How to Stain Your Deck the Easy Way (and a HomeRight Giveaway)

We have lived in our house for over 9 years.

Since we bought new, we’re approaching that time where things around the home start showing some age. The carpet starts looking ratty, the outside of the house needs a fresh coat, you have nicks on your walls, and appliances start going downhill. For the last year, we knew we needed to stain our deck, but we kept putting it off since it’s not the most fun thing in the world to do, and it is totally time consuming.

We were feeling like we were starting to get the stink eye from our neighbors, so we decided to bite the bullet and get it over with.

First, we started by pressure washing the entire deck to remove all the gunk that has been accumulating out there for way too long.

After letting it fully dry for 24 hours, we repaired a couple of the broken boards.

One of our cats used to like to step out onto the deck and sun himself, and one day he did a little wondering and got stuck underneath, so we had to pop-off one of the warped and broken boards to pull him out.

After the pressure washing and repairing the boards, Topher was already sick of this project, so we decided to use our secret weapon to hurry this along. Remember me telling you about my awesome HomeRight Finish Max that I have used on several projects (like my Ivory Cabinet, Turquoise Dining Set, and my Retro Dresser)?  Well why not use it to spray on the stain for the deck?

We started by spraying on the support posts and the spindles (basically anything wooden, vertical, and skinny).

When it came time to do the decking and steps, I was excited to use my new HomeRight Deck Pro Stain Stick with a Gap Wheel.  I’ve ogled these in the store, and when Homeright sent me one I couldn’t wait to use it!

It comes in three pieces: the stick, replaceable applicator pad, and the “straw”.  The applicator pad just sticks on the end.

It only goes on one way and is impossible to screw up.

The straw is a tube that draws-up the stain from the can into the handle of the stick.  Basically, you insert the small end into the valve on the handle of the Stain Stick and place the other end in the container of stain.  Then you pull out the handle and the stain gets sucked into the handle’s reservoir.

It’s that simple.

The awesome people at Thompson’s sent me the stain for this project, and I used Acorn Brown.

With my fully loaded Stain Stick in hand, all I had to do was push in the plunger when I needed more stain, and then apply it evenly.

The gap wheel does a great job getting between the planks so you don’t get that half-finished look.

Not much to mess up.

We have two tiers to our deck (about 200 square feet), and using the Stain Stick, it took me about two hours to complete the first coat — then we ran out of stain, so as soon as we get another gallon, I’ll put a second coat on the decking.  I love that I know how long it will take, and I’ll only have to budget a couple of hours to knock it out.

Once I finished, clean-up was a breeze.

First, I peeled off the applicator and threw it away (I’ll grab another at the store before I use it again).  Then I filled a bucket with warm water and a few of squirts of soap and went through a couple of cycles of filling it up and and squirting it out.  Then I repeated the process with only warm water.

When it was all squeaky clean, I set it in the garage until I need it again (or until my neighbor borrows it for his deck…).

I finished just in time to move the chairs back up top, pour a glass of wine, and enjoy this amazing sunset.

And here’s the best part:  HomeRight is giving away a Deck Pro with Gap Wheel Stain Stick to a lucky reader down below! Just follow the Rafflecopter instructions! Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway