Adventures In Deck Staining, pt.. 4

The first thing I did was crawl about on my hands and knees to pry as much crap from between the boards as possible. Then I sprayed on some deck wash...
...and rinsed it off with the garden hose. It will foam a bit under the pressure of the water. The stuff smells like bleach and is caustic. Don't use a sprayer that has metal parts or it will corrode the metal. Don't get it in your eyes, or on your clothes. Rinse off any plants or skin with which it comes in contact. Yada, yada. yada.

If the deck wash sits for too long, it will really lighten the surface and make it tough to get a uniform final color. Of course, if there are areas that are dark with mildew, you have to let it sit for a long enough time to kill off the stuff.Just be aware that you will have a very light area when your done. Even two coats of new stain may not get it as dark as the rest of the deck. But, by golly, it will be mildew free!

Here's what the deck looked like when I got done washing it.

Front deck. It's 10' wide ad 36' long.

Side deck. "Only" 8' wide and 16' long.

Notice the dark "foot prints" in the side deck view. This is where I made a mistake last time I did the staining. I brought the stain to a hard edge and overlapped my next section. Instead, I should have feathered the edge and back stroked the stain into the previous section. (And, of course, worked fast enough so the edge never dried out.)