We are victorious! Well that’s how it feels at least. It’s been a looong time coming. This is one of those projects that I wished was finished as soon as I started it! It was a monster of a deck to stain by hand with a brush. But it’s done and I’m THRILLED. We finally finished staining over the weekend after being interrupted numerous times by rain, snow and those dreaded days in between the weekends where you have to go to work.
But let’s start at the very beginning shall we?
It all started when we moved in looking a bit like this…
…and then last fall like this…
…over time and a lot of hard work it turned into this…
…and finally it was ready to stain.
The actual deck has been done for a couple months but we had to wait for the pressure treated wood to sit out and dry for a while before staining. We’ve learned that the pressure-treating process soaks the wood. When newly installed, it will not allow any type of coating to adhere well. A quick tip from our local paint store was to test the deck’s readiness to accept stain by splashing water on the surface. If the water beads on the surface, more drying time is needed. If the water droplets soak into the wood, then the wood is dry enough to accept a top coat.
We wanted a deep red coloring so we went off to the local paint store. These guys seriously know their stuff. I always prefer going there over the big box stores in our are. They’re always friendly, knowledgeable and can find you the perfect paint chip in a haystack. Seriously they’re awesome. So if you’re in the area go to Sak’s Paint.
We chose Sikkens brand Semi Transparent Stain in Navajo Red. It’s an all in one stain and sealer. It worked out rather well although we had to stain each rail and board by hand with a brush according to the directions. With this type of stain you need to use a brush to really work it into the wood and because of the sealer a second coat isn’t necessary or recommended so it’s really important to get the first coat applied evenly and brushed in well. Also this stuff is super duper STINKY so it’s good we were doing this outdoors!
I’ll save you the long boring details of watching paint dry. The whole the was pretty much a lot of stooping over and painting and ummm dipping. Yeah, that’s pretty much how our days went. We used 2 size brushes, 1 was a 2 inch angle brush to help get in between each of the board and a 4 inch brush for the large flat surfaces. The only awesome thing my father figured out about half way through was to duct tape a wood handle to the 4 inch paint brush to paint the floor. Which saved a ton of stooping.
So there you have it our Deck, Finished…for now that is 
We’re loving it.
And loving that it’s done.
Hopefully, next year we’ll be working on adding some outdoor furniture to the space, maybe an outdoor rug and some potted plants. Oh I can’t wait!
So what do you think? Does anyone else have claw fingers from staining or painting. I bet you’re loving the results like we are though.
Psst: You can read about our total deck adventure starting all the way at the beginning by clicking here.
). Score. I thought about it for a quick second, eyed them up again, looked over my shoulder to see if anyone else had spotted them…stalking me about to fly in and snatch them up right under my nose.
