Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Outdoor Space: Staining and Sealing our Back Deck

Thanks to Thompson Water Seal for Sponsoring this project!

Last time we showed you our back deck the house was still in progress.


It's been through just a few changes since then...

Although we spend a ton of time out here in the Spring, Summer, and Fall we waited a little bit longer than we reallllyyy wanted to stain the back deck. We didn't want to do it before the house was finished, and the summer after we moved in there were 1,000 other projects that got in the way. As usual.

This summer we decided it was time to get this baby stained so the wood would be protected. Luckily, waiting the extra year to stain didn't hurt us since the back deck is covered--it already had plenty of protection from the sunlight and harsh Illinois winters.


Thompson Water Seal graciously offered the supplies we needed to get this tough job done!

Step 1: Clean!
This was a really important step that should not be skipped. (Photos were skipped because it went by SO FAST) Even on a new deck like ours--there's dust and grime. It needs to come off.
They sent us deck cleanser to use prior to setting the stain. This was fairly easy and quick. Well, it looked easy, it was more of a 1 person job and Adam did it all. I supervised.

Basically you just follow the directions on the container and mix with water, use a large broom to brush the cleanser, then spray off with the hose.
We saw so much grime come off the deck with just one application!

We waited the instructed 48 hours for the deck to dry before we began to apply the stain.

Step 2: Stain!

We started staining the underneath of the deck first. This may have been the wrong way to do it, but we thought it worked out well for us. We were able to do the bottom and underneath, then later just touched up any drips that came down when we applied the stain to the floor above. Touch ups were easier than covering up any hug drips this way.


 Thompson Water Seal let us try one of their newer semi-transparent tinted stains in Desert Brown.


 When we first applied our first thought was  'OH NO, why is this pinkish toned?' But when it dried it was the perfect tint.

We used brushes to do all the edges, and then a foam roller to do the smooth parts.


Drying nicely.


Since we have a walkout basement, if we didn't stain the underneath and bottom of the deck at all, it would look goofy if you were downstairs or in the backyard. Yay, extra work for us.

Scout supervised, as usual...

This was a 2 weekend project. Although it's been a mild summer, we once again patted ourselves on the back for building a covered deck. It wasn't it too bad (with the fan running) the entire time we were working outside, but it will also protect the stain from harsh weather and sun. This should prolong the time between treatments.


 We started the top of the deck by doing the railings and balusters first.


Don't you just love how the color turned out?


 Gotta get every inch!

Then on the floor we started from the edges, then filled in the middle part all at once.


This...was the easiest part of the staining process!


We were extra lucky and HomeRight provided us with a new tool for this job. We were able to test out their StainStick with Gap Wheel for this HUGE project! It was put to good use and we have a a full review of this product coming soon!


Come back for our completely honest review of the HomeRight StainStick with Gap Wheel and of course the final reveal of our outdoor living space!! I can't wait to show you our favorite summer spot!

We were provided with the supplies for this project. As usual, all statements in opinions in this post are mine. 

Do you have a favorite outdoor space?
Anyone else stain or seal their back deck this year?
Any big weekend plans? We are headed to a Jimmy Buffett concert! Woohoo! 

3 comments:

  1. Trina, your deck is huge! I bet it was a lot of work getting every inch covered. Well worth it though because it looks great. I love the color stain you chose. It compliments your house nicely.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Brandi we are really excited with the final product, we'll be sharing soon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. HomeRight sent us a sprayer! I haven't really used it yet, I tried today and the clean up was a pain for the little bit of spraying I did, but I think it would be worth it if I did all my spraying at once without oil-based primer. I hate cleaning up oil-based anything.

    ReplyDelete

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