Deck Refinishing Do's and Don'ts

If you have been following along, you know I have been obsessively talking about the outdoors. I shared our front porch reveal, an easy outdoor living design and how I daydream about decks and patios. So today we are continuing that obsession by talking about the best way (in my opinion) to refinish your deck! I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say we are not as awesome as Young House Love because we did not build a new deck but we did bring some life back into our old one. We Tim faced a lot of trial and error in refinishing our deck. I told him from the start that this would be his project but that I would help paint. The end result was amazing but there a few times I wasn't sure that we would make it.

Way's we thought we could get the paint off:
Power washer-NO (but we did use it to clean the siding)
Paint Strippers/Thinners- NO (we tried this one and this one)

How we DID get the paint off:
A Belt Sander- Tim did each board individually. If anyone knows of a better way, pleas share!! If your boards are flatter, you may be able to use an orbital sander but ours were too uneven.

What paint we put on:
We purchased Olympic Maximum Stain and Sealant in One (Solid Color-Autumn Brown). We used multiple brushes and rollers. I used smaller brushes to get in little crevices and a larger brush to get in between boards.

FEATURES
-Enhanced Waterproofing Protection
-Advanced SunBlock® UV Defense
-Extends Color Life
-Exclusive Scuff Guard® Technology
-Provides Our Best Mildew-Resistant Coating

Other Tips:
-We also cleaned it with Olympic deck cleaner
-An employee at Lowes told us about this little thing called a painting mitt (best.invention.ever) If you plan to paint any railings in the near future go ahead and pick one or 5 up! You're welcome :)
-Get as many volunteers as you can. This could have went a lot faster had we had some more helpers.
-You may already know about this one but instead of cleaning out your rollers and brushes every day, wrap them up in saran wrap tightly, stick them in the fridge and they will keep fresh for a few days.
-Make sure the deck is completely dry before you start and make sure to check the weather because the new paint needs about 48 hrs of dry time. If it rains, you will have to touch it up or possibly redo it.

 So the backyard was definitely one of the major selling features of the house for us. We loved the size of the deck and yard and knew it would be perfect for our every day and entertaining. All it needed was a little love, right? We may have underestimated how much work it would be. We did get an estimate to have the work done but figured we could tackle it ourselves and save the money! Not only was it in pretty rough condition, the color just wasn't doing anything for us. You can see that Artie wanted to help but we only let him be a spectator.

 You can see that we didn't get ALL of the paint off. But it covered really well in the first coat! I put down a few samples before we started (not that it mattered, we had already bought the paint. They do not sell sample sizes for this product so we just had to cross our fingers.) We actually came to an agreement on the color pretty easily. I think it compliments the siding color and blends in well with the fence and trees.

TA-DA! I love the dark stain that we chose because it doesn't show much dirt at all. I also think it makes the teal and yellow really pop! I put "after" because the deck is finished although we do have a few things left to take care of to complete the look. We have a new security light to put up (that's oil-rubbed bronze) We need a few more lights to string to the other half of the house. There is some trim work around the doors that needs my attention. The red paint was just slapped on and is all over the almond colored trim. Not sure what to get it off with so thinking I will have to find a paint to match the trim and cover it up. Oh and we need a new roof too...no big deal.

Here's hoping the mosquitoes go away soon so I can actually enjoying the deck without being bitten 5 million times.

Do you have any additional tips to add? Should I put something to the left of the door?

Sources:
Yellow tub chairs: World Market (no longer available)
Table: Target
Umbrella: Target
String Lights: Target (no longer available)
Teal Paint (on doors): Valspar La Fonda Teal
Door Hardware: Lowes

Linking up with Remodelaholic, Nancherrow and Work it Wednesday