Dirty Decks, Done Dirt Cheap!

Ok, last summer I cleaned out and stained the basement. This summer, I tackled the deck attached to the back of our house. This deck is about 11 years old, but based on its appearance, I'm guessing has never been properly maintained or treated. Here's what I started out with:

As you can see, the wood is pretty weathered and gray and there is no lack of moss that has been beaten into the wood over the years. Years of snow, rain, harsh sunshine, and foot traffic have given the deck this appearance. Here's a bit of a closer look at the discoloration and weathering on the wood:

So, basically, our deck is gross and not fun to hang out on. We spend as little time as possible on the deck. Once the grilling is done, we are inside. I don't like that--the deck should be an attraction, not a repellent. So, on the advice of a neighbor, I took a pressure washer to the deck. I've never used a pressure washer before, but let me tell you, it is fantastic. Just don't put your hand or foot in the line of fire. A pressure washer will absolutely rip the skin off of your body if you F around with it. I turned the thing up to 2200 PSI and blasted the deck for about 3 hours, trying to get every nook and cranny possible. This is what I had the next morning after the pressure bath:

I was amazed at how much difference the pressure washer made. Looking at the wood, it almost looked like a newly constructed deck. Thankfully, the wood was still in decent enough shape to withstand the pressure wash; weaker wood would have splintered and basically fallen apart after the abuse I gave the deck. Here's the second look:

Notice that I was also able to pressure wash all the gunk off the back of the house, so that was a nice bonus. The next morning, I hit the wood with a "wood cleaner," basically a solution that will penetrate the wood and kill any of the moss/algae/gunk that has built up in the wood that I may have missed with the washer. Using the same pump sprayer that I used to stain the basement last year, I saturated the entire deck so that all the surfaces were wet. I let the cleaner stay on for about 20 minutes and then rinsed it all off gently with the pressure washer. 

After the rinse, I gave the deck a full day and a half to dry out in the July heat and then started at it with some semi-transparent, water-based stain. Because I still had some nice wood underneath all that gunk, I didn't want to cover up the  wood grain with a solid stain, so I went semi-transparent to keep the wood's natural beauty in view. Using just a 4 inch brush and a 2 inch brush, I hit the railings and posts first, which took about 3 hours. Clearly, that was the hardest part, because I had to be artful with the brush but also get every tough-to-reach spot imaginable. And every one of those posts you see on the railing? Yeah, I had to get all four sides. That was murder. Anyway, after the railings and posts, I hit the deck floor, which took about 2 hours. Finally, I ended up with this:

And this:

The stain is a bit more orange than I would have liked, but I'm sure with some sun and some wind, a bit of aging on the wood will bring it back to a nice, rich brown. In any event, it looks a thousand times better than it did a week ago, which was the goal. And I'm happy to say we got some serious use out of the deck on July 4th. Now we can grill and drink beer on the deck in peace, without wondering if the deck is somehow going to infect our exposed skin.

And the best part is, the whole project took about three hours of pressure washing, two hours of wood cleaner application and rinsing, and five hours of staining over two and a half days. And the total cost of the project? $80 for the pressure washer, $55 for two gallons of stain, $10 for a gallon of wood cleaner, and $15 for two paintbrushes. So basically $160 for a brand new deck! 

Thank you, I'm here all week.