I’ve been wanting to stain our deck since, well, since Ryan built it in 2007.
But, Ryan wasn’t keen on staining it, and I didn’t want to do it by myself. I finally broke down Ryan’s will convinced my husband to work on it over Memorial Day weekend.
And, YAY…. it looks so great, I can hardly stand it. (Even Ryan reluctantly agrees.)
Ryan hates painting and staining. So, that’s why he didn’t want to do this. And, it did take almost a full day. Luckily, we were shaded until 11 a.m., because it was HOT and humid.
Ryan power washed the entire deck earlier in the week. It didn’t have a finish and was only 2 years old, so we didn’t have to strip anything or sand it (yay!).
On the day of, we began by covering all the plants with tarps and plastic wrap. We had very little drippage, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. No one wants to eat stain on your tomatoes.
Then, we began staining the railings, which took 4 hours.
Next, we did the floor and stairway. I think it took about 6 hours total, including my run back to Lowe’s when we ran out of stain. We tried spraying the stain first, which worked horribly.
So, we ended up using brushes, socks (to get into the railing) and a roller.
It dried for 24 hours, and then it promptly rained. The rain beaded right up, so I’m pleased that the deck is properly protected now.
And, I love how the window boxes look now.
Just found your blog and I am about to become a follower 🙂 My husband and I just bought our first house and we have many projects ahead of us like staining our deck so I am just thrilled to have found you and your blog–I will definitely be coming for help 🙂 Your home is gorgeous and I am so impressed with everything you guys did to it. Thanks for the inspiration,
Katie@ http://littlethingsbringsmiles.blogspot.com/
Yep.
Just peed my pants.
Your new stained deck is THAT fabulous. And now I’ve stained MY pants.
Wow wow wow, it looks incredible! So rich & glorious; the red patio chairs just POP against it! Well worth the laborious efforts, girl!!
AWESOME! Great job.
the stain looks amazing! i loved the weathered look, but somethings need a little protection. amazing job. and i love the red chairs with your table too! fun!
Girl, it looks great!!! I love, love it! And the vintage chairs make me happy too.
You guys did a fabulous job, the stain looks SOOO good! I’m jealous of your yard again.
The deck looks beautiful! I have big plans for our own deck, but since they are so…….well big, I’m afraid I’ve been putting it off. Way to dive in and make it awesome!
Oh yes and your is amazing!
looks great – looks complete. good job!
Wow it turned out fabulous! So worth the day in the heat. Our cedar fence really needs re-staining and we have been putting it off…but seeing this is inspirational! And I love how your garden surrounds it!
Beautiful!! Sounds like a lot of work but definitely worth it. Love the rich color. Tell Ryan he should listen to you more often. ; )
It looks so great! I wish we had a deck…
I LOVE IT and I’m SO JEALOUS! We both hate the crappy paint the previous owners put on our deck and are dreading having to strip/sand it to get rid of it all before we can stain it. I’m so so so jealous 🙁
looks great, love the red accents.
You two did a great job. It looks wonderful.
It looks loverly, Kim!! 🙂 We need to stain our deck too. We put it in last summer and I want to do a dark finish. Yours looks fantastic!
It looks great! I love the color.
Looks fantastic! We really need to do this to our deck. What color/brand of stain did you use? Any tips?
We are big fans of staining decks {and porches} in this neck of the woods. It looks great!
Wow! It looks great – love the stain you used almost as much as I love your window boxes…
The deck looks great! Congrats on getting it done…I know that is a lot of work! It really does make the red pop.
looks great! Just stopping by to let you know I gave you an award on my blog!
It looks really sharp now! Great idea. And since it only took a day, you still had two days left to enjoy your weekend! Good thing that rain didn’t come any sooner. Didn’t look like a very fun job, but well done!
The deck looks beautiful now! Well…it looked great before too…kudos to Ryan. The stain definitely adds a pretty dimension to the deck, very rich.
It looks beautiful! Good choice of stain!
O wow!! It looks great! I am glad you talked him into helping you! Sounds like it would of taken double the time without him. But I am sure he sees how worth it, it was.