The best and worst wood stains of 2026: Consumer Reports

A wood deck or fence is one of the most weather-punished surfaces on a home, facing ice, heat, humidity, and UV exposure through every season. The stain applied to that wood is its only protection against accelerated deterioration, and not all stains hold up under those conditions. Performance gaps between products are wide enough that a poor choice can mean visible failure within a single year. A strong choice can keep wood looking close to new after three.

Consumer Reports applies two coats of each stain to pine boards, exposes them on a south-facing roof in Yonkers, N.Y., and rates them annually for up to three years on resistance to cracking, color change, and mildew. Here are the top and bottom scorers in their current ratings.

Credit: Behr

At $50 a gallon, the Behr Premium Solid Color Waterproofing Stain & Sealer from Home Depot $HD earned an overall score of 85 out of 100, the highest of any stain in Consumer Reports' current ratings. That score reflects three full years of maintained appearance, with resistance to color change, cracking, and mildew across the testing period. Consumer Reports notes a slight fade in the third year but calls this stain the top performer in their testing. CR describes it as "priced well" for a product exclusive to Home Depot.

Credit: Cabot

The Cabot Solid Color Acrylic Stain + Sealer scored 84 out of 100 at a price of $50, one point behind the top-ranked Behr. Consumer Reports found that it holds up through all three years of testing, matching the Behr on resistance to cracking, color change, and mildew. CR notes a slight fade in the final year, the same limitation seen in the top-ranked product. According to CR, the Cabot trails the Behr by a narrow margin on Overall Score alone.

Credit: Valspar

Lowe's $LOW sells the Valspar One-Coat Solid for $43, and it earned an overall score of 76 in Consumer Reports' ratings. Consumer Reports found it delivered standout first-year appearance, the highest rating in that category, and held up well through years two and three as well. CR reports resistance to mildew, cracking, and color change across the full testing window. That three-year durability at $43 places it among the strongest values in the ratings.

Credit: ProLuxe

Consumer Reports ranks the PPG ProLuxe SRD Semi-Transparent Wood Finish among the lowest scorers in its ratings, at 43 out of 100, despite a $75 price tag. Consumer Reports found that first-year appearance holds up adequately, but by year two the stain has deteriorated sharply, earning the lowest possible score for that period. CR notes that while the ProLuxe does resist mildew, it fails to protect against cracking, color change, and dirt. The price premium does not translate to protection in CR's tests.

Credit: Behr

At $49, the Behr Premium Semi-Transparent Waterproofing Stain & Sealer from Home Depot $HD scored 43 out of 100 in Consumer Reports' testing. Consumer Reports found its one- and two-year appearance scores equal to the PPG ProLuxe above, but it offers no resistance to mildew and also fails on cracking, color change, and dirt. CR ranks it lower than the PPG in the semi-transparent category overall despite the lower price. Weak durability and poor moisture resistance together place it among the worst-performing stains in the current ratings.

Credit: Olympic

With an overall score of 37, the Olympic Wood Protector Waterproofing Sealant earns the lowest rating of any stain Consumer Reports tested and evaluated for this article, at a price of $25. Consumer Reports found that first-year appearance was marginally better than that of the other clear sealers, though still weak, and that the stain does resist mildew. CR's assessment is unambiguous on the rest, finding no resistance to cracking, color changes, or dirt. At that score, CR places it among the worst options in its current wood stain ratings.