I have a new cedar deck with roofed covering in San Antonio. The deck builder has a recommended deck cleaner/stainer who came out and recommended Cabot Wood Toned Deck and Siding Stain in Cedar color. Went to Lowes and they said the most common was Olympic Semi Transparent.

So which is better and what do you recommend.

I like olympic maximum semi transparent oil based for decks. Cabot used to be carried at home depot and I have only used it once on a customer's fence who wanted it and it did not hold up well to the sun. If there are any exposed materials on the deck made of treated wood then you need to let them dry 30 days before applying

Thanks JP...the semi transp would only be used on our new deck, that has a new roofed cover...not on the fence....I agree, I will need more UV protection on my exposed fence.

My questions was if Cabot or Olympic makes a better semi-transp product for the deck.

I became confused when confronted with the choices at Lowes.

You might want to consider looking at Ready Seal stain, it is a great product and has held up much better than cabot stain I used on a fence at my old house. It isn't available at Home Depot or Lowe's but they are based out of Texas and have a lot of local dealers where it is available, they have 5 gal and 1 gal options as well. Here is a picture of the Ready Seal "natural cedar" color on a cedar fence I put up:

Cabot is a pretty widely used brand in the "pro" world of fencing and decking, I see guys recommending it all the time, but I have never used it.

Most of my exterior wood is ipe and requires a slightly different sealer due to the density, and I've been happy with TWP 100 series #116. I order it online or from the mfr directly.

I have never liked the durability of Olympic products. Cabot is ok, Behr is also ok.

I don't trust what the salesmonkies at Home Depot or Lowe's tell me, ever, unless I'm just confirming something that I already knew about a product. They keep selling people stuff like pre-mixed "thinset" (which is actually mastic) for showers.