My brothers and I will be prepping and staining our mother’s deck. It’s in Utah and gets plenty of snow. I don’t recall the species of wood (cedar?). They have a log exterior home and previously used Cabot products on the logs.

Any recommendations for the deck? The wood is in really good shape for being 20 years old. Boards are 2x6 and total square footage is 500-700.

Ideally it’s a product available at THD, Lowe’s, Ace or paint supplier. Not looking for the cheapest stuff, but don’t need the Rolls Royce either.

Is there a stain and sealer combo product?

Recommendation comes from a buddy that's done remodels for sky lodges in Colorado for 20 years.

Messmers UV Plus
http://www.messmers.com/messmers-uv-plus-deck-stain

I just put it on my deck and am quite happy. It runs like water when applying

My Dad's deck has both south and west exposure so it gets sun at the hottest times of the day. Dad is a retired autobody painter so he is meticulous on prep when it comes to painting anything.

Dad tried the well-reviewed Behr product and it failed after 1 year. Dad tried Cabot and it failed after 1 year. Dad got a recommendation from his buddy who has owned a commercial painting business for 40 years, and [can't remember the name] failed after 1 year. They all were looking pretty bad by August and winter finished them off.

He said bleep it and if I'm going to have to do it every spring then I'm not going to buy the expensive crap any more. He put on Olympic waterguard transparent in spring '19 and it's looking so good he isn't planning to redo it next year either.

Make sure you use a wood cleaner and follow up with a wood brighter. I prefer oil based, semi transparent...has a little pigment to help with u v protection plus you still see the grain. I like the oil penetration into the wood vs water based latex that just lays on the surface.

I live 100 yards from Lake Michigan so snow is November to (sometimes through) May. After trying several different products I found Rymar, a company in Wisconsin. I had to restain after the first year, then waited three years and it still looked pretty decent. The stain is available from Sherwin Williams.