View Previous TWP Restoration Contests

2022 TWPStain.com Contest

2021 TWPStain.com Contest

2020 TWPStain.com Contest

2019 TWPStain.com Contest

2018 TWPStain.com Contest

2017 TWPStain.com Contest

TWP Contest BUTTON 2020 small

The TWP 2023 Contest Details

  • All TWP and Prep products must be purchased first from this online retail site (TWPStain.com) between January 1st - Sept 6th, 2023.
  • The deadline for entry is Sept. 19th, 2022.
  • The winner will be decided by Sept. 30th by our team.

Contestant winners will receive

  • First Place = $500
  • Second Place = $250
  • Third Place = $150

How To Enter Contest

  1. Enter by Sept. 19th, 2023.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 2 after staining pictures must be included (no more/less).
  5. 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.

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  • We will reply to your comment shortly
    Dave Chiovelli · 09/19/2023
    1000 square-foot deck on our cabin that was in need of staining because the wood was graying and faded quite badly since it had not been treated for quite a few years. We used the Gemini restore-a-deck two-step brightening process to condition the wood, and finished it in TWP dark oak stain (100 series). 
    The color turned out beautifully, a subtle red/brown, and the graining on the wood now looks amazing as you can see in the photos. The coverage was far better than I expected, we only needed one 5 gallon pail to do the entire deck and rails. 
    I was so impressed with using it that I will be using it for the fence of my house next spring. 
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    Tony Aguilar · 09/18/2023
    Welcome to our new back yard! We saved for a few years to make the deck we’ve always wanted to have. We went big at 42’x24’ making it a little over 1,000 Sq. Ft. of usable outdoor space that we didn’t have before (Pic 1). Being that it’s new, we used the recommendations on the TWP website for new wood decks. After letting the wood dry out and weather for some months, we used two kits of “Gemini’s Restore-A-Deck Cleaner and Brightener Kits” (Pic 2) and two five-gallon buckets of “TWP Semi-Solid Pro Series”. We ordered a handful of color samples from the website and decided to go with the color, Stonehenge. Although the big deck made it some long days of prep and staining, the products were top notch with great instructions that made application and the entire process quite easy (Pic 3). I’ll be sticking with TWP for the life of the deck! Now excuse me while I go have a margarita on my beautiful deck (Pic 4)! ?
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    Mikal Green · 09/18/2023
    TWP stain remover, wood brightened, then TWP redwood semi-transparent 1502. Deck is 3 years old started with latex, then stripped, then restrained. Looks much better!
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    Kirt · 09/17/2023
    I put the 1500 series Dark Oak on my new porch a couple years ago. I was supposed to let it weather/dry more but it still held up well. This round I prepared the porch with Restore-A-Deck and let it dry for 2 days. I brushed on the stain and did a double wet coat. The wood soaked up much more than 2 years ago. The porch looks great and certainly repels water!
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    Paige · 09/17/2023
    In early spring 23 we decided to re-stain the deck. Unfortunately I chose a honey Sherwin Williams stain, which my husband applied while I was gone. When I came home I almost cried!! The honey color turned out mustard colored, and did not absorb correctly, leaving bubbles in the stain. My husband and I spent hours sanding off the stain so we could retry with TWP California Cedar 205, the original color we put on the deck 8 years ago. The deck is back to being beautiful and looking like a natural wood deck. Now the stain repels the water and this California Cedar stain will keep my deck looking healthy for years. That is not a mistake I will make again!!
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    tom · 09/16/2023
    We bought our cabin in the Poconos (PA) about 7 years ago.  Found old jugs of Behr stain -- not sure how long ago the log cabin (pine) had been stained. A buddy of mine recommended TWP, as he had great success over many projects. We used TWP Stripper/Brightener Kit -- this stripper kit worked well to remove the old finish (was very dark in some places). After quite a bit of investigation (including my buddy's suggestions), we decided the 100 series TWP (chose cedar). After stripping (was the hard part), I applied the TWM with a garden sprayer, and back-brushed with a 3" (Amazon) brush, applied a second coat ("wet-on-wet") just after the first coat.  An amazing transformation took place (used about 8 gallons of TWP); great product!!
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    Barry Franzen · 09/13/2023
    2023 contest  Our property in the Florida Keys has about 1600 sq ft of docks, porches and stairs.  The previous owner had treated with Thompsons and Behr solid.  The docks were weathered and checked, we  "flipped" many of the boards, replacing some.  We used TWP Stripper/Brightener Kit,  stripper worked well to remove the old finish.  The challenge here is the intense sun, humidity and salt environment.  After much research, we decided the 100 series TWP was our best option. Decision slanted due to TWP specializes in stains not a paint company that by-the-way also has stain.  I wanted a penetrating stain with UV protection, not prone to peeling or flaking.  We treated with stripper where necessary, brightener and power washed.  The decking was so weathered, we sometimes had to wet on wet apply 3 times, wiped excess with micro fiber mop.  We used the 100 series Redwood initially, but too red.  Blended 2 parts redwood, 1 part cedar tone, 1 clear, and liked the resulting color.  Great transformation, curious to see how holds up in this environment.
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    Ron Cunningham · 09/12/2023
    Built a custom Barn Style workshop this year. Tested MANY stains. (TWP & others) The barn is ruff-cut solid oak, so there are not a lot of pictures out there for color comparison. Used the TWP sample program to test and compare stain colors. Tested both the 100 and 1500 series, and liked the TWP 1500 Series "Natural 1530" color the best. Application: Mild bleach prep & rinse. (newer wood) then sprayed 2 coats of the Natural 1530 wet on wet. I also added the Bug Juice (works very well and did not affect the color). My crew boss is very happy with how smooth the application went and most importantly my wife the "Real Boss" loves the color.   
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    Julie Marotto · 09/11/2023
    We live at New Jersey coastal area. Our Pine pressure treated wood deck is in full sun all day in summer. Last time deck was stained with TWP stain 5 years ago.This year we used again Gemini Restore-A-Deck kit and TWP 1500 Series stain Color Rustik1516.We are so pleased with TWP stains!Our deck looks beautiful and is so easy to maintain.
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    Steve & Janet Kelley · 09/11/2023
    We built a cypress wood horse barn from rough cut lumber. After the barn was built we pressure washed the wood and let the wood dry for two days. Next we used a airless sprayer to spray TWP 115 Pro Series Honeytone stain. We sprayed it with two coats total. The outcome turned out GREAT!
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    Fabio Jose Benez Secanho · 09/11/2023
    TWP 2023 Contest: My wife and I worked on our deck this spring. We didn't have any experience working with wood stain other than very small projects. First, we cleaned debris from the deck, then we pressure-washed it. After, we used sandpaper on all exposed wood surfaces. Finally, we used the “wet on wet” two-coat application technique to apply the TWP 100 Series (Dark Oak 103). It took us 60+ hours and we're very proud of the result! The pergola was particularly difficult, but we’ve got it! We encourage anyone reading this to consider staining your deck by yourself. It takes some time but it’s a fun family activity and really rewarding!
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    Troy · 09/10/2023
    I started this pavilion project a few months back. The lumber I chose is ash and I had everything cut to size at a local sawmill. I cut and notched ever piece and assembled it on the ground to make it easier when it came time to put it all together up in the air. Then I took it all apart and laid it out so I could stain it. I used 1503 Dark Oak on all the big beams, posts, and rafters. After assembling all of that, it came time for the tongue and groove ceiling. I used 8 inch wide pine and stained it using 1530 Natural on all of it. I think the two colors together turned out great. 
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    Debbi · 09/09/2023
    My deck is over 20 years old and I had a deck restore product on it before I started this TWP project. The previous product had started to crack in some areas so I decided to redo it with TWP DECK REVIVE. 
    The only way to remove my previous product coating was to hand scrape it off inch by inch. It waa a long tedious process which I even had to use a heat gun to soften and remove. 
    I began the restoration by applying Perma bond with a paint brush, I then mixed the Deck Revive together with Rustic paint and applied the first coat with a paint brush to fill in all the cracks and crevices.  My second coat was applied with a roller. It looks amazing after all the hard work I did by myself.
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    William Stevenson · 09/08/2023
    In 2022, we had a carport built for our van. Most of it was built with treated yellow pine. We chose to have the frame of the carport painted grey to match the trim on our house and wanted the privacy fence around it stained. We ordered 6 samples of TWP in the 1500 series and ended up choosing Rustic (1516) because of the nice reddish color it produced on the pine boards. The lumber was kiln dried, but I still waited 5 months for the wood moisture to be in the 10-12% range. As the instructions said, I first used the cleaner and brightener on the wood before applying the first coat of stain. I used a quality 4" stain brush to apply the stain and a smaller 1" brush to get into the hard to reach places. (We also had a small deck and more privacy fencing added to the house at the same time which got the same stain, but I chose to show off the carport for the contest.) Everything was ready for a second coat this summer, so I ordered more stain, washed everything, and applied the second coat. Everything turned out exactly like we wanted and we couldn't be more happy with the results! The painter I hired to spray the grey part of the carport recommended a water based Sherwin Williams stain, but I've used TWP in the past and politely told him I was going to pass on that suggestion and would do it myself.
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    boris · 09/08/2023
    Contest Entry: First time staining a deck. I have never done any type of staining or wood work. My deck was built 2022. I tried to get somebody to stain it, but nobody was willing to do it. Hence,  I decided to do it myself. I pressure washed and did extensive research for stain and I settle on TWP 1500 series Stain Color Natural 1530. I bought 6 gallons and proceed with project. Took me 1 day and results amazing. The project turn out great and very pleased with results as first timer. Thanks TWP for a great product. 
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    Shelby · 09/06/2023
    I have used your products for many years on my own deck and have always loved how it looks.  But I always forget to take before and after pictures. This year my son asked if I remembered what we had used on his decks before, (not TWP).  I did, but I suggested he would be a lot happier if he used your deck stain. He agreed and I ordered him  6 gallons of the Pecan. As you can see from the pictures (which I did remember to take) they turned out great, he was so pleased with them. It is a great product.  I'll work on my daughter next year and get her to switch too!!
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    Phyllis Brown · 09/06/2023
    Our home is 18 years old we take pride in our home I can’t tell you that our deck has never looked better in all those years as it does now after using your product. We had used a product in the past that was guaranteed not to peel and was supposed to be comparable to trek deck material well it was applied in November and it peeled regardless the deck became rotted and had to be replaced.That is the short version of our deck story.After cleaning and light sanding of our current deck we applied your amazing product.Thank you for making a quality product that has brought value and beauty to our home. We look forward to showing it off and promoting this product.
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    Edwin Johnson · 09/05/2023
    When trying to order stain several times I could not get logged in so the orders were done under no log in. If I provide the purchase information can that be added to my account?  
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    Edwin Johnson · 09/05/2023
    Re-staining the Cedar Shake siding on the second story of my log home. The old TWP Dark Oak 103 stain was about 10 years old and needed some good TLC. Started the job off with a few ladders and a 3100 psi pressure washer. I did not want to remove all of the old dark stain, about 95%, that way it left a little more character to the shakes new color. Started by pressuring washing then two days of drying time, some light sanding with 120 grit paper with a palm sander. Used some 6mil plastic to cover the first story from drips and over spray, easier than cleaning the chinking and logs later. Using a 4” heavy brush, 1 gal pump sprayer and 10 gallon’s of TWP Cedar Tone 101 stain. I did the wet on wet coats, sprayed the stain then brushed after each coat. The back side of the house gets most of the sun so after a week of 95+ temperatures I was able to apply another coat.
    Stained one 5’ porch swing, one 5’ outside bench and one chair with TWP Cedar Tone 101 stain.
    Also during this project I pressure washed all of the fascia and boxing around the house, replacing some wood that had issues then two coats of solid stain. 
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    Charles Joseph · 09/05/2023
    Wished I would have taken a before pic so you could see the moss and discoloration on my gazebo. The roof was especially unsightly. I have an all cedar house and have been using TWP since 1990.At that time I could only find this product from a fence company. About every 5 years I restain. I would not use a different product.