Handyman Costs and DIY for Deck Staining

My deck needs to be cleaned and stained. We have never done it since we moved in our house (just under 3 years). The people before us had built the deck, and I guess it looks like it’s painted not stained. I was thinking we would need to pay someone to do it, because we don’t have a lot of time. But I am clueless as it what that would cost. And if that is too much, what are the steps for DIY ? I read conflicting things on do I need to sand it all, parts, or not needed. And kinds of stain, cost to rent a power washer, etc.

I roughly measured it, and while it’s not a perfect rectangle, it’s 20 x 13. I think the railings would take a lot of time too. And I wouldn’t know the best way to do that.

I’m trying to upload pics, but nothing shows up in the box to do it. I don’t know if it’s my end or the sites end.

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First, nice deck, Dendro. And I’m digging your storage shed. I’ve only ever seen one other barn shed, and it’s our neighborhood. For all I know, Bob lives there.
I know very little about the things you need answers to, but it seems like if you want to stain your deck, you’d need to remove the paint first, because you want to stain the wood, not the paint that seems to be on your deck. Again, no experience with this stuff, but it seems like it would be a lot of extra labor to remove the paint before starting with the stain. Obviously, more labor = more money.
I would think you could go to either Home Advisor or Angie’s List and have three different people come out to give you estimates and tell you whether or not you need to remove what’s already on the wood. Side note: I’ve just downloaded those two apps to find a painter for some work at my house. I don’t know if either site is any good. Usually, I go by word of mouth from neighbors, and by what businesses I see most often in our neighborhood. Those options might work for you, too, unless you don’t really know your neighbors well.

Whatever you do make sure you put a good water resistant sealer on it. I would make sure to sand everything down, stain and then seal. A lot of work decks can be

I prefer a nice, clean, smooth deck....

PS Make sure you hire a guy that isn't an idiot. The last house I lived in the owner found a guy online to come out and power wash the deck, a bit bigger than the one in the pics. Owner was going to stain it himself. The day the guy was supposed to show up to wash the deck I came home from work and some random ass dude was washing the deck next door(which was in a sad shape and had never been done in the 8 or so years I had lived there). Breaking news dude showed up and worked on the wrong deck....for free. He ended up coming back a week later and did the correct one.

PPS from your pics the stain looks almost to be the exact same we used....It last 2-3 years then has to be washed and done again. Also railings are an extra cost and probably get done every 2 or 3 washings/staining.

I would also like to add that I find the lack of any sort of grill on that deck extremely disturbing.

tGreenWay wrote:First, nice deck, Dendro. And I’m digging your storage shed. I’ve only ever seen one other barn shed, and it’s our neighborhood. For all I know, Bob lives there.
I know very little about the things you need answers to, but it seems like if you want to stain your deck, you’d need to remove the paint first, because you want to stain the wood, not the paint that seems to be on your deck. Again, no experience with this stuff, but it seems like it would be a lot of extra labor to remove the paint before starting with the stain. Obviously, more labor = more money.
I would think you could go to either Home Advisor or Angie’s List and have three different people come out to give you estimates and tell you whether or not you need to remove what’s already on the wood. Side note: I’ve just downloaded those two apps to find a painter for some work at my house. I don’t know if either site is any good. Usually, I go by word of mouth from neighbors, and by what businesses I see most often in our neighborhood. Those options might work for you, too, unless you don’t really know your neighbors well.  

Do you live in lower Manhattan or something?

I have a permanent place to stay on the Upper West side, but otherwise, no. Why?

Edit: Just saw the bolded portion. AFAIK, there’s only one barn shed where I live. What’s the big deal? Are you a barn shed snob?

tGreenWay wrote:I have a permanent place to stay on the Upper West side, but otherwise, no. Why?

Edit: Just saw the bolded portion. AFAIK, there’s only one barn shed where I live. What’s the big deal? Are you a barn shed snob?

Lol, they were everywhere where I use to live in MI. I had one.

The one I’ve seen is along Grand River near Harrison. It’s not huge. The only ones for sale I found around here are much bigger, although not as big as a real barn, and that one comes with neither livestock nor trap doors.

pulling69 wrote:I would also like to add that I find the lack of any sort of grill on that deck extremely disturbing.

The grill is just off of the deck. So don’t get your whitey tighties in a bunch. ;-). I didn’t want it near my deck flowers.

tGreenWay wrote:First, nice deck, Dendro. And I’m digging your storage shed. I’ve only ever seen one other barn shed, and it’s our neighborhood. For all I know, Bob lives there.
I know very little about the things you need answers to, but it seems like if you want to stain your deck, you’d need to remove the paint first, because you want to stain the wood, not the paint that seems to be on your deck. Again, no experience with this stuff, but it seems like it would be a lot of extra labor to remove the paint before starting with the stain. Obviously, more labor = more money.
I would think you could go to either Home Advisor or Angie’s List and have three different people come out to give you estimates and tell you whether or not you need to remove what’s already on the wood. Side note: I’ve just downloaded those two apps to find a painter for some work at my house. I don’t know if either site is any good. Usually, I go by word of mouth from neighbors, and by what businesses I see most often in our neighborhood. Those options might work for you, too, unless you don’t really know your neighbors well.  

Yea most I know have some kind of barn looking shed. This is a large one, but it’s kinda in rough shape. Parts are rotted through. I would like to replace it with a new one, but it’s jist not a priority and probably won’t be.

pulling69 wrote:I prefer a nice, clean, smooth deck....

PS Make sure you hire a guy that isn't an idiot. The last house I lived in the owner found a guy online to come out and power wash the deck, a bit bigger than the one in the pics. Owner was going to stain it himself. The day the guy was supposed to show up to wash the deck I came home from work and some random ass dude was washing the deck next door(which was in a sad shape and had never been done in the 8 or so years I had lived there). Breaking news dude showed up and worked on the wrong deck....for free. He ended up coming back a week later and did the correct one.

PPS from your pics the stain looks almost to be the exact same we used....It last 2-3 years then has to be washed and done again. Also railings are an extra cost and probably get done every 2 or 3 washings/staining.

The railings look ok, but I don’t care for the color. It’s too orange for me.

But damn, that other house sure got lucky . You, not so much. Supposedly, this guy on my neighbors app said he’s done others in the neighborhood and would give me an estimate. I could always see what he says and get his references.

Dendrobates wrote:

pulling69 wrote:I prefer a nice, clean, smooth deck....

PS Make sure you hire a guy that isn't an idiot. The last house I lived in the owner found a guy online to come out and power wash the deck, a bit bigger than the one in the pics. Owner was going to stain it himself. The day the guy was supposed to show up to wash the deck I came home from work and some random ass dude was washing the deck next door(which was in a sad shape and had never been done in the 8 or so years I had lived there). Breaking news dude showed up and worked on the wrong deck....for free. He ended up coming back a week later and did the correct one.

PPS from your pics the stain looks almost to be the exact same we used....It last 2-3 years then has to be washed and done again. Also railings are an extra cost and probably get done every 2 or 3 washings/staining.

The railings look ok, but I don’t care for the color. It’s too orange for me.

But damn, that other house sure got lucky . You, not so much. Supposedly, this guy on my neighbors app said he’s done others in the neighborhood and would give me an estimate. I could always see what he says and get his references.

Get an estimate. I suggest doing it yourself since everything except the deck surface looks okay. Have a Porter Cable orbital sander I'll loan you to hit high spots...the sanding pads are on you. Rent a pressure washer but use it gently. Look into deck restoration products like Rust-Oleum Restore

Dendrobates wrote:

pulling69 wrote:I prefer a nice, clean, smooth deck....

PS Make sure you hire a guy that isn't an idiot. The last house I lived in the owner found a guy online to come out and power wash the deck, a bit bigger than the one in the pics. Owner was going to stain it himself. The day the guy was supposed to show up to wash the deck I came home from work and some random ass dude was washing the deck next door(which was in a sad shape and had never been done in the 8 or so years I had lived there). Breaking news dude showed up and worked on the wrong deck....for free. He ended up coming back a week later and did the correct one.

PPS from your pics the stain looks almost to be the exact same we used....It last 2-3 years then has to be washed and done again. Also railings are an extra cost and probably get done every 2 or 3 washings/staining.

The railings look ok, but I don’t care for the color. It’s too orange for me.

But damn, that other house sure got lucky . You, not so much. Supposedly, this guy on my neighbors app said he’s done others in the neighborhood and would give me an estimate. I could always see what he says and get his references.

Wear a bikini when he shows up for said estimate, can't hurt The stain when it goes on is always a bit "brighter" of a color. Mention it to the pro and I am sure they can suggest a better one to go with that won't be as colorful.

I stained our front porch a couple of years ago. I had a few thin spots to touch up. I didn't want to walk to them with shoes on so I did the touch ups barefoot, thinking I would hose off my feet afterwards. Nope, that shit stained the bottom of my feet permanently pretty much instantly. I'm probably going to get the foot cancer down the road.

Moral of the story: wait for that shit to dry first.

Here ya go, Pylon:

I bet they used Cedartone Thompson's Water Seal from Menards.
https://www.menards.com/main/exterior-stain/exterior-wood-stains/semi-transparent-stain/thompsons-reg-water-seal-reg-deck-house-oil-stain-semi-transparent/16331/p-1444444987711.htm

I only say that because it looks identical to the color I stained my deck.