.png)
Deck Refinishing: Restoring Beauty and Durability
Your deck takes more abuse than any other surface on the property. Sun, sprinklers, foot traffic and whatever came off the grill last August. Sooner or later it stops looking like the deck you paid for. Here's how a refinish actually goes, start to finish.
The Deck Revival Plan
Step 1: Clear it off and look at it properly
Before anything else, move the furniture, the planters and everything else off the deck. With it bare, walk the whole thing. You're looking for loose or cupped boards, nails backing out, soft spots, and anything structural that has moved. Fix those first. There's no point putting finish over a board that needs replacing.
Redwood Deck - Before Redwood Deck - After
Step 2: Sand it, or don't
Depending on the age and condition, sanding may not be necessary at all. Often a scrub with a wood brightener does the job. It cleans the surface and pulls back a fair amount of the original color on its own.
If the deck has been out there a while and looks it, light sanding with an orbital sander is the better call. It takes off the tired top layer and exposes clean wood underneath, which is what makes the stain go on even.
Clean the deck down before you go any further. Stain over dust is a wasted weekend.
Step 3: A Little Bit Of Color
Now the finish. Pick a good deck stain or oil, apply it evenly with a brush, roller or sprayer, and follow the manufacturer's directions on coats and dry time. Most of the bad results we get called out to look at are application shortcuts, not bad product.
On hardwoods like Ipe or Mangaris/Kayu Batu, we use Penofin oil or Ipe oil.
On softwoods like Redwood or Cedar, we generally go with a waterproofing stain and sealer from Behr or Cabot. Those hold up best against sun and rain here.
On softwood you've got four choices: solid, semi-solid, semi-transparent and transparent. They're really one scale, running from most coverage to least.
Semi-solid and semi-transparent: color goes on but the grain still reads through. This is where most of our softwood decks land.
Solid stain: behaves like paint. Uniform color, and it covers imperfections. The right call when the boards have seen better days and you'd rather not look at every mark.
Transparent: barely any color, just a tint and some protection. Best on wood you still want to look like wood.
Which one you pick comes down to how the boards look now and how much of the wood you want to see. There's no wrong answer here, only a wrong match to the deck you've got.
Step 4: Let It Rest
Let the stain or oil dry at least 24 hours before the furniture goes back on or anyone walks it. Rushing this is the most common way a good refinish gets ruined.
Worth doing, and worth doing right
Refinishing takes a weekend and some patience, and it pays for itself. A deck that gets refinished on schedule lasts years longer than one that doesn't, and it looks better the whole time.
It also isn't a job everybody wants, and that's fair. Plenty of homeowners would rather hand it off. We do refinishing as well as new builds, so if you'd rather not spend the weekend on your knees with a sander, call us at (818) 345-2866.
