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So I have been a home owner for 6 years…isn’t that crazy how time flies. And since I bought this home, the number 1 thing I said I needed to do is stain my deck.
You see my deck is amazing – just an atrocious red color. Plus, I added an addition a couple of years ago that didn’t match. Oh, I tried to ignore it…but you can see in the picture…it was like Clifford, the Big Red Dog:
Before the Deck Staining Party
So I put my mind to it. Here is how I stained my deck – 1,4oo square feet of it.
Nine Steps to Staining Your Deck:
- Create a plan – with the handy dandy advice from my dad.
- The Plan- wash deck, dry deck, stain deck – seems simple enough–oh no.
- Spray and scrub your deck – 2 reasons to clean your deck before staining – 1- you need to remove the mold and mildew, 2 – the dirt must be removed so the stain will adhere to the deck surface. You can powercwash or you can find several deck washes at Lowes/Home Depot – you will need a little sprayer and a scrub brush. SUPER Important.
- Dry deck for 48 hours at least
- Enlist help – I asked my family if they would come help – I called it a deck staining party…and provided lunch, snacks and festive beverages. Plus, co-blogger Chris, watched my dog. They graciously helped. Help is important…doing it by myself would have been miserable.
- Buy all staining materials – I bought a couple of rollers with extensions, a mini roller, several paint pans, gloves, 2 large brushes and a small one, oh and the stain.
- Pick the right kind of stain – my big red deck wasn’t going to be covered with a semi-transparent stain, so I had to go with a solid. Not what I would have picked, but I refused to sand down the whole deck. I labored over the color – I picked a blue, grey. I figured since I couldn’t go natural, why try. It felt so permanent. In the end, it was fine, beautiful actually.
- Get to work – the four of us stained for 4 hours straight…start at the top and work your way down…in case of spillage. Then my dad came over to finish the next day for a few hours.
- Let dry and touch up as needed.
That’s it. A new and improved deck….that zen-like experience in my backyard oasis is complete.
Complete project
Happy gardening.
melissa
