Deck repair and finishing

This is Part 2 of our 2020 deck project. In Part 1, I take you on the journey to fix our deck. It’s a tale all about the small repair we needed on the deck that morphed into weeks of renovation for our Contractor, James! You can check out all the details here. I’m so glad all of that is finally done so that I can start on my part of the project!

Table Of Contents

My turn – painting
A couple more repairs
Little post boxes
More sanding
Faux stain
Top coat on old stain
Installing the post boxes
Completed deck
Supplies Used
For your convenience

My turn – painting

While James was working on repairing the deck, I was working on the other backyard projects. When his portion of the deck was finished, it was my turn. As I mentioned in Part 1, the work I did on the deck last year was to only do a few paint touch-ups on the railing. This year, I took the time to peel any loose paint and sand those areas well before doing touch-ups. Well, I did end up repainting all of the railings. The tools I find that work best when painting railing is a small artist brush and a small roller. As you can see, I’m a messy painter which is one of the reasons I prefer water-based paint!

The paint color is teal when you see it in person. Some of the pictures make it look bluer, others more greenish. I first bought this paint a couple of years ago at Lowes, the brand was Olympic Assure in Deep Emerald.

When I needed more this year, Lowes told me they no longer carried Olympic paints but could mix it in their exterior Valspar brand. I had the old can with me so they used the formula that was printed on the lid.

A couple more repairs

While I was peeling paint, I discovered that one of the spindles on the lower deck was falling apart! Knowing that James was booked solid, I decided to do a temporary fix until he can come here to replace this one spindle.

To strengthen the spindle, I bought a piece of 1 1/4″ flat trim and used my miter saw to cut it into 3 pieces. I applied two coats of paint and then attached the trim to the railing with Elmer’s wood glue. I used clamps to hold the pieces in place while the glue dried then used my nail gun to secure them.

The 2nd repair was to replace another rotten board that I found while peeling paint. This one is at the base of the lower set of stairs.

It was also one that I felt like I could repair myself. What I didn’t know was that to make it fit, I’d need to use my jigsaw. As you can see in the ‘after’ pic, my cut is just a bit crooked. Ah well, I don’t know too many people who will be looking very closely at this little piece of wood. Since I had extra wood & my tools and paint out, I also replaced the kickboard at the bottom of the stairs.

Little post boxes

There are a few posts on the deck that move a bit when you grab them, especially if you are using them as a support when going down the stairs; and although James secured them, I wanted to make sure they would stay that way. I had been using angle irons to help stabilize them before we replaced the floorboards but those looked a bit tacky. Wouldn’t it be better to build little ‘boxes’ to go around the base of each post? Not only would they help stabilize the posts, but would cover the bottom of the posts. Over the years as I’ve sanded the floorboards, the posts have taken a beating.

While I’ve not built ‘footings’ like this before, I had all the tools I needed to make them so I decided to give it a try. I bought 1″ x 6″ & 1″ x 3″ boards (3 of each) for the little boxes. Since these were pretty smooth, they just needed a light sanding. I applied two coats of paint to all sides before cutting them to the sizes that I needed. There are 15 posts between the two decks & the bottom set of stairs. You’d think they were all the same size, right? Nope! I had to measure each post several times while cutting the pieces. Since the post locations on the deck are different, the number of pieces per post ranged from 4 to 7. I used both my miter and jig saws for this task.

Once all the pieces were cut, I assembled the boxes. To attach the pieces, I used Elmer’s Wood Glue then secured the pieces with my nail gun. I first attached the 1″ x 3″ boards that would be at the base of each box and the 1″ x 6″ boards that would go around the post. I used clamps to hold the pieces together as the glue dried. After the glue dried firmly on both sections, I glued & nailed the top of the box to the base. Once each box was assembled, I filled in the nail holes & gaps with wood putty then did touch up paint. I numbered each box to know which box went to which post, then set them aside to be installed after the staining was done.

More sanding

When we decided to replace all the floorboards on the lower deck, I made a comment to James, ‘That’s going to save me a lot of sanding time!’ He replied, ‘You’ll still need to do a light sanding before you stain’. Well, that’s disappointing! Then it rained! Normally, that’s just fine. In fact, James said that if we didn’t get rain, I should wet the boards occasionally to allow them to weather a bit before I stained. But in this case, the rain covered many of the boards with black. I don’t know exactly why this happens to my deck (and outdoor cushions), but I’ve been told that it isn’t mold but something that comes from one of our trees. So, now, instead of just a light sand, I would need to use sandpaper with a bit more grit.

Also, the wood we used on the floorboards is a bit rough and splintery. So, when it was time to sand, I decided to start with 80 grit sandpaper and then work my way to 150 grit.

I had hoped the sanding would take less time than it usually does and it did take a bit less time, just not quite what I was hoping for. All in all, though, I had the sanding done in one day! One, very long day, but one day! As I finished each section of the sanding, I used my shop vac to vacuum up the sawdust in all the grooves then used a slightly damp cloth to wipe down the boards. If you don’t do this, you risk the stain not seeping in well.

Staining

When James was removing the previously stained floorboards on the upper deck, he commented that he really liked the way the stain looked. I liked it too! Since the top rail, landing, and top set of stairs was still stained with the Behr Wood Treatment, I told him I might try a faux stain technique to see if I could match; or, at least coordinate with those pieces.

When I initially started on the deck this year (see Part 1), I purchased 3 gallons of the Behr Wood Treatment, which is a water-based stain. But, before I started staining the new wood, I did a little more research on which is the best stain for deck flooring. I have heard that oil-based stain is better as long as it has a mildew & mold resistant additive. Since this was the first time I would be working on ‘virgin’ deck wood, I really wanted to do it right in hopes of it lasting more than one or two seasons. I researched the Behr product again and read reviews about how it peeled within a year even though the claim on the can is that it lasts 4 years on decks.

Then, I remembered that is what happened to mine too! It took two years, but it just peeled right up.

So I researched oil-based stains and decided on Olympic’s Elite Stain & Sealant in Natural. It states that only 1 light coat is recommended, it is fungi resistance, and provides 4 years of protection. I returned the 2 unopened gallons of the Behr product and bought 2 gallons of the Olympic stain. (**I ended up using less than 1 gallon so we returned the 2nd one**)

As I mentioned earlier, I’m a water-based gal because I’m a messy painter and also because I just don’t like to clean brushes with thinner. But, I had used an oil-based sealer earlier this summer on a couple of projects and was actually able to get the brushes clean!

Faux stain

Now that I had my new stain, it was time to find out if I could actually do a faux technique that would coordinate with my previous stain. I had a small piece of the old stained wood and a couple of pieces of the new deck wood. When I was at Home Depot buying stain, I also bought a tiny can of Ebony oil-based stain. To try to recreate the look, using a small artist brush, I brushed on a few lines of Ebony stain onto the new wood. Before the Ebony stain had a chance to dry, I applied a coat of the Natural colored Olympic oil-based stain. It actually looked somewhat like the sample of the old stain!!! I just needed to add a bit more of the Ebony stain.

Now it was time to take the technique to the new deck floor. I started on the lower deck, applying the Ebony and some Provincial (dark brown) stains with a small artist brush followed by the Olympic stain using a larger paintbrush. I worked on each side of the stairs, leaving the centerboards bare so I could still utilize the lower deck. I then moved to the upper deck and stained the inner and outer edges. Once those were done, I stained the centerboards of the top deck, working backward toward the upper set of steps. I followed that process on the lower deck, backing myself up until it was complete.

I noticed that the boards reacted differently to the application. Some of the boards turned more golden, some turned a little orangy. The Ebony stain really grabbed on the center section of both the upper and lower deck. I think this is due to the fact that I was working on 6 boards at a time and the temp was pretty hot. Even though I was working under an umbrella, the stain had a chance to sink in well before I applied the topcoat.

The last section to stain was the lower stairs. I used a box to hold the small cans of stain. I also had a jar of thinner in this box to swish the small paintbrush between using the Ebony & Provincial stains.

Top coat on old stain

After all the new wood was stained, I noticed that the original Behr stain looked slightly dull. I thought that if I could brighten it up a little, the faux stain would blend with it better.

Although I’m not sure how it will wear, I thought I would apply a few coats of the oil-based Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane I had used on other projects earlier this summer. After all, the Behr product might peel anyway and this topcoat may even prevent that from happening! Following the directions on the can, I applied three light coats, allowing them to dry and doing a fine sanding between coats. Boy, did that make a difference! Now the old and new stain looked really good together.

Installing the post boxes

After allowing a few days for the new stain to dry really well, I installed the boxes I had built for the bottom of each post. I was so thankful that I had numbered the boxes!

To install them, I used screws in case I want to remove them next time I work on the deck. Hubby thinks I used a bit too many screws per box and he is probably right but I wanted to make sure they held the posts firmly.

For most of the boxes, I used 2 screws on each side of the post and 2-3 to secure the base to the deck floor. It is amazing how stable these posts are now! Both of us love the finished look these boxes give to the deck!

Completed deck

While it took weeks for the 2020 Deck Project to be completed, it was well worth the wait! We are so loving the look! The deck will now last another 25 years!