# Benjamin Moore Arborcoat



## Kimberly409 (Sep 11, 2017)

Hello! I'm new to this forum after coming across it in my search for a stain to recoat our previously stained cedar siding. We stained the entire house about 10 years ago using Benjamin Moore solid stain and it has held up great until recently, so we were happy with the wear. We have been pretty loyal to Benjamin Moore and they usually have a great product, so we have just begun the daunting task of restaining our siding and after scraping and sanding and a coat of Arborcoat on the most distressed side of the house, I decided I'd better check out the reviews on the Arborcoat because we're hoping to get another 10 years out of this job. In my searches, I found many complaints about this product with bubbling, blistering and poor adhesion and now I'm concerned. I'm just one coat in and the salesperson said no need for primer with this product, so we just painted it on the prepped cedar. So my question is, have they reformulated this stuff or is it still junk? Should I continue using Arborcoat or do you have recommendations for another solid stain? And last, should we have primed the areas that were peeling that we scraped and sanded? We want to do a quality job and I knew I could count on your expertise with this one! Thank you!


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## ridesarize (Jun 19, 2012)

Hi, I understand where you are coming from, asking about Benjamin Moore arborcoat. I believe it is a good product and that Benjamin Moore is a great store to support.

I have used arborcoat many times with great success, and had very little problems with it. I have had a few bubbles appear on a client's home once (West side, sunniest side). The main issue when there are product failures or problems is the underlying surface or older stain coat on your wood.

When you put a semi-transparent stain on a new structure, the UV rays will go through that stain and decay the wood and decay the stain slowly over time. When you have a lighter color, or more transparent stain, it will be more decayed. When I say decayed I don't mean rotten or dry rot but the actual wood cells just become weaker and broken down. That's why my client's home only bubbled on the West, exposed sunny side.

When I scraped the bubble off, you can see wood grain, actual wood cells, or old stain on the removed piece. I sanded and fixed all the bubbles one time, and they returned in other places. Same thing, old stain or wood stuck on the back side of bubble. 

The moisture from the new coating might migrate under the weakened area and cause it to bubble, especially on wood that "breathes" a lot. 

So, nothing wrong with Arborcoat in my mind, its all about semi transparent existing coatings. BTW, my client's fascia had paint on originally and had zero problems since it was more protected from UV rays.


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## ridesarize (Jun 19, 2012)

To further answer your questions I think you'll be fine sticking with arborcoat, however I believe a really great product also is Proluxe Rubbol, also found at Benjamin Moore stores. Do not buy from Home Depot. 

Your sales person was correct to say that you did not have to prime the wood although it really depends on the condition of the wood and your own judgement call.

Don't forget to dust all the wood particles off after you sanded.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

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