Deck stripping, staining, waterproofing , restoration

As the season comes to a close for staining decks and fences, I often get calls regarding on what to do or how to do it. I believe we get the calls because of the quality of work we put out when we do a deck. Deck stripping is tricky business. A lot of decks are covered with inferior paints and stains that have to be removed properly to get a quality finish as an end result. This is neither fun or easy. It is not fun even if you know how to do it properly. You can tell that it is not easy by the cost involved just for stripping. Those range from $1.50- $2.00 a square ft just for that part of the process. Add in sanding the felt, fuzz or fur created by the stripping and you tag on another $1 per foot. So a complete well done project is in the $4-$5 range. 

I believe this is why people who want a deck -build out of synthetic decking or paint the wood instead of re staining it. This of course creates more maintenance later if you paint and does not look anywhere near as nice or as intended. (save the paint for house and home siding where it belongs)

So what do you do on that half baked, bad stain or painted deck before you at the end of summer?

I tell people that we can strip and clean it for you then visit it next spring when it can be nice and dry to stain it. I always recommend this for cedar. I like the way cedar accepts the stain after a season of... Seasoning. I believe cedar is stained to early by most deck builders. Cedar leaches natural oils out of it when new. Staining over this with inferior stains hinders this process. Another reason why choosing a quality stain is important. We never use organic oils or acrylic stains. The first will rot even with mold inhibitors and the second will burn flake and peel and is hard to remove. 

We use stains that can be re applied naturally as a color reviver every season with no adverse  or unusual lap marks. 

So go ahead- strip and clean the deck now and stain later when it is nice and dry for several days with no eminent rain.

Or call Fast Finish and shell out a few bucks so you can enjoy the finer things in life.., like a beautiful finished deck.