The Time Has Come... For Staining

After two eagerly awaited months passed letting the new deck lumber air out, Memorial Day weekend arrived, and the time was nigh for staining the deck.

One small step we had to tackle first was relocating my yucca plant.

I had hoped to be able to leave it where it was, but it was growing right up against the deck and over top of it, as you can see above, so it really needed to find a new home.

Once that was completed, we headed to Lowe's and gathered our supplies: a jug of Olympic deck cleaner, a gallon of Olympic Elite Semitransparent deck stain in Wenge, a deck stain applicator, and a cheap 3" paintbrush.

First thing was cleaning the deck. This stuff worked pretty well and was quite easy to use. We used a hand-held tank sprayer to apply it and then washed it off after the recommended time. Even though the deck was only two months old, it actually got pretty dirty in that time. The above picture is post-cleaning.

Before slapping on some stain all over the deck and deciding we hated it, I grabbed a scrap piece of deck board and applied some. I let it dry for a couple of days before making a final decision on it, which was a big thumbs up.

Then it was application time, which I sadly have action no pictures of. Here's the run down though: Our stain applicator had one edge that was meant for getting into the cracks between boards, so I would fill in two rows at a time, then go over the tops of the boards. David would follow behind me with the brush getting down into any gaps or knots that the stain pad didn't cover well enough.

 The first gallon ran out with the completion of the top surface. I went out to buy a second gallon, even though I would only need a small bit of it so that we would have extra on hand for any touch ups or reapplications down the road. I used the paintbrush to get all the sides of the deck and with that, application was complete.

We had to wait 48 hours before replacing any furniture per the stain directions.

I feel like the stain makes it look much more finished, like it's always been here.

This photo is probably the most accurate representation of the actual color. A nice medium brown, so it doesn't get too hot on bare feet.

I'm so thrilled with how this project wrapped up!