Staining Our Small Deck to Seal and Protect It From the Elements
This summer I decided that it was finally time to stain the small deck in the back of our house to match the garage and to seal and protect it before the harsh Chicago winter starts.
Made of pressure treated wood, the entire deck was starting to look weather beaten and splintered. I decided to clean every inch with my neighbor’s Greenworks Pressure Washer (it was super easy to use) and to give it a stain with the Wagner Spraytech stain sprayer (also super easy and quick to use).
All in all, the small deck took about 3 weekends to finish, including priming, taping, and painting the back door black as well. I probably should have taped off the back deck area as well before staining, but I decided to use the a hand-held paint sheild to contain any overspray. Unfortunately as you will see in this video, I did get some paint on the siding, which I was able to clean off with an eco-friendly vinegar and dishwashing detergent mix that I made.
For the stain, I used the Pittsburgh deck stain in Mountain Cedar.
After powerwashing the deck, I waited three days (24 hours would have sufficed, but it was raining( before applying the stain. After spraying the stain on, I let it sit for about 15 minutes before gently wiping off any excess pooling with a large sponge.
I spent another weekend painting the back door, then styled the porch area with mums and pumpkins for the fall. I plan on changing the greenery with the seasons, so be sure to follow me on Pinterest and Instagram to check back here in a few months and see what changes take place.
