How to stain a deck

Make sure you clean it properly by pressure washing it. Check out my “how to clean a deck” page for instructions on cleaning it the right way chattanooga deck builder.
Once its clean and dry start off by taping off your house and anything you don’t want to get stain on. You can buy some 1 mil plastic at your local hardware store. Make sure you close any open plastic areas.
Open your stain bucket and using a stir stick stir it up real good. You want to make sure all of the stain is mixed properly.
Always start staining the outside of the deck first, you want to leave the floor last so you can walk around and stain the rails and spindles. Start with brushing the outside and the left and right side of the spindles leaving the inside not stained.
After all spindles are stained start staining the band board and upper outer handrail. The band board is the lower part of the deck that the spindles are attached to.
Next stain all the support post and any header boards under the deck you might have. Don’t worry about staining under the deck, it’s not needed because it doesn’t see the elements like the tops and sides.
Now that the whole outer deck is done, do it again. You need 2 coats of stain to properly seal your deck.
OK 2 coats are finally done. Go ahead and do some touch-up on the outside of the deck make sure every part has an even coat.
Now for the inside of the deck. Start by staining the top of the handrails then go ahead and brush the inner side of the spindles. DON’T DRIP STAIN ANYWHERE, this will show through and look horrible. If you drip just brush it out before it dries.
OK handrails and spindles are done. Go ahead and give them another coat before we start on staining the floor.
Staining the floor can be hard on the knees so find you some knee pads and start staining next to the house brushing the deck with the grain. Brush your way down the steps. Be careful when you’re at the edge of the deck by not scraping your brush on the edge. This will leave runs on the outside of the band board.
Don’t forget to give the floor and steps another good coat of stain.
Now for the easy part. After the stain has dried you can now remove all the plastic and tape and pat yourself on the back because the deck looks great.