Stain Calculator | How Much Wood Stain Do I Need?

Before you know it, spring will be here! If your logs could use a little spring spruce up, or your whole home is simply begging for a spanking-new coat of stain, now is the perfect time to start planning. In this month’s “Here to Help!,” we help you figure out just how much product you’ll need to get the job done right the first time.

If you’re planning maintenance work on your home this spring or summer, we can promise you this — there’s nothing more frustrating than running short on product mid-job. Be sure you’ve planned properly.

As a rule, these three steps are a good place to start:

• Figure out the square footage of wood surface area you need to stain. (Sorry — the footprint square footage of your home won’t help you here.)
• Double that wood surface area number to account for two coats of stain. (If this is for just a maintenance coat, skip this step and be sure click on “Maintenance Coat” on the calculator link below.)
• Keep in mind, these numbers are averages between both coats. That means:

• • The first coat will require more than the average.
  • The second coat will require less than the average.
  • In the end, it will all average out. (See how we did that?)