Three decks in three days

Ryan & I finished our third deck in three (3) days. We used Sherwin Williams Deckscape waterborne stain in a solid color we matched to the previous color. Compared to the last deck we completed, this was a piece of cake.

Steps in completing:

1. Pressure washed deck using a deck cleaner one week before we stained;
2. Washed the deck floor with a Sherwin Williams Deckscape deck wash two days before we stained;
3. Checked the moisture in the railing, spindles, and floor before applying any stain. It was 6%, which is well below the 10% we are looking for;
4. Sprayed the railing and spindles first and then back brushed to penetrate and avoid any drips; and
5. Sprayed the floor and then back brushed to penetrate the floor.

Challenges:

1. There were rose bushes and other bushes around the outside of the deck that made it difficult to get to all areas.
2. Working around rain made it very tough to get moisture levels below 10%.

Fishers stained deck - oil base

Ryan and I finished another deck on Tuesday. We used an oil base stain for the first time - normally we use waterborne stain. Oil base actually is better for decks but it is more difficult to work with, and also is high in VOC and odor. We also have to clean our sprayer with mineral spirits, which is different than cleaning with water.

A key to using oil base is to ensure less than 10% moisture in the wood. As we know water and oil do not mix. Also, there should not be any rain in the forecast for 24 to 48 hours.  It will take that long to dry to touch.  It may still be a little tacky.

Steps we took to complete this deck.

1. Pressure washed and cleaned the deck a week ago. This included digging out the bottom of the deck to ensure we could stain to prevent rotting (2 hours);
2. Washed the deck again on Monday with a Sherwin Williams Deckscape deck wash to ensure the deck was as clean as we could get it  (2 hours);
3. Purchased 4 gallons of Sherwin Williams Deckscape semi-transparent stain in "Hawthorne" color. We used almost all of it. When you sprain spindles, you get about 100 square feet (lose a lot to the air since you are not hitting surface all the time) per gallon and when you spray the floor, you get 200-250 square feet per gallon (2 hours);
4. Sprayed and back brushed the spindles and benches (2 hours); and
5. Sprayed and back brushed the floors (2 hours). 

Notes:
- Always wear a mask and protective glasses with oil base;
- Ensure you back brush all areas or you will get puddling, and it will not penetrate the wood as well;
- Do not get any stain on grass or flowers. The oil base will damage or kill any plants and grass; and
- All photos taken with my iPhone 4S.

Fishers large deck and Pergola - Completion

Ryan and I sprayed out the skirting and the 3 deck floors (800 square feet) on Sunday and only have a few minor touch-ups before completion. This project was definitely a challenge and our largest deck attempted.

The customer chose a two toned deck with the pergola, railing, and spindles (175) stained in a "Stonington Beige" color. We used 8 gallons. The color was chosen to match their trim. We brushed out the pergola for two reasons - 1) it was very windy; and 2) you just lose to much stain in large open areas like a pergola. We sprayed the railing and spindles.  Even though you lose a lot of stain due to the open areas doing spindles, it just takes too much time to brush the 175 spindles and spraying does a better job with all the little areas hard to reach with a brush.

The customer chose "Cordovan Brown" for the three deck floors. We used six gallons of stain. Ryan laid on the stain with our sprayer and I back brushed with a 4 inch stain brush.  We took two boards at a time because it was warm out and we did not want any lap marks. It took us only 3 hours to completely stain the decks.We had some over spray onto the other color, but it was easy to go back and touch-up.

These are the steps we followed to tackle a job like this:

1. Cleared the deck of all furniture. This included a heavy fire pit and grill;
2. Sprayed on a deck cleaner on and let it soak in;
3. Pressure washed the deck with our 3,100 PSI machine being careful not to tear up the wood;
4. We let the deck dry for one day and always measured for moisture to ensure the wood was dry;
5. Stained the pergola and lathes on top. We put 2 coats on because of the lighter color and brushing;
6. Stained and back brushed the railing and spindles;
7. Stained and back brushed the skirting;
8. Applied a Deckscape deck wash to get the floor absolutely clean. We did not go on the deck floor again with dirty shoes.
9. Stained the deck floors when the moisture level finally got less than 12%.

Challenges:

1. Wind
2. Moisture
3. Rain
4. Masking certain areas

Golf course deck prep

Ryan and I prepped and are now staining a large 800 square foot deck floor along with railing, spindles, and steps. And throw in a pergola on top of it and you have a large staining project.  The deck is on a golf course and will look spectacular when done because of the colors chosen by the customer.  They are going with a two toned look with the pergola, spindles, and railing the color of the house trim and the deck floor a dark brown.  I am excited to see the final product.

Fishers deck

We completed another deck today. It was an older deck that had not been stained for several years. We took the pressure washer after it and it already looked better. We cleaned it with a deck cleaner and followed up with a deck wash. We sprayed out the skirting, spindles, railing, and benches.  The customer selected a Sherwin Williams Deckscape in a solid "Pine Cone" color (water based.) The deck looked very good when we were done.

Another Fishers' Deck

We completed another large deck on Friday. It was a deck that was built last fall and had not had any protection applied. We pressure washed it, cleaned it with some deck wash and applied Sherwin Williams Deckscape semi-transparent stain in a Covered Bridge color. It looked good.

Fishers interior rooms

Ryan and I finished another interior painting project on Wednesday. It included walls and trim in a great room, entryway, kitchen, and bathroom. The walls were orange peel texture and needed some repair. We used Sherwin Williams Promar 200 with no VOC on the walls (2 coats in eg-shell) and Sherwin Williams ProClassic Door and Trim latex in a semi-gloss.  Customer was pleased with the look.