Fortunately I am still in good shape at 71 to do tasks around the property. Every few years our deck needs some maintenance. Replace a few deck boards and a couple of step boards. Inspect, and sand the deck and then stain. ( Had washed earlier in summer) Highly recommend Sherwin Williams Super Deck Stain. Easy on, great coverage, water clean up, dries in 24 hours. Expensive ($55/gallon) but worth it. Buy at the Sherwin Williams Paint store not Lowe’s. Glad it is done for another 4-5 years.

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Still Running Against the Wind

A few decades ago, a woman called me on a Friday night wanting her deck "painted" by the next Friday for a political fund raiser.

I explained I did interior painting only and didn't own the equipment and didn't have the necessary expierance to take on a project like that, aside from the fact that this is the busiest time of the year for all painters.

PPPPPP: Prior Planning Prevents P. Poor Performance!

4 years for an exterior product that water lays on top of is fantastic! But if you skip one little step, you cut the life in half, for this coating and forever until you put new deck boards on! In the old days we used Ceder decking and let it grey. Now there are products with the color built in. Nothing lasts forever buy around 20 years is pretty good!

Ivan

Love to paint, hate all that other stuff

Just one little four letter word - Trex

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

I used to make my own formulation. Melt a pound of canning paraffin and mix it into a gallon of mineral spirits. Apply with a brush. It works well.

We bought our house a couple of years ago. Over time I've noticed some things that made me think the people who'd had it before us had bought it to fix and flip. We're not much for going outdoors and spending time on the deck so I didn't pay much attention (duh). We're considering selling and fixing things here and there to make a sale go easier. I inspect the deck and lo and behold it's never been painted or stained. Several boards need to be replaced too. To say I'm not a carpenter is an understatement (I can't cut a straight line with a table saw!), but I managed to replace the boards and paint the deck. If I had the money and time I'd replace all of it but it will do for now.

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Support Israel!

Yep, prep is the killer.

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Release the Kraken

We've lived here over 30 years and I've maintained the deck up until last year. I've never had to replace any wood, but I had to clean and treat it every 3-4 years and it took me full 3 days to complete the job.

I hired a husband/wife team that a neighbor used last year and they did a great job. It cost me about $1100 and I consider it money well spent.

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"I also cook."

I have done a lot of exterior wood staining but never "sanded? How did you do that? a floor sander?


I used a prep cleaner, scrubbed it and power washed it.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I have over 2000 square feet of deck. When the times come to refinish it is a huge project. Anymore I only use an oil based product from TWP. It's the only deck stain that is also listed with the EPA as an above ground wood preservative. It's more work but after just over 20 years my deck still looks great. By the way, many brands of stain recommend NOT sanding your deck before staining. Something to do with closing off the wood pores.

I just used a corded Dewalt Ocillating hand sander with 120 grit. Spent some time on hands and knees. Just to lightly smooth out rough, raised places (especially knots in the older treated pine) not to completely strip. In one of my pictures you can see a section that I sanded before staining and next to it the stained section. Not a huge deck about 10 x 20. First time I did this and it made the finished product look much better. The other half of the deck was converted to a screened in porch 15 years ago. To cut out boards with any rot I used an oscillating saw by Rockwell and a dremel to cut off any wood screws that couldn’t be removed otherwise.

Nice job! That came out looking great. It's rewarding to do you own projects.

After reading about the maintenance requirements of a wood surfaced deck it makes me very glad that I used Trex when I built my last deck 23 years ago.

Yes, it was more expensive than wood but the only maintenance that it has every needed was hosing it off every year whether it needed it or not.

Some advantages are that it didn't become slippery when wet and it didn't give you splinters when walking barefoot on it. It doesn't rot, check, split or twist either.

It did get rather hot in the direct sun, so we couldn't walk barefoot on it during those times of the day.