Deck Restore

We bought our house 5 years ago, and we love many things about it. One of the horrible things, however, is the fact that the previous owners painted the wooden decks. Yes, that's right: painted. For those unfamiliar with why that would be a problem here in New York State where we have months of dark wet weather, months of frigid temperatures and snow, and months of scorching hot sun, well I'll summarize it in one word: maintenance. Oh yes, a freshly painted deck is really beautiful, but soon it becomes a peeling wreck. Combine that with the fact that I loathe painting (well, actually the surface prep more than the actual painting) and it becomes apparent why painted decks make me shiver.

So. My decks were peeling and disgusting as I have only repainted them once since moving in, about three years ago. The time had come. A couple of weeks ago my son and I repainted the black metal on alllll of the patio furniture with a satin RustOleum which really came out beautifully, despite the nightmare of using an oil-based paint with a teenager. To begin, we removed all of the furniture from the deck and painted it on the lawn, so then it made sense to suck it up and remove the fountain and all the flowers from the deck and to get scraping. We also had our patio door replaced at that same time so it just made sense follow through with everything. So here's a visual: furniture, flowers, rolled up carpet all surrounding the deck. It is chaos and getting the deck painted was the only way to relieve that chaos - good incentive to get things rolling. Then the heat wave hit. Temps near 100 plus high humidity is not only something I run indoors for but it's also not good for painting, so that delayed me until this week.

My front "deck", which is really an 8'x8' platform in front of my main entrance, seems to peel the most. The Home Depot guy told me about a product that people have been raving about - Deck Restore - and suggested I try it. It wasn't cheap, but I used it on the front deck and it looks like it will do the trick. It was a pain to apply because the roller that comes with the kit is this huge waffly thing, and the stuff splattered everywhere, but it scrapes off skin easily, and washing the roller and pan was very easy with the garden hose. It contains some sort of sand or silica, so it creates a rough and textured surface that seems like it will hold up well. I'm very pleased with the appearance, too.

From the Synta's website:

If your deck is old and ugly but still structurally sound, don't replace it. DECK RESTORE™ is a durable coating product formulated to resurface most wooden and composite decks while providing lasting protection against moisture and the damaging effects of the sun. It also provides excellent slip resistance and locks down splinters. Designed for a variety of applications, it is the most cost effective, and environmentally conscious way to revitalize wood surfaces. Available in 20 colors.

I realized I did not want to apply the same product on the back deck, though, given the application challenges, so I just scraped my heart out yesterday and gave that deck a coat of Behr paint today. I'll wait a few days to give it a second coat, but it already looks beautiful, too. My body is aching, but I am feeling like I have accomplished a lot. Hopefully my deck will be back together by mid next week, and can switch my focus from home projects to getting ready for school. Gulp.

the kit, which they say covers a 10'x10' area with 2 coats, and I think that's pretty accurate

"Timberline", the color I used

the type of RustOleum I used on the patio furniture