View Previous TWP Restoration Contests
The TWP 2020 Spring/Summer Restoration Contest is closed!
Thanks to all the entered this year. Excellent job to all and we appreciate you entering our TWP staining contest for 2020!
We will contact the winners via their orders.
First Place
Sandra Obryant (Page 1)
First Place = $500 + 5 Gallon Pail of TWP Stain
Second Place
Sheryl McGuire (Page 4)
Second Place = $350 + 3 Gallons of TWP Stain
Third Place
Blue Ridge (Page 5)
Third Place = $200 + 2 Gallons of TWP Stain
Sorry for all that did not win the prizes. We were extremely impressed with all the feedback and entries this year!
The TWP 2020 Contest Details
- All TWP and Prep products must be purchased first from this online retail site (TWPStain.com) between January 1st – Sept 7th, 2020.
- The deadline for entry is Sept. 20th, 2020.
- The winner will be decided by Sept. 30th by our team.
Contestant winners will receive
- First Place = $500 + 5 Gallon Pail of TWP Stain of your choice!
- Second Place = $350 + 3 Gallons of TWP Stain of your choice!
- Third Place:= $200 + 2 Gallons of TWP Stain of your choice!
How To Enter Contest
- Enter by Sept. 20th, 2020.
- In the comment section below, post a short description of your deck/wood staining project, the products used to prep, and the TWP Series and Color used. Examples of wood projects that can be entered: Decks, Fences, Wood Side Homes, Log Cabins, etc.
- Add 2 before prepping pictures of the wood that was restored (no more/less). You can still enter if you do not have the before pictures. Decks, wood fences, wood homes, etc are allowed.
- 2 after staining pictures must be included (no more/less).
- If having trouble uploading the pictures, please make your picture(s) size smaller (below 1 MB).
Any questions or issues posting, please ask in the comment area.
We look forward to all entries and wish everyone “Happy TWP Staining”!
*Disclaimer: All products must be purchased from TWPStain.com. The contest is not open to products purchased from other online dealers or from physical retail stores.
The other two pictures didn’t post for some reason.
My deck is 30 years old and I ripped off the pressure treated boards and resurfaced it with 5/4″ cedar decking in the spring. I also replaced the wooden rails with a black aluminum rail system. I waited 4 months or so and then cleaned/brightened the surface with the TWP restore a deck kit. The cleaning process was a little more work that I was expecting but it cleaned up real nice. I used the 1501 Cedartone stain and it was very easy to apply. The only time consuming part was the cracks between the deck boards. The next application should go on a lot easier. The deck came out beautiful.
Additional
before and after photos.
We used TWP1504 black walnut to stain our deck. The deck was 3 years old with no stain. We had been dreading the task and kept putting it off. Twp was easy to apply and totally transformed the space. We wish we had done it sooner. Very happy with the product, application process, and outcome.
Before after a that didn’t upload
These are the other two pics that didn’t upload the first time
I had never stained anything before, so I did a lot of research to find a great product. I used 1500 series “natural” to refurbish a 15 year old wooden playground that we got from a neighbor. Prepped by power washing and sanding. We need to replace the beams for the swing, so this is just the first phase that has been complete.
Had trouble uploading my original 2 pics
This is a 30yr old deck that hasn’t had the best protection on it until I found TWP stains. I used 100 pro series honey tone 115 and it could not have come out any better. Easy to apply. Before Applying my new stain I had to sand away a solid stain that took forever. Once the sanding was completed I applied twp wood cleaner and brightener and it brought the wood back to life. The staining process was easier than expected and I could not be more satisfied with the end result.
Bonus picture that didn’t upload on the initial post.
Restoring a deck after a decade of neglect. Any time it rained, the entire deck became a slip ‘n slide liability from all of the algae that had built up. This is the first time I’ve been 100% satisfied with the result of a home improvement project. Zero regrets on choosing TWP. it was extremely easy to work with, $20-25 less per gallon compared to competing products, and the end result looks amazing.
Prep products: None as there is a garden and berry bushes downwind. Pressure washed once, then wire-brushed every square inch and pressure washed a second time.
TWP Series: 1511, California Redwood. I was surprised that I used over 4 gallons for a 400sqft deck. Glad I went with the 5 gallon pail!
OK, last of the four pictures
Other two pictures that didn’t come through with original post
Researched online for best stain that would protect our old porch wood. This was the only wood preservative + stain on the market. Used the 1500 series cedartone color, and the prep was power washing then the RAD stripper/brightener kit that came with the 5 gallon pack. We are honestly blown away with how nice it looks! We have had two different neighbors ask us what we used, because they love it. too. Will be buying more soon in a different tone to finish the wood trim all over the rest of the exterior of the house!
We just restored our deck, which started out looking pretty dismal! We used Thompson’s Heavy Duty Deck Cleaner, sanded the deck with a random orbital sander, and then stained the deck with TWP 201 Cedartone (brushed on). We did buy Restore-A-Deck, but I was impatient and used something else while it was was in transit (I can still use that product for our fence, which still needs to be done). We are very pleased with how the deck turned out – I love the colour!
My project is a boardwalk from my patio across a gully to the fire pit and also extending around the side of the house and up the slope to the front yard. I built the board walk in 2018 and stained it the first time in 2019. So this was a 2nd maintenance staining. I cleaned and brightened the wood with the 2 step Gemini Restore Kit then stained it with two colors, Black Walnut 1504 and Natural 1530. I used the Black Walnut to provide a visual contrast for the borders and also for the first board on the steps/platforms and the kick plates for the steps. Turned out really nice.
My deck is a 10 year old red cedar deck. I used an E-Z deck wash along with power washing before applying the TWP Cedartone 101 stain in June. When I first built the deck, I used a different stain for the first 4 years but I didn’t like the results over time. I discovered the TWP stain online and I stripped and sanded the deck in 2014. I have been very pleased with the Cedertone stain ever since.
Upon deciding what color and stain we wanted for our patio, we did a lot of research. TWP was our final choice just based on the quality of the stain. Our neighbors, friends and family are so impressed with the final product that we have been referring them all to the twp website. Here are some before and after pictures of our project
TWP 1500 series 1515 Honeytone Stain is by far the best and easiest product I ever used. My cabin was built in the summer of 2019. I let it weather for a year before applying stain. I used the wet on wet method and came out perfect. You can not see areas that you left off at. Very good blending. Since applying it has rained several times and the water beads off great. I would definitely recommend to friends and neighbors. AAA+ product.
Thank you for explaining which method, stain and how product was to work with. We just ordered an Amish-built log home and know will have a similar project happening in the future. The Amish builder said they use TWP so glad to hear from someone else who is not a builder! Good luck with the contest and living in such a wonderful home.
Can’t seem to put photos in order, keep them oriented properly or put four together! I give up!
This is a 900 square foot Western Red Cedar deck that is 30 years old and was painted with a failing solid stain. Lots of weathering and much mildew. Most said “tear it down” but I saw it differently.
I first set all nails that were proud to the deck then lightly power washed followed by sanding to bare wood with a 12×18 rental orbital floor sander to a 60 grit finish. Then the Restore A Deck Cleaner/Brightener product was used as directed. After 48 hours of drying, I stained the deck with TWP 100 series Rustic using the wet-on-wet technique.
I couldn’t be happier and impressed with the results. Future maintenance coats will now be a breeze which is the reason I went with this product. Looking forward to this deck’s next 30 years!
TWP Stain is by far the best and easiest product I ever used. My cabin was built in the summer of 2019. I let it weather for a year before applying stain. I used the wet on wet method and came out perfect. You can not see areas that you left off at. Very good blending. Since applying it has rained several times and the water beads off great. I would definitely recommend to friends and neighbors. AAA+ product.
The other 2 picture didn’t upload. Here they are…
After 20 years it was time for an upgrade and we decided to use TWP 200 California Cedar on our wood siding. Because cost was a huge factor with family medical bills, we had to keep this project as inexpensive as possible. We opted for a cheaper oxgenated cleaner (which we admit did not work that well and should have used TWP prep products), applied with pump sprayer, let it soak in for 30-60 minutes, then pressure washed the whole house. This was not easy on a 26 ft. step ladder, but was accomplished after some time and effort.
Application was done with a 6″ brush. I initially tried using the sprayer, but liked that more stain was being absorbed using the brush. It also gave a cleaner application as there was overspray onto the trim at times. I didn’t feel like masking off everything. It took time with 3 of us working, but I think it turned out very nice. And…. my wife is the happiest of all!
Here is the before photo that didn’t show up when I posted…
A few years ago, we bought a house with a 12 year old cedar, neglected, play set. My kids turned 2 and 3 this summer, so they really started taking an interest in playing on it. It was gross! Going into COVID lockdown, I knew it was my time to make it look new! I started by power washing, scrubbing with a little bleach, a little sanding, replacing a few rotten boards, and painting the plastic pieces. I brushed two coats of TWP Series 100 in Cedartone 101. My kids now love it, and everyone thinks it is brand new! Neighbors never noticed it before in its gray state, and now they see it though the trees and ask if we just bought the kids a new play set!
I used Restore A Deck Stripper/Brightener Kit and used a garden hose to wash. Used TWP 1530 natural stain. I didn’t take a before photo, but we are impressed with the outcome as we are doing it for the first time and apply some of the learnings next time. Also thanks to TWP Customer service for sending a replacement (next day delivery) of the Stripper Brightener kit as the original pack was damaged.
It had been over 15 years since this deck was last stained and that was with a solid color stain. Stripped, some sanding and power washing took most of the old stain off, though we were unable to get all of it. Used TWP 1500 series Cedartone for the floor to add glossy, rich protection to an over 30 year old deck that needed some love. Warm cedar-tone color added nice contrast to the cream colored home and green deck railing.
Deck Beautiful!!! TWP 1504 Black Walnut absolutely the best!!!looks absolutely awesome! Repels water better than a great car wax. Never worry about ever peeling in spite of harsh Wisconsin winters!
Deck Beautification project. TWP 1504 Black Walnut absolutely the BEST!!! Looks absolutely awesome! Repels water better than a great car wax! Don’t have to worry about peeling even in harsh Wisconsin winters.
We have a 3-year old pressure-treated pine deck (1000 sq feet). After stripping and brightening it, we used an Osborn brush (80 grit, nylon and silicon carbide bristles) with a DeWalt polisher (12 amp) to smooth out the surface (with an air filtration mask). We then applied two coats (wet on wet) of TWP Natural 1500 series stain (#1530) using the yellow deck floor staining push brush and a Wooster 4″ brush. The TWP stain went on remarkably easily, spread evenly, had superb coverage (about 300+ sq feet per gallon), and cleaned up very quickly with mineral spirits. We combined the TWP stain with the Bug juice as well. Since it yielded great results, my wife and I definitely intend to use TWP stain again. We are very pleased with the results and it made the entire deck project worthwhile! Thank you TWP for making excellent products!
Restored our three decks using black walnut and honey gold both of which are from the 500 series. I did however run out of the honey gold stain for the floor of our lower deck.
Restored a 15 years old deck used 1500 natural clear stain
Second picture
Twp 1500 rustic. First time using the product. Easy 2 coat application the the whole family got in on. It’s on a 300 sq ft 30 year old deck in northern climate.
First off this isn’t no small cedar deck, close to 900 square feet and about five years old now and this is the second time I have stripped/stained the deck with TWP products. Both times I choose the 1500 series stain in the 1501 cedar tone color, which really makes the cedar wood really stand out, especially when the sun hits it. So I spent this summer using the RAD stripper/brightner kit and purchased five gallons of the mentioned cedar tone stain. Used a combination of a sprayer, brush and pad for the staining process over a series of weekends. Will use TWP products once again when the time comes.
This is the finished stain project on our cabin in southern Oregon! We’ve received so many compliments and questions on the brand and color!!! This is the second coat (2 years after the first total prep and stain) using TWP series 5 in Rustic 1516. Truly excellent product.
We had our front porch and back deck rebuilt and expanded six years ago. We had them professionally cleaned and stained in the past with TWP products and were happy with the results. This time we did it ourselves. Our deck gets hit with intense sun, rain, and snow and gets heavy use from kids and pets. We used the Gemini Restore-a-Deck kit but found that we needed to do some stripping to remove some particularly dirty areas and patches of old stain. We sanded down rough patches by hand and followed with TWP Cedartone 1501 stain. It was a multi-day project but the stain was easy to apply and we are thrilled with how it turned out!
We built a brand new redwood fence around our front yard at the beginning of the year. We were unsure what color we wanted to go with, but we knew we had to wait and allow the wood to age before we could stain. As it began to age, we fell in love with the way the wood looked realized that we wanted to match those colors as much as possible.
Ended up choosing TWP 1530, for the way it let the golden tone through but still had the red undertones. Used Gemini cleaner and brightener first on the last week of August, and then stained September 3-4, one coat and then wiped dry after about 20 minutes. Our goal was to start early in the morning and finish before the heat set in here in California, and we succeeded.
The color difference between the cleaned and brightened wood, and the stained wood, can be seen in the “North After” photo, where we stopped at the end of the first day.
1505 walnut on new garage with pine and cedar siding
We built a new cedar shed last fall and through research it seemed best to leave the wood to weather a little. So it sat through the harsh canadian winter, spring and then into the summer. It had started to whiten (even worse than the spring photo shows). We decided on the TWP 200 Series as it is allowed in Canada and we had seen so many failed stain projects around our neighborhood. We feel confident it will stand up to the weathering after we saw the deckstainhelp.com’s trials. The roof was tricky to access and so it is paramount that we do not need to stain this often!
To prep for stain we lightly sprayed the Gemini Wood Cleaner on with a pump sprayer purchased at Amazon, let it sit, then pressure washed it off. We saw the grunge come off and the white disappearing. We didn’t sand, and let it dry for a couple of days. It had dried to less than 18 on the humidity monitor so we proceeded to stain. We stained on Aug 17-19. The stain went on very well and was easy to work with. The Cedartone 201 was quite dark at first but is lightening up in the past 2.5 weeks. We look forward to finishing the rest of our yard and will be purchasing more TWP in the future.
After picture
New fence project for front and back of house. Fence material used was cedar deck boards which were white looking but TWP product 101 cedar tone was used and instantly enriched the look. We get complements constantly by people passing by.
New fence project for front and back of house. Fence material used was cedar deck boards which were white looking but TWP product 101 cedar tone was used and instantly enriched the look. We get complements constantly by people passing by.
Bought a fix n flop house back in October, on top of hundreds of other issues there was an unstained deck getting sun damaged for who knows how long.
I used the cleaner and brightener then applied 1500 series walnut wet on wet on it.
it worked great!
More pictures
1500 cedar tone on deck and 1500 walnut on railing new pressure treated pine
2020 stain contest
Our garage has cedar siding and needed staining ,after researching available stains I decided to try TWP 1500. There was a lot of mildew so I ordered the kits with Gemini wood restore and brightener. We could not believe how much dirt and mold washed off the building. After 48 hours we started staining and applied two coats wet on wet TWP 1516 Rustic and the results were great. I had hoped to spray but it was just too windy, so we used a good stain brush, I had purchased the deck push brush and found it handy for going back and buffing areas such as knots that didn’t soak up all of the stain. We are very happy with the results, and all of the products and service we received. Attached 2 photos after cleaning and 2 of the fished job. Rod Peterson order # VCG4091323 July 2020
This is my second time using TWP stain. I had used it last year on my front deck and was so impressed I got another 5 gallons.
I used the TWP 200 series in Russet. A mixture of brown and red, some orange to it also. I used pressure treated deck boards that had been drying for a while so it absorbed very easily. I used the stain under the front deck and on my back deck. It came out really lovely against our dark siding. No prep other than making sure my boards were free of dirt.
Here’s the other before picture.
We finally decided to tackle our deck re-finishing project this year. In addition to re-staining, we removed part of the old deck and deck benches, and added some square footage with new hand-railings. It was originally stained 5 years ago with a solid deck stain, but has since been peeling like crazy. We did not want to re-stain with a solid state stain, so we went with TWP Rustic 116. We ended up having to sand the deck to remove all of the previous solid stain. We then used the Restore-a-Deck products to treat and wash the sanded wood prior to staining. Following the recommended drying period, we re-stained everything, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Thanks!