Like most of my projects, this one began last year as a very minor job and progressed into a more involved undertaking as it went along. It's been over two seasons since we re-stained the patio deck and it showed. Some of the old stain was worn off and the rest was still stubbornly there.
Our government, has made it virtually impossible to obtain the same old CIL oil based stain as I had been using for the past 20 years. This means a change to a water based coating to which I have a skeptical view as far as longevity. If we are forced to change from oil-based to water-based I figured the best thing to do is to sand it all down and repaint. It might be a good time to change the colour too, since I was never wild about the 'natural cedar' tint and besides, you can't get an exact match anymore.
These 30 year old deck boards were definitely showing their age. 'Weather checking' where the boards were exposed to bright sunshine and moss growing in the shade all contributed to the overall tired look of this old deck. The pressure washer also served to speed along the deterioration of the boards by blasting out the vital oils and loose fibers while cleaning the deck.
Anyway, because some of the 30+ year old deck boards were badly weather checked and split, my son Tim and I decided to replace the worst ones. When we pried a few loose, we were surprised and amazed to see that the back side was in remarkably good condition. This led us to our original plan which was to remove and invert all the boards that were seriously cracked or cosmetically bad before re-staining the deck. Period.
Not quite! This project is only beginning.
Oh oh! We can't repair all the boards since a gargantuan planter box sits right on some bad looking ones. Too heavy to move, we'll have to dig out 1100 pounds of dirt. OK but there are also some support columns for a deck structure resting on some of the deck boards. To do the job right, we'll either have to lift the structure, work around the supports, or take the whole thing down.
NOW...
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