This is my first time posting here after lurking for a few weeks to get a feel for the place. I'm about to re-finish a PT deck and wanted some advice on the sealer/stain to use. I've read here that Olympic Maximum is a "decent" stain that can be bought at a big box retailer. I don't wish to mail-order a stain for a number of reasons and two of the professional paint stores I went to only had Wolman's acrylic which CR rates highly but which is universally reviled here (and elsewhere). Who to trust besides experience (which is almost always a very stern teacher!)?

So I went to the blue big box store to pick up a couple of gallons of Olympic Maximum but it seems there are two different types and they have very different ingredients. The "toner" comes in the green can and touts a 3 yr. warranty, FWIW, and is strictly oil-based. Naptha and urethane resin seem to be the main ingredients. The S/T "stain" comes in a brown can, touts a 5 yr. warranty, and while containing oil-based ingredients like naptha and alkyd resins, cleans up with water (contains a co-solvent).

People here have said avoid the water-based products, but I gathered that this was mainly because such products used acrylic resins that can't be easily stripped later on.

Could anyone here with more knowledge/experience/insight provide an opinion about which one to go with? Thanks!