First Home Advice

[dslaw]

I got something called Restore instead of staining my deck. Gives it a rough finish and it ends up looking nice. Plus it is supposed to be like having Trex instead of wood so you never have to stain again. It has only been a year but it has held up so far. Comes in about 25 colors and you can get stain to match if you have rails since you can't use the Restore stuff on the rails. More expensive than stain but I wanted to try it since I was tired of staining the deck every year. I have the rails and still have to use stain on those but not nearly the pain as it was when I had to do the whole thing.

ETA: I am definitely a rookie at any home repair so if I can do it anyone can.

[DJBeasties]

Thanks everyone!

[chancellor]

I've done it and it's pretty easy, especially with two people. We used rollers. Just make sure to take care of any puddles. Go with the grain of the wood and not against.

Is your deck old and messed up? If so, I'd sand it first. Rent a floor sander from Home Depot (they're cheap, like $30 or something) and sand the whole thing in 20 minutes. If the deck is new just jump right in.

What he said. And wear safety glasses and use steel toed or safety shoes if you've got 'em. Safety glasses are a must, and steel toed shoes will save you the indignity of having to go to the emergency room to get your foot X-Rayed after a full can of water seal falls on it. Not that it's ever happened to me, mind you, just sayin'.

[heyelander]

Cripes... I am so not hiring the Sports bar to refinish my deck.