crap off the deck. A lot of it peeled but the rest wont come off. We’ve power washed, sanded….doesn’t work. This was the worst stuff ever…we wish we had never used it😣
You will have to power sand to remove.
We purchased a house in SC & the back deck has some splintering. Unfortunately due to the pandemic we were told we could not get any treated wood for a while to replace some of the boards. We were thinking of using the Cabot Deck Correct but now after reading some of the answers are quite unsure. The stain that is on the deck (the owner left some) is semi-transparent stain. Should we just use the semi transparent stain and then just have some of the boards replaced next year or should we use solid deck stain and not the semi-transparent. This is all new to us. We are native New Yorkers (NYC) and have a back yard sans a deck.
Thank you
Post pictures.
Are you owned and funded by gulf synthetics? Just curious, seems too one sided, No issues at all with gulf synthetics but all other similar brands are terrible? Hmmm
No, we do not own the Gulf products. Gemini Coatings does. They do not fund this site in any way. We do not get paid by anyone for the reviews of products.
I used Olympic Rescue It at my House that I sold in 2017 and it looks awesome. I used primer on the wood first even though it told me that I did not need to. I always use wood primer before painting ANYTHING. I could not be happier on the results. Wish I could find it to use on my current house. Its sad that so many people are complaining and therefore Lowes and Home Depot stopped selling it which is the only place in town that carried it. I love it.
I have used Rescue Ir paint not the stain on my island hone and it’s held up great now my River home dock needs to be rescued but not sure whose to use since Rescue It is not so available Most available is Behr-DeckOver and Cabot DeckCorrect
Whose is best for a dock and walk over to try and extend life of wood?????
https://www.deckstainhelp.com/gulf-synthetics-deck-revive-review-2015/
I covered older Trex decking that was in good shape but faded with Rust-oleum Restore Solid Stain 6 yrs ago. Accidently spilled paint on it and had to
repaint. Used Rust-oleum Rocksolid Solid Stain in a Cedartone Color. Looked great when finished but finding that I
am getting like black marking from shoe soles that doesn’t wash off. Any suggestions how I can get them off or if I have to recoat what type of sealer can I use to protect from happening again.
You can never top coat a deck stain with a sealer. Not sure about the black marks or on how to remove them. Post pictures.
What’s your experience been with Cabot deck over? Reviews and specs promise better results
Have you used it yourself? If you have a negative view of it, can you please explain why?
Thank you!
Do you mean Behr Deck Over? https://www.deckstainhelp.com/behr-deckover-review-2015/
It is horrible. Cabot Deck Correct is about the same.
Sorry, I meant Cabot Deck Correct
Used 7 years ago and is a horrible product, it held moisture underneath and caused premature wood rot. Cost me thousands of dollars to replace decking.
It’s absolutely the worst product and cost us a huge amount of money and it looks like shit!
DONT BUY IT! They don’t stand behind there product or warranty!!!
What product are you talking about here?
We started having problems with the Restored Paint that We on Our Deck one one year to another. It looks horrible, We think we will have to put a new floor on our deck. We tried to stripp the paint with a solution we bought at home depot but it is impossible to do it, We even bought a new power washer machine but it didn’t work either. We really don’t know what else to do. Very dissatisfied and disappointed with the purchase.
You will have to sand it off or replace the wood.
Is anybody know what to use to get this off
You will have to sand it off.