Cabot's Deck & Exterior Stain Oil Based

Oil based – I think the problem is people are clicking on oil-based and then the photo comes up water-based. The water-based product is like paint and not good but the oil-based product is so amazing I’ve used it everywhere in my house I’ve used both the charcoal and silver Beech. Amazing results Two years later one remote again amazing results Make sure you use the Oil based product Show details ·  1

Works for me – There was a tin of Cabots oil based deck stain in the garage when we bought the house over 12 years ago so that's what I used and have done ever since, totally oblivious of the poor product reviews, up until now that is so decided to document my findings with the current recoat. Cabots stain does colour the decking but that's a personal thing,… Read more ·  1

like it or don't like it - but I wish to state my experience with the product's supposed non curing stickiness. I have just now applied Cabots to 26m3 of deck, last recoated 3 years ago. Preparation consisted of water blasting followed by a quick scrub with their deck cleaning product and then another water blast at lower pressure in line with instructions on the bottle. First coat of stain was applied to a completely dry deck the following day, temperature 26°C, 72% relative humidity, clear skies. Second coat the next day, 22°C, 90% relative humidity, skies partly overcast. In both instances I applied full rich coats and by way of experimentation, very heavily in one small area. Wife saw it and accused me of putting it on with a shovel. Each coat was completely dry in 24 hours with none of the stickiness reported in other reviews. This of course is longer than water based coatings and longer than polyurethane based enamels but exactly in line with traditional oil based enamel paints. This has been my experience with the three preceding recoats of my deck. I followed all instructions relating to the use of the deck cleaner and stain to the letter. I am a bit pedantic about these things. Since my review is favorable and contrary to most, allow me to state that I have no association with Cabots or any related industry. Before retiring I worked in the emergency medicine field if anybody wants to know.

How do you guys sell stsin – Same problem as all the other customers deck took to long to dry and colour was to Orange I will never use this product again like most of your reviewers just want to know is anyone at all happy with your products. Show details

Looks like cheap paint, not stain!!! – I selected a nice dark brown coloured stain from the sample at Bunnings, and it turned out looking like orange paint instead. It completely hides the grain of the timber. I called the helpline and was told that I must not have mixed it properly. I mixed it very thoroughly, and had another go on a scrap piece of timber.... and no difference. Its an… Read more

awful product and has destroyed the look of our deck. We are now sanding it all off and starting again with Feast Watson stain. Im never touching Cabots products again!

Paint, not a wood stain – This is definatelly not a wood stain, it is more like an acrylic paint, it completely hides all the grain in the wood. This product should be removed from the shelves or advertised as a paint,not a wood stain.

Ugly deck - thank goodness for the Karcher!!! – I purchased a big tin of ‘beach house grey’ and even though I stirred it thoroughly (this is not my first rodeo), the colour was different ranging from opaque white to barely there. I did four boards, panicked then washed it all off with the Karsher. My deck is still ugly and I’ve wasted money, time and materials. Sad face.

1 colour chart - yet 2 different colours in sample pots!! – Horrible. New treated pine deck ruined. Sampled the water based ‘ebony’ colour. Purchased the oil based ebony which is on ONE colour chart & it is completely different. Brown is now Red! Devastated our new deck on our new renovation ruined. All our savings poured into our reno! Shame on you Cabot. Look at ALL the reviews. Do something.  Show details

First time user!! – I decided to use this product after reading the can at my local hardware store. Now less then one year later my deck looks terrible. Cabot needs to stop selling this product. I have now read many reviews on line an if I had read them before I purchased this product, then I would have known how many people had tried this stain and were dissatisfied with it. Do not buy this product.  Show details

We ask for Dulux but Bunnings sold us Cabot’s as they didn’t have the one we wanted – Similar problems , they Bunnings sold us Cabot’s deck paint asked for dulux but they said there was a special Cabot’s which would give the same finish and colour on our new treated pine deck the Cabot paint turned out which we will have to darken somehow so we are disappointed both in Cabot’s and Bunnings  Show details

Awful – For the last five years I have annually cleaned and applied merbau stain to my hardwood decks. I've used a number of different brands and found them to have a consistent darkish colour. This year I bought cabots and was horrified to see what looks like an orange paint finish. I went and bought another brand for the second coat to try and cover it… Read more

up but it has barely made a difference. Can't believe how terrible it is. Not sure what to do now but thinking i will prob have to sand it off.

Looks like plastic, waxy, dirty paint – We followed all the instructions on the website and given to us by Bunnings. We needed a lot more product than we were told we would. Our new pine deck now looks like a plastic painted surface. We have been told it was our fault for not preparing the timber correctly but we followed and the instructions and spent a lot of money on Cabots products. It might as well be painted with house paint.  Show details

If I wanted orange I would have gone to fruit market – Biggest load of crap I have ever used. Looked like it was painted with a mixture of tangerines and oranges. Not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not happy.! Been re doing decks for 20 years and this is the first time using Cabots. Never again.  Show details

misleading advice on merbau stain – The advice on the can stated that 1 litre would cover 10 square m of deck. So 8 litres would do our 80m deck. Not so. It took 36 litres and $650 worth and 4 trips to the hardware store for more deck stain. Way too much and way more than i wanted to spend. More than four times more. It was easy enough to apply but required constant mixing and… Read more

stirring even during application and did not leave an even colour on the deck due to its uneven absorption rate and inability to mix well. Even with constant stirring there were still blobs of stain left on the bottom of the can which had not mixed with the oil. Phone calls and email with photos to customer service were unsuccessful- they told us we were doing it wrong (we have 80 years of experience in painting between us!)-- that we had 2 decks-- that our deck was on upside down--it hadn't been prepared properly--none of which is true.

worst result ever in my 40 years of house restorations.

Cabots Oil Based Merbau Stain Utter Rubbish – $22,000 worth of decking. Follow instructions to the tee. End result? Worst looking deck of all time. Orange in colour, what looks like dirt underneath. One ruined deck and now $1800 to strip the deck back by sanding. Do yourself a favour never ever by a cabots product. Bunnings of no help......Advice but no care once the product is out the door. Vcat time. Product does not do what it is supposed to..  Show details

Be Careful What Product You Choose – Made the same mistake as some others have here. Spent $4000 on a new merbau fence and it was a thing of beauty. Let the sap leech out and wanted to protect it. Went to the Cabot's website where it clearly states that if you use a clear finish the wood will fade. So I chose the Deck and Exterior oil based product and I now have an ugly brown… Read more

fence. We hate it, we just hate it.

So I can't blame the product but I am annoyed at there being no real clear definition between keeping and enhancing the grain and completely obliterating it on your website.

There really should be a warning with each product that clearly states that this product will completely hide the wood you just paid for.

Now that the damage is done....

1 Will the brown fade eventually and allow the grain to be seen?

2 If not, how do I get this stuff off.....or can I get it off at all?

Merbau deck now ugly orange! – So angry at Cabots! We used "new Jarra" oil based stain on our merbau deck. We were told it would give a deep stain look. May as well have used pine and painted it bright orange. You can't even see any of the natural features of the timber anymore. 3 days later and still tacky. Will be re sanding and finding a better product. DO NOT USE!  Show details

Never dried and still tacky – I am not happy with the results of this product. The product did not dry for three days. I followed all instructions, and cleaned the deck using cabots deck cleaner. Water bead tested and it was fine as per cabots instructions. also dried for 24 hours in hot weather. It is easy to apply, but the product did not work as advertised. My deck… Read more

remained unusable for around 4 days. I have had a deck for some time, and never had any issues, and in all honesty have never even cleaned it properly, it seems as though i went over the top using the cabots deck cleaner and the results were much worse. I will discard the remaining 2 litres, and never purchase this product again. I wish I had seen all these reviews before i purchased this product.

Frustrating! – Easy to apply except for smell and clean up. Prepared deck (Indonesian Batu) as per Cabots instructions and using their deck clean first, deck mate recepticle and applicator, first coat took 5 days to dry and second coat is still sticky after 8 days. Will it ever dry and not remain sticky??? Cant return any furniture to deck or walk on it. Used… Read more

natural timber decking oil. Won't use this product again and will be returning product to Bunnings and asking for a refund.

Ruined our deck – Unfortunately we are in the same boat as most other people reviewing this product. Our deck looks ridiculous after using Cabots oil based deck stain. It is a mix of bright orange paint look and no uptake at all. It looked much better before we bothered to clean and stain it.

NEVER use this product - deck totally ruined – I bought the Cabot's Deck and Exterior oil based stain from Bunning in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand in January 2016. I washed the deck using cabots cleaning product and scrubbed thoroughly with a brush, let it soak in for 30 minutes and then washed off using a water blaster on low settings - all in accordance with instructions. I then let it dry… Read more

completely before applying Cabots oil based stain in the Cedar colour.

The completely ruined my deck!

The stain didn't properly seep into the wood in many places and stayed on top and created a paint like layer on top.

The colour bore no resemblance to the sample from the shop. It turned into a nasty RED/ochre colour and looked horrendous. I went back to the shop where I was lucky the representative from Dulux who owns Cabots was visiting. I discussed the issue with him and he stated: "The colour samples bear no resembling to actual colours!" They are aware of this! He also acknowledged that many others had experienced the same issue of the stain created a paint like layer on top of wood. This product should be removed from the shelves! It is terrible and has completely ruined my deck!

They suggested I gave a 2nd layer with another colour. I bought a sample (none offered) of the Black bean and did a sample of this. Again it didn't come out looking like the sample at all and was a lot darker and not to my liking. Also, this just further increased the paint like surface of deck which I would presume can't handle wear and tear at all as it sits on top of the deck.

I came back a week later to discuss options and the only options suggested is to completely sand down deck or alternatively rip it up and lay a new one.

$82 of stain totally ruined deck beyond repair!

Natural Kwila Utter Rubbish – I used this on my outdoor furniture because my regular stain was out of stock, BIG mistake. It is patchy and looks like a cross between some sort of cheap stain and paint and angered me to the point where i have sanded all the furniture back to wood & will be applying Wattyl Forestwood. Cabots is absolute rubbish, don't go near, you will regret it!!

$20,000 ruined for a least 8 months – We bought the merbau decking from bunnings,and were advised that Merbau on Merbau oil would come out the best,honestly we may as well of used an off black paint,no grain showing and the finish is flat and shines in places. This coating is dark brown and looks like crap. Thanks guys...

Be very careful - product needs constant stirring or colour sinks to bottom of can – Product was applied as stated on can, I stirred the product regularly but had a round a 30 min break. What a mistake. The section of decking after the break is a totally different colour! You must stir the product literally all the time... good luck! Also check out water based product - if the Bunnings person had told me I would have bought the… Read more

water based (rather than the oil based they sold me), Water is better quality, lasts longer, easier to clean up, faster drying and less smell!

Oil based version of this product is great – I've ruined many timber structures with water based products and then finally have used Cabot's deck and exterior stain (oil based) Beach house grey tinted to blackburn and applied it to a treated pine deck and have the result i wanted. It actually soaked into the timber rather than leaving a tacky film on top.

terrible product ripped off – Recently purchased 4lt can of Cabots Jarrah decking oil from Mitre 10 painted about 8sqm of lattice and a small picket fence used a full can, needed to buy another to finish job,given 1tr is supposed to do 10sqm i believed i have been ripped off and will be complaining to Cabots. The viscosity of the product is poor and when i opened the can thought i had purchased a can of dirty water. Even after stirring all the time the colour drys patchy.