Restore-A-Deck Prep & Stain Contest 2024

Wood: Treated SYP.
Product: Restore a Deck- Natural Semi-Transparent. Applied with air sprayer for handles and pergola, and 14″ brush for deck surface.
4 kits of 5 gallon combo kit.

My project may be a little more involved than most, and took a little more time but ultimately this is the final project and my entry for 2024. Before you can restore a deck, you must build a deck…..The year is 2023, my wife informs me that she would like to have a pool built after discovering we are pregnant and the kids need something to do all summer. After having a couple of pool quotes and realizing this was not in the realm of possibility I got to work and pricing out my DIY options….. after some careful drawings, planning, and pricing it down to the final nail….. We decided it was a GO. I got to work. I spent mainly Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, sun up to sundown working on my vision. After 3 months of working, it was done. 36×40 Deck around a 25ft partially in ground pool…. The wood I got for the project was treated SYP and extremely wet, thus I felt it was necessary to give it 6 to 12 months to really dry out before I started my restore deck staining

Fast forward to April 2024, there is a long weekend on the horizon, and sunny weather ahead. It is time to stain the project I worked on for so long. After more research I decided the restore a deck option was the best option for me.

The first day was spent mainly cleaning/pressure washing, brighting, and rinsing….sun up to sundown. It took me approximately 12 hours to fully clean/brighten all surfaces with the restore a deck cleaner and followed up with the brighter on all surfaces including the deck, the wall, Pergola and the handrails. Apply with hand sprayer. I started off using a 40 degree nozzle on the Pergola, handrails and wall, and used a surface cleaner on the deck surface itself. Worked in approximately 10 x 10′ sections starting in the back corner, working my way towards the front, ensuring I went high to low. Walls, Rails, Pergola, Deck surface. After completing the whole deck with the cleaner, I went back to where I once began earlier that morning and started brightening, same process same pattern, 10 x 10 sections working my way back towards the front. This is where the magic really started to happen (see photos were I spilled a little)……As sections begun to dry that I had done earlier in the day, you could really tell how well the product was working. It was not until the next day, where I would really see the fruits of my labor after it fully dried. 

STAIN DAY!!!

The following day, after drying overnight it was time to stain. I once again started on the rails, working my way around, using a drop cloth under the rails to try and prevent splatter, and shortly realize this was nearly impossible and would take too much time. I resorted to using my small paint sprayer for the rails given all the nook and cranies. It took me a little while to dial in the settings but I finally got it to where it would coat evenly. I then moved onto the Pergola, and after starting with a brush quickly went back to the air sprayer. While I probably lost a lot of product doing it this way, there was a large amount of surface area to cover, and frankly it was taking forever with a paint brush as the larger brush would not fit in the small sections, and the overhead work was killing my shoulders. Once the rails and Pergola were done, I moved onto the back wall utilizing the 14 inch brush, and this went extremely quickly. Once this was done it was time to do the deck. Once again utilizing the 14 inch brush, this all was a rather quick process working in small sections at a time. I finished around 3 PM on day 2, then stood back and got an idea for what it was really going to look like.

After letting it dry overnight I decided to do 1 more coat, just to help blend in some sections and areas that may have been a little light or heavy with the stain. I am glad I did this, and you could tell how much less stain I had to use the second time as the wood already took in the majority of it from the day prior. The deck is 36×40 = 1440 Sq ft, minus the 25ft pool, plus the back wall (6’x40ft), plus the pergola, and rails. I ended up ordering 4 of the 5 gallon stain cleaner/brighter combo kits, for a total of 20 gallons. I had 2.5 galls of stain left after 2 coats.

After drying I could not be more satisfied with the results. There certainly are some spots where the stain ran, or had streak marks, but this is a product of me rushing due to the amount of surface area I had to cover, and not the product itself. In all I am hoping to get 5 years out of this before I have to do it again, and will have an older kid by then that can do it next time!