Doing The Deck

When we went to the Home & Garden Show in Redmond earlier this year we stopped by a couple of painter booths to check out getting the deck done.  I think the last time it was sealed was when it was built.

One painting company just looked very pricey. They had an impressive display and explained how they first prepare the deck. First they sand everything using a massive sander that collects the sawdust, then powerwash. Everything else is protected by tarps and plastic wrap. They said their cost averages about $2/square foot.  For our deck that would be at least $2400.  A little over our budget.

The other booth we stopped at was the College Pro Painters. Their booth was definitely more sparse and there was only one young guy at a small table. He couldn't (or wouldn't) give us a round about figure so we made an appointment for him to give us an estimate.

When he came out he looked around he gave us his estimate of $665 or $750 if we included the pillars. That sounded pretty good. The catch would be we'd have to wait until late July or early August before he could come out. That's because of the weather. We had to make sure it wouldn't be rainy.

Finally he called and gave us a date for when he would come out. The first day he powerwashed everything and about a week later he would start the painting. We chose a solid color stain because otherwise the stain that was remaining would have shown through. (The deck was not sanded.)

Prior to the first painting day we decided to replace a few of the worst boards.

The old deck.  Hubby is sanding the top rail just to get it smoother for when it is painted.

We've got the new boards laid out and we are ready to get started.

 Screwing in a new board.

A few more to go.

The worst boards have been replaced.  Nothing to it!

Part of the deck painted.

I think Mr. College Pro Painter sorely miscalculated how much stain he would need.  He only had three gallons.  I think I would have started with at least five! 

Also for some unknown reason he was the only one that ever showed up. He said his "crew" were working on other paint jobs.  I also think he miscalculated how long it would take.

After the first day he managed to wrench his back putting his equipment away.  He didn't show up again for a whole week. Finally he came back, and had to return the next day because he ran out of stain again. About this time was when we told him we decided not to have the pillars done.

The deck is "done" now.  I guess you get what you pay for.  In my opinion its an okay job.  I don't think I would hire them again. We are going to buy a gallon of the stain and do some touching up in a few spots near the front of the house.  

Well, next time we know. But it should be good for a few years at least!