Normally, stain will lighten over time. Sun, rain, foot traffic all take their toll.Advice about staining a deck?
Like snowflakes, no two wood surfaces are ever identical so that could explain some of your discrepancies in color. Was your stain all from the same can? If you ever paint, stain, etc you should always intermix if you have multiple cans so that you ensure that all of the color will be uniform. The final possibility could be surface prep. Was the deck new? If it was treated, did you allow it enough time to dry before staining? If it was old, did you wash it before staining? If not it could have affected the penetration of the stain into the wood. To answer your other question, no, stain will not get darker over time, rather, it will get lighter. This can take a while depending on the quality of the stain you used.
Depending on the type of wood, its condition, and the grain, stain generally gets darker over time. Because a single wood plank naturally has different grain and porosity, it will take stain unevenly. That is what people say gives the deck ';character'; After a little weathering, the differences will minimize and you will be proud of how beautiful your deck looks.
Follow directions carefully, most applications say you should at least lightly sand all areas for even penetration. the color difference is between the summer and winter grains in the lumber; summer grain absorbs more stain then wither grain - talking about tree rings here. Quartered wood is best; it's where the rings run vertical. If gain runs horizontal you will get a variation that causes your specific problem. And it depends on what kind of stain you use; you may have used the wrong kind as needed for your application.
... as well as the fact that the wood probably was't from the exact same stock, so that could have played a part in it as well.
2 coats is always best.
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