Refinishing a Wood Deck
The first thing that needs to be done is the disassembly of the deck, that means taking down all the balusters all the “slats” if there are any, and then the ever important maintenance of the boards themselves. Going over the deck with a screw gun and new screws to fasten down what has become loose over the years. Once all the prep work is done a power wash must take place, on the deck itself and also the accessories. Power washing takes all the dirt and loose splinters out of the equation, which will make the job that much harder if not done.
The next step is the sanding, you must take a light sander to the wood to remove any larger splintering that has taken place. Now when I say sand I don’t mean take a 1/4″ off of the wood, if you do this eventually you wont have anything left. This is a very tedious and time consuming job but again it must be done to do the job right. After the sanding is done another wash of the deck is necessary, to get all the dust out of the way, if you don’t do this step the staining is nearly impossible and looks really bad, trust me I’ve tried to skip this step before and I’ll never do it again.
Stain, the stain is the most important, not only in the way it is applied but the actual stain you use. Setting up a clean easy environment for the staining of the accessories is a very good idea. It sounds like an easy step but having a good system in advance is very crucial, it can take twice the time if you just try and finish the accessories outside in the backyard. The garage is a great place for this with sawhorses and a good racking and drying system.
Now for the stain, on the accessories you want to go over with the first coat and follow up with a smooth rag to soak up any excess and to avoid air bubbles. Let this dry overnight and then do the same thing the next day. Now let the accessories dry for at least 24 hours. As for the decking allot of people use a sprayer, DON’T!!! Spraying is lazy messy and it will make your deck look like crap. I like to use a brush, however I have a 500 square foot deck and that would take a month to accomplish. I like to use a roller in this situation which works very well, simply rolling over the deck with a long handled roller is simple and it looks great. The key with stain is that you don’t want to get too much, the amount of stain that gets trapped in a roller is much more than you would ever expect. Start at one end of the deck and continue in the direction of the boards, now when you start there will be a lot more stain when you start a course than when you finish one, so what you want to do is pay close attention and go back over the whole area once you get to the end of a course. Continue this process obviously over the whole deck and then let it dry for at least 24 hours, I like to wait a little longer but I know time is an issue. Once the first coat is on do the whole thing over again.
The stain itself is very important, unless you want to do this process every 6 months. Spending a little more money on a quality stain will save you a good year. I don’t want to degrade any products but for the sake of this article I will tell you what I recommend and what I don’t recommend. Thompson’s Water Seal is something you want to avoid at all costs, if your going to pay for this product let me give you some advice, save your money and just spread some water over your deck, it will do about the same thing besides put a shine on the wood. The best protective and best looking product I have ever used is a product called Penofin, it is very expensive but it is an amazing product. When I tell people how often to “redo” their deck I tell them every 2 years, with Penofin I can get 5 years. Now granted at the end of five years it looks like hell but at least the wood is still there and still resembles the redwood I originally put down. I don’t recommend waiting 5 years to do this process but it can be done.
Like I said, I have a 500 square foot deck and to do the job right it takes me 5 days. I am a perfectionist so I could probably do it in 3, the point is don’t hurry, it will be all worth it in the end. So to finish up just remember these points; do some research on the stain you use, take your time, designate a dry clean area for the accessories and have fun.
