Deck Update

Finished pressure washing the deck yesterday. Then last night we headed over to Home Depot for some waterproofer/sealer. Two years ago we used clear Thompson’s and were pleased, but this time we thought we might get something with a little color. We only had a couple choices besides clear, Sheer Honey Gold or Sheer Rustic Red.

Looking at the color on the container, the Honey didn’t look like much of a change from clear. Didn’t really want to go with the Red because the house is brick and we wanted to keep a little contrast between wall and deck, but the color on the jug didn’t look too red, so we bought a couple gallons. I think this colored stuff is slightly thicker than the clear that we used 2 years before. I filled up the cheap pump sprayer I used had before and started to apply the stuff. Ick. It either comes out too fast or if I dial the nozzle back it comes out too sparsely. And boy is it red. When I did the first couple of pieces of the outside railing I called in Donna for a second opinion. We both agreed it was darker than we anticipated, but thought it looked pretty good. I ditched the sprayer and we each grabbed one of the two foam brushes we had left over from another painting job and started at it.

After about 30 minutes Donna bailed on me, the mosquitoes were awful thick and were eating her alive. I was fine by that anyway because I had told her I was happy to do the whole job myself. I stuck it out for another half hour or so until the last of the two foam brushes crumbled to uselessness.

We bought some more foam brushes on tonight’s shopping trip, so I’m all set to tackle more staining/painting/water proofing of the railings and balusters on Saturday. I’ve got a nice big old roller for the floor just standing by until I’m finished with detail work.