Any help is much appreciated.
Some background. I have a relatively new home - it will be two years old in November. The deck was (obviously) built new. It's weathered two summers and two winters and has not been treated in any way.
It's still in pretty good shape, though it shows a touch of mildew here and there. (see photos below).
My wife and I are pretty fussy about quality, looks, finish. I tried to stain the deck myself and was unhappy with how it was coming out. I was brushing on stain using a water clean up stain and ended up with some unevenness and some shiny spots (flashing I believe), from overapplication.
Also, when I tried some deckwash products, I had horrible results. A pro-painter who looked at the deck felt it was in good enough shape that no washing or preping was needed.
I received quotes around $1200 to do the deck, top and bottom and I really don't want to pay that kind of cash.
So my specific questions are:
1. Is there a method (other than just being a better brusher) that will give me a more even look, but do a decent job? Pads? Spray?
2. From the photos, would you agree that no prep is needed (for a semi-transparent)? What about the very light mildewing? Can I just stain over it?
3. Do I need to worry about the rather largish black mildew stains on the underside of the deck? Do they cause any structural damage or can I just leave the underside go?
4. For someone relatively inexperienced at this type of job, can I expect decent results if I'm careful, or should I just knuckle under and pay the cash?
Any insight is VERY MUCH appreciated!
Uneveness and flashing...
Current condition of deck:
Very light mildewing:
Welcome to the forums!
I would never recommend staining/painting over mildew! It's almost always a good idea to wash the deck prior to staining. I would wash your deck both to get rid of the mildew and lighten up the gray wood. The way I clean a deck is to mix up a bleach/water solution [never stronger than 50%! and apply it with a pump up garden sprayer, let it set but not dry and then rinse with a pressure washer. A garden hose can be substituted for the PWer. If the underside is halfway accessible, I'd clean it too, just to make it look better. Heavy mildew can hold moisture that might shorten the life of the deck.
Once it's dry, your ready for the stain. The best way to avoid lap marks is to stain one board at a time - actually you can do several as long as your fast enough to always keep a wet edge. It is also possible to roll the stain on and then take your brush and smooth it out. This definitely a diy doable project - all you need is the willingness to work and a little direction
I wash my deck the same way Mark does except I don't have a pressure washer. Then I brush on the stain, which pretty much ensures I only do one board at a time.
I'm not sure how effective the chemical option is - my deck looks like yours and I tried some of that acid deck cleaner, it helped somewhat the wood still looks gray - I did use quite a diluted solution but I'm still not sure that it's not somewhat harmful to animals - my pooch likes to lie under the deck - call me paranoid.
Here is the harder and somewhat more expensive way but it is still not gonna cost you $1200. Rent one of those big rotary push sanders from Homedepot and pay someone $15 per hour to sand the deck down - take two hours tops. I wound go with a relatively mild grit 200 or so and then when the boards look like they have just been freshly cut in a saw mill you can add the clear stain. As for the railings not sure how you can do that, perhaps hand sanding or something.
(My deck was sanded down very aggressively over two years ago and due to my neglect it looks like your deck now - it will look amazing after you sand it - don't forget to hammer down the nails a little if the braniac deck builder used them - hopefully not)
No way would I sand this, the bleach/water solution Mark and I suggested will remove the grey - my deck was almost black and was blonde in two cleanings.
Mitch, I confess I'm not a professional by any means but will the bleaching bring back the natural color of the wood? My redwood deck still looked grayish after the chemical application. And also do you know what the chemical will do to the grass etc?
Bleach will not necessarily bring back the natural color of the wood - mine was actually lighter than the original color when I finished - but then you can seal with whatever color stain you like.
I rinse the deck off with the hose, then apply the bleach/water solution and hose it off well after I'm done scrubbing. With all that additional water, the bleach solution hitting the lawn is so weak it doesn't cause any problems.
I'm assuming you used oxalic acid, which is wood bleach but I've never used it to know what kind of impact it would have on plantlife - I would guess the results would be the same as bleach if the process was similar to what I did.
I don't use the oxalic bleach either but it is suppose to be more user and environmentally friendly. That said, I've never had any issue with the bleach/water solution hurting any vegetation. Like Mitch, I thoroughly wet down any vegetation that might come in contact with the cleaning solution, I'll also periodically rerinse those areas as needed. Occasionally plastic will be needed to shield the plant life - just be careful and don't cook the plants under the plastic. Animals will not want to be under the deck while the cleaning is in process, what is left once the cleaning is done won't harm the animals.
There is a wood brightner that can be used after cleaning to help bring back the color but I've really never seen the need since thorough cleaning with a bleach/water solution usually does a good enough job.
Found this article here to be pretty interesting http://saversystems.com/wood-article...eck-like-a-pro
Im currently pressure washing and prepping my back deck for stain. Its about 12 years old and doesnt look like it was ever stained. After pressure washing it i applied at 3 part water to 1 part bleach mixture to help knock out some of the mildew. I applied the bleach mixture with a 5 gallon solo backpack sprayer. It knocked some of the mildew out really nice and brightened up most of the wood.
Today i pulled out all of the nails that were sticking out and replaced them with some lifetime warrantied decking wood screws. I have to pick up some longer 3 1/2 nails to finish the job for the corner poles and floor boards.
Im thinking of picking up some wood brightner tomorrow also. The brighter the wood the better the stain will look. Also i wanted the wood to dry for 72 hours so it would be completely dry for staining. But it keeps raining and messing that up for me.
Sorry if i misspelled anything im posting from my phone.
Tags: deck, stain, professional, bleach water, bleach water solution, water solution, bring back, back natural, back natural color, back natural color wood, bleach mixture
