Cabot Stain review: Peeling problem 72

Another Cabot product failure complaint here...In 2012 we cleaned wood decking to prepare it for staining. It was cedar that had aged one year. We had our professional painting contractor apply one coat of Cabot Semi-Transparent Deck & Siding Stain (oil based), in Weathered Gray. Within a month it was wearing off from traffic to reveal raw wood. No water repellancy, water quit beading up after one rain. It did not even penetrate (it is called a penetrating stain by Cabot). By fall we had to recoat. By spring we had to recoat a second time. If someone spills something and you wipe it off with a paper towel the stain comes right off. Washing it with a hose would remove the stain. Total product failure. The deck will have to be cleaned and recoated with a different (non Cabot) product.

Just stained my deck with cabot semi-transparent "bark", It dried very unevenly and looks a mess. The deck was fully prepped before use and instructions were follwed. What was worse was the demeaning nasty response I got when I called the phone help line! Now I am really worried that there will be no resolve and still unsure if I can fix it in any way. I have used cabot stains in the past with good results. My local hard ware store says to dicuss "fallout" of the stain, but the rep would not even comment on this. Any ideas what fallout is? I guess I can cover with a solid stain to try and fix the mess but the rep said not for at least a year!~

CABOT SUCKS - HAD NUMEROUS PROBLEMS WITH HONEY TEAK TIMBER OIL
CABOT WOULD DO NOTHING WASTED ALMOST $500 ON STAIN
SCREW CABOT

I bought several cans of Cabots Red Oak stain since I loved the colour and when I went today to try and buy another can from Lowes to finish up the job on my kitchen cabinets, they wouldn't sell it to me since there has been a "recall" on the product. Now I have half of my cabinets done with this red oak stain and can't buy another can to finish the job. What do I do now?

Consumer beware! I guess the "greed demon" got to this Cabot Company. I wanted to re-stain deck only. Not everything needed it. Found out they "changed their product". This new product is awful. I don't know if counter people mix wrong color or what, but it is at least 4 shades different than the previous one I used. Product is like water...does not cover scraped areas, streaked and every brush stroke shows. Horrible, Horrible...I wasted so much time and money. My deck and gezebo look awful now. All the railings and everything needs to be repainted. I am so exhausted I cannot do it again, now I have to pay over a thousand dollars to use a contractor. Do Not Buy Decking Stain.

New cedar deck stained with Cabot Semi-Transparent in the color called "New Cedar". Applied multiple coats to dry wood per product directions. One year later stain is peeling away. This product is a waste of money.

I have same problem with Cabots, I used on cedar deck and it peeled off. I ended up having to sand the whole deck and using Superdeck that worked wonderful. Cabots rep said they would reimburse me and I never heard a thing since. I contacted them about the reimbursement and nothing was ever done. They told me I put too much on, I did not.
I will never use Cabots again.

I just dropped a quart of Cabot stain because while wearing Nitrile gloves the least little bit of stain on the outside of the can wrapper causes the can to be slippery as oil on poly, really bad design to put a poly wrapper on the can. I will never touch the stuff again..

I totally disagree. You either applied the stain to a dirty surface or the surface was wet or you bought the stain from ebay where they can scam you. They can sell you a stain under cabot name but they fill the gallons with junk.
I have applied the cabot cedar 3002 to my ceday siding 4 yrs ago and it still beads and it never peeled. You need to prep the surface and not stain like a newbee.

Cabot was bought by a company called Valspar in mid 2006. Valspar has closed the original Cabot manufacturing locations, cheapened the product and make it in their larger factories. They don't even test their formulation changes. The product sucks: the only thing original is the Cabot logo. Once proud company destroyed by a larger greedy corporation. Pisses me off as I spent many years working for that company.

This is the second time I had a problem with this product. First time I will admit I didn't prep the surface with the Cabot's primer but second time I followed the Cabot's reps instructions to the tee. I sanded off all the stain on the flat deck surface, which was very difficult due to its size, over 785 sq ft. This year after the snow melted I am now left with a peeled up painted deck surface just like the one a year ago. Sure looks like there is a problem with the stain and not the application. I don't think I could call a Cabot's rep now as I'm not sure how I would respond to someone trying to tell me it was a "bad application of the product".
Now what?
Thanks Cabot!

I too followed ALL directions...Our deck looked great last summer and fall... This spring when the snow melted so did the stain ..Not one board is unaffected! I called Cabot- The Valspar rep is coming tomorrow... I was planting containers yesterday and some dirt spilled on the deck., I got the hose to wash it off AND it peeled more stain off also ... The stain just flaked off... I guess the power washer will do a great job on removing the rest.. . No one has walked on our deck since last fall ..Imagine the damage a snow shovel or scraper would have done...I would have felt that I had caused this mess !

I need help! I painted half a wall of exterior brand new cedar shingles with the Cabot Wood Toned Deck & Siding 9200 Natural, only to find out stores don't sell this any more. The new water-based hybrid doesn't match in tone. What do I do, now?

Please any information would be greatly appreciated. Can some stains be mixed to match the tone. I'm half way up a side wall of the house.

Thank you.

Ray in Boston, MA

I followed all prep directions last Aug. before applying the stain. After a few days the deck on my home had white streaks on it. I tried covering the white streaks with another coat of stain to no avail. After a winter of snow the deck really looks awful. I don't know what to do since VALSPAR won't acknowledge the problem. I have used Cabot products for years in the past and never had a problem. I will NEVER use another Cabot or Valspar product again and I have already vigorously discouraged 2 people from using their products. I'm on a new quest.

My father had kept a can of the Cabot stain he had originally used when he built his house in 1981. When the house was re-stained that is what my mother had the painter use again. When I inherited the house after my mom died I gave the can to the painters who were going to stain the house for me. Almost immediately the finish on the South and East sides of the house cracked and peeled, it looks like the house has been neglected for years. Most of the stain - and surface of the wood can be peeled off with my fingers. After reading all the reviews about Cabot stain I am at a loss as to what to do, I surely didn't expect to have to spend thousands of dollars to have the house stained again so soon (not to mention sanded to remove all the peeling satin).

I recently inquired about the Cabot Deck Correct to use on my covered porch and pool deck. After reading the complaints I will not be using Cabot products but will inquire about other products. Any suggestions?

I spent the summer taking my deck down to bare wood. Today it was finally time for the stain. I did my homework so I knew an oil based semi-transparent stain was the right product for the effect I wanted. The local hardware recommended Cabot oil based semi-transparent deck and siding stain. I got it in gray to match my siding and hopefully give the deck a natural weathered look as well. The product was thin and runny as you would expect with an oil stain. It spread easily and looked good going on. Unfortunately, that's all the good I can say about it.

The problem is Cabot's semi-transparent is a little TOO transparent. When it dries, the color all but disappears. In fact there is so little pigment in this product that the effect is more like a wash than a stain, but it's even too thin to be considered a wash.

A semi-transparent stain is supposed to let the underlying grain show through but this product lets the underlying COLOR show through as well. So now I have what looks like dirty yellow pine. It's not at all attractive.

Another problem with not having enough pigment in the stain is brush marks. You can minimize brush marks with various techniques but you can't eliminate them entirely. With this product, the places where brush strokes overlapped are darker than the rest. So the finish looks sloppy and uneven. Everyone who looks at this deck is going to say it needs a second coat. But the instructions warn you NOT to apply a second coat. Apparently the first coat seals the wood preventing the second coat from penetrating so all you end up with is a sticky mess.

So after weeks of backbreaking prep in the hot summer sun my newly finished deck looks worse than when I started. Then I found this complaint board. Wish I had seen this first.

I am a professional painter of 25 years. My customer wanted to put another coat on an outdoor covered patio as it had been 3 years.The can says every 2-4 years to recoat. I gave a test in one area and it was fine so I continued on. After I finished the job I looked back over my work as A good painter does and I see that the stain has separated and I have dots of resin all over the place. I call cabots who wants pictures and a batch number so I send them what they ask for. The problem is I was told it wasn't prepped right, till I reminded them I have 25 years experience and that I have done over 75 decks and have never had this problem before. Then they say that they tested the product from the same batch numbers I gave them (they must keep every batch on shelves I guess) and they said their test on raw wood showed not a product failure. Yet when I told them it wasn't the same test that they needed to put it on stained wood like I did to have a true test. I took a spare piece of wood and applied the old oil based stain on half and it takes perfectly, and on the other half I apply the new oil modified stain and watch it separate. Cabot offers me a good faith jesture of reimbursing me more product. after many calls and emails they up the good faith to $350, and after more calls the up it to $800 to say that it is half of the cost to fix the job. I sent them an estimate from my customer to replace all the ceiling boards and walls to the some of $7650. I wonder if I will hear back from them at all. Should have taken what they offered me but I am fighting for my customer and for customer quality.

Worst stain I have ever used. too hard to apply brand new dry deck and some places are very light some are darker and some are shiny. impossible to use. As I see it my only solution is to do another coat and have a shiny deck and who knows how it will wear. I used Pittsburgh stain before and wish I would have this time.

I used Cabot for years, exterior, on my house. Worked great, stuck like glue. In the fall last year I got some of their deck paint, same stuff, different color. It started peeling before the snow fell. I re-stained it and already it is falling off like water. I have yet to contact the company but after reading this, I doubt I will get any help! I will never use it again...sheesh $40 bucks a gallon down the drain!

I have used Cabot products for years and the last time I had my deck stained (7-14)...the results a year later are terrible . I (my contractor) used the Solid Stain-White...love the color, but the peeling is terrible this year. It is peeling so much that when I come back into the house there are pieces on my feet, so I'm finding white specks all over the entrance way from the deck. I hate to use the common..."..I'm a widow, on my own, living on a small income" but it is all true and it seems no one can help me or give us answers. I might add that my contractor has been in business for years so this is not from his lack of knowledge. This deck is a large one (18'x30') with a octagon of 12' so there is a lot of area with a big cost. I would appreciate Cabot contacting me to offer help. Gail @ gjkdcbesta@gmail.com. Thank you.
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We used numerous paint cans of Cabot Acrylic Paint Stain and it didn't last 6 months before it started peeling on the deck where nobody even walked on it. The stain on the fence that enclosed the pool and the whole fence, stairs were peeping within 6 months time. I called Cabot, sent them pictures and they had the nerve to tell me it was because of mold. Yea, there was mold, their stain didn't hold up. We lost several hundred dollars on stain cans, and many hours of time staining the fence, stairs, and deck. I will never buy from Cabot again. They wouldn't stick by their product and Lowes would not do anything either. If anybody is interested in seeing pictures taken over 2 years ago, I have plenty of them. Cabot needs to fix the problem, not blame it on something else. Their lack of a decent product caused the mold. The mold was not there when we stained the fence. It was better looking after we washed all the fence and deck than what it looks like now. These are just a few of what our fence and deck look like now that we stained our deck with Cabot Stain. They discuss me.

The Cabot solid color acrylic stain is the worst product we have ever used on a deck. If there is a slight crack in the board, it will peel. We put it on our deck because we liked the color Bark Mulch which went well with the brick on the house about 6 months ago and one month later started noticing peeling everywhere a board had a small crack. Deck was completely dried out for over 2 weeks before applied. We thought we made a mistake and should have done more sanding until our daughter had it put on her deck about 2 weeks ago by professionals who cleaned and sanded then primed and stained with same product and hers started peeling 2 weeks after application by all the small cracks in boards. Deck guys said they had been doing for 25 years and are coming back to look at it tomorrow. This product is awful. My husband and I have stained 4 or more existing decks on previous homes and have never had this happen before.

New post to old thread. Two year old deck that had Cabot semi transparent deck and siding stain applied. It peeled and faded terribly. We figured application issues. New wood, not cleaned, applied in direct sun. We sanded entire 2400 sq ft deck. Applied same Cabot semi transparent deck stain. On clean dry sanded wood. Only when deck was cool, not in direct sun. Rolled then back brushed. Within days it looks faded and blotchy. After a rain the remaining stain washed right off. Supposedly Cabot was a good product. No longer. We are very disappointed. We spent many hours on hands and knees sanding to ensure new stain would take and last. Cabot is a horrible product!

I completed rebuilt my deck and wait six months to make sure the treated wood had cured and cleaned the deck before applying the stain, six months later it is peeling all over. I used about five gallons of this stain and will have to do the entire deck over. I called Cabot and he want to know if I did a splash test, unreal, never had this issue happen before with any kind of stain.

I’ve been a painter for around 15 years. I’ve used Cabot oil based solid stain around 4-5 times.

Each one has failed within a year. One failed within six months.

I know my prep work was on point. Power washed, sanded etc. one deck was a year old and bare.

This product has cost me thousands in rework (as that I warranty my work for a year).

From now on I’m sticking with benjamin Moore arbor coat. Easier to recoat and a lot less application work.

Seriously considering suing Cabot for the rework due to their garbage product.

Stained new deck (aged 6month) with Solid Color Acrylice Stain & Sealer last year, now has many spots where peeled off stain and look very poor overall.

Photos attached.

Purchased on 10/22/21 (but painted early spring 2022)

Ps: Talked someone today but did not see the email that was said to come.

I stained my deck - new deck which I did allow to sit before staining - last summer and it is all peeling off. Bought from lowes