Help! Staining a Deck

This is my first time staining a deck. I am doing it for my future mother in law. They just built a massive deck. It's gotta be 800+sq feet

The person that built it said he would stain it for $800. I feel like thats ridiculous, so I offered.

But I know nothing about it. What pointers you got for me.

Show me a sprayer I should get? What kind of stain? Should I seal it? (that is different from staining, right?)

Any and all advice appreicated. Thanks

:think2:

first thing you are gonna wanna do is power wash the deck very well u can rent a power washer anywhere (some woods cannot be stained for a couple months so double check what kind of wood it is) next either seal it which is basically a water based product you can spray on and it will last one season. if you are going to stain it I recommend either sickens (best stuff out there) or benjamin moore arbor coat they are both pricey but when it comes to to staining you do not want to do it every season pain in the ass. both of these products should last 3-5 seasons depending where you live. now each product has to be applied a little bit different so u would need to read the instructions. last thing is to decide if u want solid (basically like paint) or a semi solid (which will show the grain of the wood)

mrd694 said:

first thing you are gonna wanna do is power wash the deck very well u can rent a power washer anywhere (some woods cannot be stained for a couple months so double check what kind of wood it is) next either seal it which is basically a water based product you can spray on and it will last one season. if you are going to stain it I recommend either sickens (best stuff out there) or benjamin moore arbor coat they are both pricey but when it comes to to staining you do not want to do it every season pain in the ass. both of these products should last 3-5 seasons depending where you live. now each product has to be applied a little bit different so u would need to read the instructions. last thing is to decide if u want solid (basically like paint) or a semi solid (which will show the grain of the wood)

Click to expand...

Do I have to seal it first?

Reading a bit about it, it recommends "wood brightening", is that something I should do....

Finally, can I use the sprayer for the stain as well?

thanks fellas

if your future mother in law is picky pay the money that does not sound like a bad price. if she is not picky buy a cheap sprayer for the vertical pieces and use a roller for the floor of it.using a sprayer you will probably have build up in certain places just watch it and use a brush to even it out. anything close to the house either tarp off or use a brush. really not that hard of a job just how particular the mother in law is.

The first thing you did wrong was "helping your future mother in law". 2nd thing.. just pay someone because if it messes up, it's your bad. I rather lose $800 then save it and everytime i look at the deck i feel a sense of the mother in law mad at me. lol Because what if it doesn't turn out right or how she likes it.

how old is the deck? is it pressure treated wood or cedar

how old is the deck? is it pressure treated wood or cedar

knowing the material is important

if you have a wood with a nice grain, you probably should use a transparent stain to let the grain show

if you can, avoid solid stains that act more like a paint and you'll have to live with forever

since the deck is new, power washing may not be necessary

if the material is cedar, something like a Thompson Water Seal with a tint to it looks great, especially Natural Cedar or Honey Gold tints. Super easy to apply

I usually pay about 1.15 per square foot. That is a pretty good deal. Pressure washing is a must. Use a semi-transparent stain and tint it to match the house or house trim. Sherwin Williams has this. Don't go to Home Depot and buy any of their junk....super donk move. I personally would just have paid the money, because it is not that bad of a deal.

One other thing, depending on the type of wood (which I am guess it is pressure treated pine - since she doesn't want to pay to have it stained) you probably need to let it cure out about 6 months or until at least the end of the summers hot months. Take it or leave it. Successful Real Estate Developer that has a family homebuilding company (50+ years old) and I have personally built over 600 homes in my short career ranging from 100k to 2mil, so I do know a little about it.

$800 is a very good deal unless he is a monkey that is going to muck it up

If I were you I would hire someone else to do it since you have no experience and a deck that big is very, very expensive; $800 sounds about right, maybe even cheap; without seeing the deck my self it's hard to put a price on it. A power washer can be dangerous in the hands of inexperienced people; one inch to close to the wood with the tip of the power washer could ruin the whole deck. Having the right size tip is essential when using a power-washer on a deck. There are to many things that can and will go bad if you walk blindly into it.

Get 3-4 estimates with and without what ever product you choose to use on the deck. Ask the contractor if they will be using a cleansing product and a power washer for preparation before staining; If they don't, then don't hire them. You need to know if the wood is pressure treated or not? If it is, you have to wait 1 year or season before applying anything to the wood.

If you do decide to do it on your own I would get yourself educated on how to do the job right. I believe Homedepot may have classes on deck finishing? You could call a couple of local paint suppliers like Sherwin Williams or Glidden; sometimes they have tutorial dvd's on hand. You may be able to find something on YouTube for a guide to deck staining?

I would definitely use a power washer to clean the deck along with a deck cleansing product. You should have no problem finding a deck cleaning/prep product; just tell the store what your doing and ask for advice on application and quantity needed. As far as products go, as suggested above, Sikkens is a very good product, but it is between $40-60 a quart.. I would use a bug sprayer to apply the product depending on how thick what ever product you go with is. You will need to think about getting at least 1 more person to help you with a deck that size. If the deck is right up against a house you will have a lot of preparation aka: bagging windows or siding that may get stain on it. You can use big pieces of card board to protect siding and what not. I would use a 9" roller cover that is at-least a 1/2-3/4 of an inch thick. and some sort of extension/rolling pole. Also, I use a 3" brush for working the stain/back brushing the stain into the wood. Basically to apply you spray on the product with the bug sprayer and roll on the stain into the floor of the deck. You then will have to brush the stain into the edges of the deck. I usually tape a brush onto the end of a rolling pole and back brush in a standing position. Always make sure you finish what ever you start when you start staining. Always try and maintain a wet edge or the stain may show lap marks. This is why you will need 2 or even 3 people for a big deck. One person is spraying, another is rolling and another is back brushing.

As you can see, if you read all what my blabber, this can be a huge pain in the ass if you don't know what your doing... Good luck.

Defy... we need to get you a advise and home improvement forum ;o)