This article is far more than a product comparison. We at Sand & Stain have been using the Sherwin-Williams SuperDeck Transparent Penetrating Oil as the main product in our business for over 10 years. It’s a huge part of the reason we have been able to keep our #1 promise to our clients (also our slogan): Never Peel Again.

Suffice it to say, it came as a shock in the summer of 2020 that this exceptional product was reformulated without so much as a notice or warning. Not even the local Sherwin-Williams store managers knew this was being rolled out (at least not in any of my local Ontario or Quebec stores.) Staff simply re-ordered more product as normal, and in came the new SuperDeck. Aside from a brown strip on the bottom of the can and slightly difference literature (left vs right in pic below), it’s practically an unnoticeable difference.

Until you open the can…

We get calls for staining brand new decks, restoring old faded gray wood decks, and everything in between. Without question, the number one reason people seek help for their deck is out of sheer frustration that their deck peels every single year, no matter what they do, or who they call.

Some feel gypped for buying the most expensive product in the store only to see it fail after its first winter. Others are completely discouraged their deck is chipping after spending countless hours sanding it. Neither are wrong to feel this way. There are many reasons a deck can fail and you might have everything exactly right except for one piece of it.

The two biggest reasons a deck peels are…