Hand-brushed vs sprayed deck stain

Spraying is fast. That is the only reason most contractors do it on decks. The trade-off is that sprayed stain sits on top of the wood instead of being worked into the grain. Without a brush stroke breaking the surface tension and pushing product into the fiber, the bond is shallow.

Hand-brushing every deck takes longer. It also makes the finish last longer because the stain becomes part of the wood, not a coating on it. The grain breathes. Moisture moves through the way it is meant to. The finish ages instead of failing.

The exception on our jobs is fences and lattice. Fences get sprayed for coverage and then back-brushed so the product actually penetrates. Lattice gets sprayed because brushing every slat is not practical, and the lattice gets back-brushed where access allows.

Everywhere else, it is a brush in someone is hand, working stain into the wood. That is what a hand-applied finish actually means.