Deck stain, the nature of wood, etc-

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No matter what anyone tells you, lumber is still lumber and will require regular maintenance. No stain will entirely prohibit your deck from swelling and shrinking, which is the real reason that decks look like crap as time goes by. All of that swelling and shrinking produces cracks and checks in the wood, which is pretty much unavoidable. You can help minimize the effects of UV and the wood's natural tendancy to seek equilibrium moisture content by getting a good stain /sealer and applying it every other year. As tomh suggested though, they're all pretty much equal- so not one of them will provide a 'maintenance free' sort of deal.

Composites are out there, but with most having only a ten year warranty, I'm still not very excited about them.