The RAD Wood Restoration Contest is closed!
First Place
April Lee
First Place = $500 + 5 Gallon Pail of RAD Stain of your choice!
Second Place
Chad
Second Place = $250 + 2.5 Gallons of RAD Stain of your choice!
Third Place
Sheila
Third Place = $100 + 1 Gallon of RAD Stain or 1 RAD Prep Kit of your choice!
Thanks to all the entered this year!
Restore-A-Deck 2018 Contest Details
- All Restore-A-Deck Prep and Restore-A-Deck Wood Stain must be purchased first from this online eCommerce site (Restore-A-Deck.com) between January 1st – September 5th, 2018.
- The Restore-A-Deck 3-Step Process must be used.
- Deadline for entry is September 15th, 2018.
- The winners will be decided on September 30th by our team.
The Contestant Winners will Receive
- First Place = $500 + 5 Gallon Pail of RAD Stain of your choice!
- Second Place = $250 + 2.5 Gallons of RAD Stain of your choice!
- Third Place:= $100 + 1 Gallon of RAD Stain or 1 RAD Prep Kit of your choice!
- All other entries will receive a 5% credit on their purchase from this site. Max $20 per customer/entry.
How To Enter Contest
- Enter by September 15th, 2018.
- In the comment section below, post a short description of your deck/wood staining project, the Restore-A-Deck products used to prep, and the Restore-A-Deck stain color used. Was the Restore-A-Deck Stain applied same day as the prep? Yes or No?
- Example of wood projects that can be entered: Decks, Fences, Wood Side Homes, Log Cabins, etc.
- 1-2 pictures before the prep of the wood. You can still enter if you do not have the before pictures.
- 1-2 pictures after the prep of the wood using the RAD Prepping Products. You can still enter if you do not have the after prep pictures.
- 2 pictures after the staining using the Restore-A-Deck Wood Stain must be included.
- If having trouble uploading the pictures, please make your picture(s) size smaller (below 3 MB).
Any questions or issues posting, please ask in the comment area.
We look forward to all entries!
*Disclaimer: All products must be purchased from Restore-A-Deck.com. The contest is not open to products purchased from other online dealers or from physical stores. All 3-Steps in the Restore-A-Deck system will need to be used to win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Place: Step 1: Restore-A-Deck Wood Cleaner or Restore-A-Deck Stain Stripper. Step 2: Restore-A-Deck Wood Brightener. Step 3: Restore-A-Deck Wood Stain. If you used a different brand of stain but still prepped with the RAD prepping products you can still enter to receive a 5% credit (max credit of $20) towards your purchase from Restore-A-Deck.com.
Which looks less orange, cedar or light walnut?
Colors vary based on wood type and age of wood so no way to answer how it will look unless you test samples: https://www.restore-a-deck.com/restore-a-deck-wood-stain/restore-a-deck-stain-samples.html
Have you notified your winners yet? We would sure like to win. We would use the prize money to buy more product to finish our pesky spindles…or get a marriage counselor. It’s us the Theirl’s!
Not until Sept 30th.
[system issues] one more
Additional photos
We chose Restore-A-Deck after researching eco-friendly options to restore our cottage on Lake Huron—we were also thrilled to be able to support a Michigan-based company!
Our project included 1,200 sq.ft. of 27-year old treated pine decking and 40-year old cedar siding. The siding had been last cleaned in the 1990’s; the decking was a combination of old weathered boards, some sections with and others without previous stain applications, old boards that had been “flipped,” and newly replaced boards.
We used RAD Stripper on the previously stained decking (middle level of the front deck) and RAD Cleaner everywhere else. The stain color we selected was Natural. We used the recommended Chapin 2-Gallon Clean ‘N Seal Poly Deck Sprayer to apply the stripper, cleaner and stain; a power washer to rinse; and the RAD stain brush for back-brushing. We completed the 1,000 sq.ft. of front deck and all siding in a single day; the smaller side deck (with built-in seating) and boardwalk were prepped and stained separately. We did not stain the cedar siding.
The RAD Cleaner performed excellently at removing actively growing moss and black tannins from the siding. The combination of RAD Cleaner and power washing the deck boards was key—power washing alone was not nearly as effective (we tested it). The RAD Stain wet-on-wet application was by far the most forgiving and workable stain we’ve ever used; while care needed to be taken on the second coat not to “scuff” the drying stain, we were able to traverse the area to back-brush the stain to ensure coverage in between the boards (the sides of the boards) without effecting the finish coat. The Natural color worked out well overall but did present an orange-ish coloration on the very brittle and dry boards of the smaller side deck.
We love the way the house looks now and have received many compliments from our neighbors! We highly recommend Restore-A-Deck and are looking forward to a simple cleaning and single re-coat of stain in 2021!
This is still a work in progress: last summer my husband, Rick, started work on our new deck, pavilion and outdoor theater. It is a true labor of love and he has built it all with just the occasional help of our two sons. The roof of the pavilion is going to be next.
After much research, we decided upon the Restore-A-Deck system. A huge consideration was that the product could be applied on damp wood. It seemed like all the other products we researched need a much longer drying time after cleaning before you could stain, AND you need dry weather for their products to cure afterwards. Well, in Michigan, you never know what mother nature will send your way, so it is hard to plan around the weather. Other deciding factors were that the RAD products are environmentally friendly and easy to clean up. We also love that we are supporting a local Michigan company.
We purchased the 5 gallon combo kit with Cleaner, Brightener and the Light Walnut Stain plus an additional 2 gallons of the Dark Walnut Stain. The products arrived in just 3 days. We used the Cleaner and Brightener on the first day. The Cleaner was amazing… it foamed up and easily lifted up all the gray and grime. Then after the Brightener, the deck looked like new. On the next day we only had time to stain under the pavilion. On the following weekend we finished staining the remaining deck. We did a two-tone design, using the Dark Walnut to frame the Light Walnut. The results are absolutely gorgeous. Thanks Restore-A-Deck!
This is beautiful! the main part looks darker than Light Walnut – did you put a 2nd coat of dark walnut over the light walnut to get that look?
We had our dream home built 3 years ago…..The deck seemed like a daunting task-with 240 spindles-and many screened in areas. I decided to start prepping the pressure treated wood to stain. I buy all my paint from Sherwin Williams-so I bought a deck prep from them….as you can see in the pictures, I accidentally spilled it-and it left quite a blotchy pattern. I had lots of black areas on the underside of the deck, also. I was very frustrated, so I did some google research, stumbled upon restore a deck products…They were very responsive to my questions. I took a chance and bought the cleaner, brightener-and it worked very well-getting rid of the grey-and evening out the blotchiness from my spill…Next we chose a dark walnut stain. We didn’t get to the staining until a week after the prep. We really like the way the deck turned out-the stain is even-and you can visualize the wood grain. I would recommend this product.
And here is the side deck
All the photos didn’t upload so trying again. Here is the back part of the deck
Shortly after buying our home near Seattle in the summer of 2015, my husband’s foot went through the deck! The dry rot was pervasive and we decided to replace all the decking as well as the benches around the perimeter with an actual railing. He spent two summers putting down 1766 square feet of decking and 652 square feet of railing.
After all of that hard work, we wanted a stain that was environmentally friendly, easy to apply, worked well in our climate, and looked fantastic. I was in charge of finding this elusive beast! After scouring the internet and determining that anything found at the local hardware store wasn’t going to cut it, I stumbled upon a site that recommended Restore-A-Deck products, and, as advertised, they are AMAZING! We used 2 gallons of cleaner, 2 gallons of brightener, and 5 gallons of light walnut stain.
My husband spot sanded some rough spots in the pressure treated wood, then applied the cleaner and brightener with a yard sprayer and lightly brushed it with a deck brush. I was shocked at how well these work! Easy and such a difference in the wood. He then used the light walnut stain and started with the railings, using a brush. These received one coat since the wood was newer. The decking had gone down the summer before so we applied two coats with a deck brush doing three boards at a time. It really made the deck go from good to stunning! Thanks so much for your products!! We’re recommending them to everyone!
This deck looks amazing! My father built this deck in the mid-1970s using 2×6 fir boards. It was stained once back in the 80’s with a hip green color. Other than an annual spraying with a hose, that’s all the attention this poor deck has gotten. So I got a wild hair while my husband was in Texas for a couple of weeks and decided to surprise him! The deck is almost 1000 feet and so there was no way to do this in a day. It took me a few days to finish the job as the temps were reaching over 100 by afternoon and I needed to stop. I used the Restore-a Deck stripper, brightener, and light walnut stain with a garden hose, a deck brush, and a couple of paint brushes. And little ol’ me, a 5’2”, 135# 54 year-old woman got the job done. Your product is easy to use, making light work of a beast of a job. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that this old deck could look so rich and new. When my husband returned from Texas, he said “I suspect a man’s hand in this!” Thanks Restore-a-Deck. Looks like you are my new main squeeze.
Judith Cox – 08/29/2018
The photos tell the story! We have a 750 square-foot deck that wraps around our summer home in the foothills of the Adirondacks. The oldest part was in the worst shape. The wood, which is at least 15 years old, was stained nine years ago with a Cabot product. We have done nothing else to it since then but clean it annually with Olympic Deck Cleaner. Thus when we started this project it looked exactly like you see it in the photo labeled “Cox Before.” The newer part, which is nine years old, was never stained (because I loved the look of unfinished treated lumber and mistakenly thought that with an annual cleaning it would stay that way forever). Unfortunately, it not only grayed out but also started deteriorating.
After much research online, I finally settled on trying the Restore-A-Deck approach. I liked the fact that you not only sold a product but also gave detailed advice on how to proceed with the deck restoration. The first thing I did was throw out my Olympic Deck Cleaner and try out your cleaner and brightener. I also used your stripper, because it seemed less lethal than the stuff sold at Home Depot. In addition, we sanded the entire deck to get rid of the fuzz on the wood.
The cleaning, stripping, brightening, and sanding was hard work, but the actual staining went very quickly. I particularly loved the fact that the stain soaked into the wood rather than lying on top of it. I also was happy that I could do it on a slightly damp deck, because a lot of stuff drops out of our trees, making it difficult to keep the surface clean throughout the staining process. We couldn’t do it all in one day, because of the size of the deck. But now it’s done, and we are very happy with it. The photo labeled “Cox After #1” shows how the older part of the deck looks today, and “Cox After #2” shows how the newer part of the deck looks.
Which color stain did you use? Thanks!
I used the natural stain
How can I explain the frustration we have had with other deck products? Let’s just say Restore-A-Deck may have saved our marriage. We have been renovating a lake home with a large deck, stairs to the boat house, and a spindle railing around the boat house roof. Five years ago we replaced the decking floor on the deck attached to the house. A year later we stained with a product that turned the deck black! So this year we power washed, sanded, and used all three Restore-A-Deck products. We used the cleaner, the brightener, and Natural semi-transparent stain. Wow, our cedar deck floor looks better than it did when we installed it.
The process was fabulously easy compared to the amount of time we spent endlessly discussing and fussing about what product(s) to buy, watching numerous Youtube videos, checking Consumer Report, not to mention the amount of time gazing out the window looking for inspiration. We did know we wanted water-based products to be eco friendly. So we executed our plan; the stain arrived within 3 days, we cleaned with a push broom day 1, brightened the same day. Day 2, we wet the deck and sprayed on Natural stain with a pump applicator. The staining took only 2-3 hours! Unbelievably quick and easy. The floor and railing look great. Now on to the steps, the boat house railing, and all those pesky spindles. No more procrastination, no more loud discussions; just both of us on the same page–we both “Love” Restore-A-Deck products.
This is hilarious. Your description of the planning process sounds just like my wife and me. I was so happy and relieved when we both agreed on RAD. I’m waiting for my samples before ordering the products.looks great!
Our deck is 25+ years old, and according to the previous owner, last stained with Thompson’s Water Seal about 5 years ago. We’ve been in the house about a year and although the wood looked to be in decent condition, the deck needed a serious facelift. After a lot of research, I wanted a water-based, semi-transparent stain and decided on the Restore-a-Deck brand. After buying the stain sample pack and testing in a few areas, we decided on the Cedar color (although the Dark Walnut was a close second).
With a fairly large elevated deck with a pergola, the process took four days spread over two weekends, as we had rain during the week in between. The first weekend I used the RAD Stripper and Brightener and completed prep on most of the deck. For the stripping, I applied with a pump sprayer and used a pressure washer. I repeated the stripping process a second time on most horizontal surfaces. This helped clean some of the darker boards, but I found that the old stain was removed during the first pass. After the brightening process, the wood looked brand new – it was really amazing considering how old my deck is. I also stained the pergola the same day as the prep. The next weekend I finished the stripping and brightening process, and completed the staining, with some areas being stained the same day as the prep. I used the RAD stain brush which made quick work of the main level of the deck. For the horizontal surfaces I applied two coats using the wet-on-wet method.
We are really impressed with how everything worked and love the new look of our deck!
I have a 17 year old small cypress deck that had only been stained with semi-transparent oil based products. Originally with a Defy product recommended by the installer (done 2 or 3 times at several year intervals) and then a Benjamin Moore alkyd stain done at 2 year intervals. I’ve stripped it to bare wood and sanded almost every time. These products just didn’t last and looked bad after a year. Even for a small deck this was a lot of work. I was just about ready to switch to Behr Semi-transparent stain, realizing I was going to have to strip again. I had even purchased it. For some reason I decided to read some reviews and stumbled onto your website where I spent more than an hour reading reviews and all the tips and comments. So sorry I didn’t do my research first. (I have an unused gallon of Behr stain sitting in my basement that I will never use and can’t take back!) I decided to take a chance on the RAD stripper, brightener, and light walnut stain – a big change since I have used redwood colors previously. (Sorry I didn’t think to take a before picture. It was really awful looking!)
The stipper and brightener are amazing products! I would do a testimonial about them to anyone. The wood came out amazingly clean and like new. (We did use a pressure washer and only had trouble with the planter boxes that are attached to the deck at the steps.) The day after stripping, we applied the 2 coats of stain to the spindles and railings and the following day to the flat surfaces. I was surprised by how easy it was and how terrific it looks. Have to say I love the light walnut color. The deck looks brand new. I really can’t believe how good it is. It has rained several times in the week since I finished (after drying 36 hours) and the water just sits on top. I hope to be able to come back on your site next year to tell everyone how well it has held up over a northern Ohio winter. Thank you so much for all the information and advice on your website. I also talked to someone in sales and they were very helpful.
No. You cannot put any stain over that product.
This photo did not post with original post
We used RAD products on a deck that we built 3 years ago using pressure treated lumber. This deck was built off of the second story of our home and has two levels, with stairs that connect with the lower yard. The floor surface is slightly under 600sft and about 300sft of handrails. Due to an unexpected loss in our family the deck was not stained (except posts) in the timeframe we had planned, so it has weathered over the last three years and was really dirty and starting to show signs of distress.
We applied RAD cleaner and brightener on the same day and followed two days later with RAD stain, in light walnut. We applied the stain to entire handrails first (including spindles) with a sponge. 1 day later we applied 2 coats of stain to all floor boards using the brush we purchased from RAD.
The results are outstanding! The deck looks better than new and all of our friends and family are very impressed with the results.
All I can say is WOW. We bought a house with a 13 yr old cedar deck and it looked awful. We were seriously thinking of replacing the whole deck with a composite, but after checking prices decided just to restore it. Amazing products, the stripper removed all the old semitransparent stain and after using the brightner it looked like new wood again. Totally amazed with the semitransparent stain color (light walnut) and the way it went on and dried so fast. Its is so hard now that chairs dragged do not scratch it. Thank you so much for making such a great product and saving us so much money!!!
Beautiful. I’ve ordered my stain samples an am torn between cedar and and light walnut but your photos might have tipped the scale towards the light walnut.
We thought about cedar also but are so happy with the color of the light walnut. It is so beautiful and rich looking
Are we allowed to use a pressure washer?
While using the RAD prep products, yes.
where do we upload our pictures for the content? What else do we have to do to register?
Click the phone icon in the comment box to upload the picture. The rest of the info is in the above article.
My project was a deck last Stained 4 years ago. Some of the boards used then were previously used from another deck built elsewhere. Those boards were about 14 years old. I used RAD on this deck with Step 1,2 and 3 all in one day. ( AMAZING PRODUCT) Number 1 being the stripper. 1 and 2 left the boards looking like new and like a sponge for number 3. So easy . Highly recommend. Light walnut was color of the stain used.