Hit the Deck
When we first moved here, we had plans of tearing our deck down and building a large family room in it's place. We have three growing girls that are almost 5, almost 6, and almost 11. We foresee entertaining lots of houseguests (read: giggly girly girls) in our home within the next few years. We weren't really crazy about our deck either...the way the boards were layed out was kind of weird and we just didn't care for the general design. AND it was just too big. That sounds nuts, but it really was. It was multi-tiered and the tiers consisted of the main large deck, a smaller teir off from our sunroom, and another tier on the other side of the deck which *never* was used.
Long story short, it just wasn't in our budget to build a family room so we've decided to get the rest of the house remodeled and then think about a new room a few years down the road. But, that means we have to keep the deck. We don't want to put money into replacing it now because we still have plans of adding on family room in the future and if we can't afford that four or five years down the road, we'll rebuild the entire deck then. For now, it needs a little TLC and a major makeover so we've been working on getting it in good repair. We tore down the useless third deck, replaced some warped boards and fencing, and then built new railing and seating to close off the portion of the deck where the step to the third part once was. We're going to add some lattice so that I can add some nice climbing vines here and there to soften the hard lines.
We have to let the pressure treated would dry for a couple more weeks and then we're going to stain it with a solid stain called "Barn Red". I can't WAIT to see how it's going to turn out. Maybe we just might be inclined to use the deck when it's all fixed up.:) Here are some pics:
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4 comments:
We have had similar issues with our deck which had been allowed to weather, warp and get slick with mold. We plan to eventually tear it down and expand the back of our house, but it needs to hang around a while longer. We cleaned and after researching decided to go with a semi-transparent stain instead of a solid one. We've used solid ones other places, but with the exposure and foot traffic our deck gets the semi-transparent stain has been a lot better in that location.
Jordana
http://curmudgeonry.mu.nu
If that's not a party deck I don't know what is! I like the seats along the railing. I hope to put a deck on my home. It seems some people prefer a patio these days around where I live. I still prefer a deck. Much cleaner. Looks like your dog likes the deck too!
Jim
Thanks, Jim! We hope to more entertaining out there when it's all fixed up an pretty-fied.:)
Hi Jordana! From your research, can you tell me why semi-transparent would be a better choice than solid? How did your deck look after you stained it? My deck right now looks so rough...I hope it's nothing stain can't help:-}
We use a solid stain on our front porch and stairs. Although better than the paint we replaced, which peeled and flaked, I have to repaint areas on the stairs and porch that wear off every year.
In the two years since we did our deck with semi-transparent stain it has worn a little and needs its annual cleaning, but the stain has held up and not worn off.
In our experience, solid stains seem to act more like a paint and stay mostly on the surface, while semi-transparent exterior stains act more like any other stain, soaking into the wood and therefore not wearing off fairly quickly with high traffic.
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