Finishing the deck almost killed me

I'm such a damn perfectionist, and I was losing my mind dealing with this deck.  I couldn't imagine sealing over it in the condition it was in, there were a lot of very rough parts on the deck boards particularly around the screws.  I spent foreverrrrr sanding all the screw areas smoother, thinking about the little feet in our family.  Shaun told me I was crazy, but I'm glad I took the time.  I also was totally disgusted by all the red chalk lines everywhere.  Good old deck man told me they would wash right off with soap, no that is not true.  Stop lying.  They were very obvious, and I've come to find out that type of chalk should never be used on visible portions of projects.  Figures.

I went out of my mind trying to get them off, dawn soap, other cleaners, scrub brushes, light sandpaper, even a magic eraser!  I was pretty happy with the magic eraser method initially, it seemed to work great.

Then it dried, and it looked pretty much like I had sanded it off.  Meaning, white blotches on all the boards.  I knew this might happen, since magic eraser is an abrasive, but it was still a bummer. 

Anger!!  After I did my best to remove the most obvious lines, things looked better after we used a deck cleaner on the entire thing.  More about that later in this post.  I had such a hard time trying to figure out what to do as far as the sealer.  Our deck builder recommended Ready Seal, so I got a collection of sample cans of every color (plus fan decks on pine and cedar) through their website.  It was fun to try all the different shades. 

I thought I had it all worked out to do two different shades to try to blend the pine with the cedar.  Here are two scrap pieces that accurately show the difference in color:

I tested a bunch of variances, but I thought doing mahogany on the pine and golden pine on the cedar looked the best...those are the bottom two colors. 

Then I tried doing an entire pine board with mahogany, and it looked awful.  I forgot how much I hate how pine accepts stain.  I also put the golden pine on the ACTUAL railing and hated it!!  I didn't realize as it was going on, but it turned out so orange. 

 I had only sealed the top and right post.  Not that it's hard to tell!

I was cursing myself for over an hour sanding this railing, but I did manage to get it all off.

Thank goodness!  I'm an idiot. 

Then I realized how badly the top of the railings had already turned silver since it was built.  In these photos, I had sanded the edges, not the top.  The difference between them was crazy. 

 I tried using Olympic deck cleaner like my deck builder suggested, but sanding worked much better.

The cleaner also bleached the nice patina that had developed on the pine, so we had to use the cleaner on the entire deck.  I was so annoyed, but it did help with the lighter spots we made from removing the red chalk lines. 

After everything got cleaned with the bleach, we made the decision to just keep it simple and do clear on the entire thing.  It didn't make sense to try to even out the wood tones, and I hated the way the pine accepted any colored stains.  I did compromise by taking a quart of the clear and adding the rest of the 'cedar' sample can to it for just a tiny bit of extra color - only for the top rail along the perimeter.  That top rail had been bleached so badly by the sun, it was almost white.  I think it made a difference in matching the top to the rest of the wood.

 I was very happy with the way it turned out. 

After the railings were all sealed, but before we put the clear on the deck boards:

Even the clear sealer left a very amber look to the cedar, which is not my favorite, but to be expected with an outdoor oil-based product.  And the floor was done in a flash, I initially tried to use a roller, but it used way too much sealer and wasn't any faster.  A large brush and lots of bending was the fastest way.  The final product:

I was a little disappointed by how orange the railings turned out, and how the rough cedar that is wrapped on the outside of the deck is SO dark compared to the rest, but it's really growing on me.  It just looks like wood, and I'll take the natural look of wood over composite or painted decking any day.  Here are some additional photos of how it looks right now:

I love all the knots on the cedar.  I plan to plant tall shrubs/grasses in front of the greenish framing so you don't notice that as much....and eventually, we will put in a patio at the bottom of the stairs running to the edge of the deck.   

 This is the board in particular that is so dark and distracting, but there isn't much we can do about it. 

 Lots of different wood tones in this corner!

And that is the end of my story.  I'm very glad it's over, and I'm sure we will be sealing it every single summer since there isn't much UV protection in a clear coating like this.  Here is a little before and after sealer photo for fun:

If you are curious about Ready Seal, it is a very nice product and very easy to use.  I would definitely recommend it! 

 

We got a new deck

So, the entire summer we've been stressing over and paying installments for a brand new deck!  I still have to seal the wood...but here it is!

Not sure if I've really shared many photos of the sad 14'x14' deck we had before, but here it is in all it's glory. 

And the best view, the wonky leaning stairs.  This photo is not altered in any way.  Whenever family or friends express surprise that we didn't just 'fix up the deck' I show them this photo. 

The stairs were absolutely falling apart, the stringer was totally cracked at the top, and of course they were sinking into the ground.  

Not to mention all the rotted wood, we were finding more and more spots after the previous owner's attempt to camouflage the worn deck started peeling off. 

Are you thinking about trying 'Deck Over' on your old deck?  I wouldn't recommend it!  It peels off after one winter.  Rather than trying to fix what we had, and spend who knows how much making the stairway safe/replacing it, we decided to just replace the entire deck and enjoy it as long as we live here.  This way, we could configure the stairs in a more logical spot near the door, and we could make the deck bigger since we use it all the time.  I had three contractors come bid, and two were very high (over 15K!) for a 21x14 deck, the third was around 9k and came recommended by neighbors, so we hired them.  I won't lie, the process was terribly stressful.  This hole in our siding was there for several days.

I quickly found out why this company was so cheap.  The communication was bad, and only about half of my requests made it from the owner to the guys doing the actual work.  If I hadn't been home while they were working, the deck would not have been as long as it should be (I wanted it to reach the end of the dining room window) the far end would've been angled instead of straight, the stairs would've been in the wrong spot, and the Trex lighting would not have been added.  Whew!  Luckily, I was there and everything was done properly. 

We don't like the look of composite decking, so we opted to go with pine decking and cedar railings.  I didn't want cedar on the floor because of how easy it is to scratch, and our deck guy wouldn't do pine railings because of the tendency of pine to twist.  He upgraded the railings to cedar for just a couple hundred extra.

 When it started coming together, it was very exciting!

Our deck guy wrapped the entire frame with cedar at no cost, which was great because the pine framing is not attractive.  You can see it half-wrapped above.  At his suggestion, we did a landing for the stairway.  If the kids fall, they will only go down 5 steps instead of 8!  We totally love it.

We opted for the modern black aluminum balusters, and we are so glad we paid a little extra for this.  It totally changes the look of the deck.

You can really see in this photo the difference in shade between the cedar railings and the pine decking.  I will admit, I hate the difference, but I think once I stain/seal it will match better.

The cedar is already starting to turn gray, so I'm going to be cleaning everything well this weekend and using Ready Seal on the entire thing.  This is the company our deck builder recommended, and they send you a sample jar of all of their colors plus handy little swatches on cedar and pine for $15 shipping.  Great deal!  I'm going to post about that as soon as it's done.  Until then, we are loving it all!

Ok, I'm not loving my ugly chair cushions, and we are actually missing some.  I desperately want new cushions and pillows, but we just can't spend any more money on this area this year.  I think I will treat myself to some great ones next spring while the selection is huge. 

I don't have a close photo of the hideous light that was up here, but you can see it in one of the before pictures up top.  I received a free cylinder light like we have in the front because they sent me an LED one rather than standard bulb.  They don't want the incorrect one back, so I put the LED fixture back here.  It's big, but it works great!

 Our stairs have low voltage lighting going down, and it is glorious at night. 

 It looks so pretty, and will look so much better once all our clutter is put away. 

 The landing makes the deck look so much fancier and pricier than it was!

We plan to build a patio at the bottom of the deck, and the slight alcove created by the stairs extending past the deck makes a perfect area for planting.  Right now, it's perfect for storing toys and our grill. 

On this side of the deck, we were eager to cover the view of the river rock.  Loose rock was not our first choice, but the guys doing the work didn't get the memo that we wanted crushed limestone so we could compact it.  Remember those communication issues?  Yeah, us too.  Anyway, I bought some nice native prairie perennials and we set to work digging out the grass and planting them. 

It was hard work, but we did it.  Zach loved taking all the 'sod' and putting it in the lawn and leaf bags.  He wouldn't wait for us to get most of the dirt off, so I hope the workers take these heavy bags! 

The planting area will wrap around the front side of the deck, we will worry about that next year. 

Almost everything I planted here is tall, the false sunflower on the corner can get 6 feet tall and 3 feet around!  The purple flame grass get 4-5' tall, the Baby Joe Pye Weed is about 4' tall, the Shasta daisies are 3-4' tall, and the black eyed susan will stay about the height it is now. 

It is our ultimate plan to have the garbage and recycling cans live in the garage, but for now they just don't fit.  We won't plant anything in front of the cans until they get into their new spot. 

So far, the kids are pretty excited about the deck.  There are still some rough spots and splintered wood around the screws that I have to take care of, but I'm mostly ok with them running around barefoot.  Ok, only Zach comes out here because Ashford hates being outside.  WHY??  It's so sad!

And here is what it looks like at dusk with the lights on.  Moody!

We eventually want to add some string lights, but for now, the deck post lights are awesome.  And here are some fun before and afters for you.

 
  Thanks for reading!