If you want to know how to restain a deck then this step by step guide will be the most important message you read today…
This is what you need to know…
You can easily take a deck like this…
And restain it to look like this…
Before you consider doing any staining, you need to make sure you have the right equipment for the job…
So, uhhmm…
How about I just list out what you need?
The only equipment needed to restain a deck?
Tools
- Deck Stain Bucket
- Deck brush applicator
- Deck Scrub Brush
- Paint brush
- Knee pads
- Paint stirrer
Materials
- Deck Stain
- Deck Brightener
- Rags
- Drop cloth
Honestly, that’s all you’ll need…
But before we get into how to restain a deck, you need to know that there are two types of decks that will need to be restained…
First, you have the deck that’s due for its annual maintenance coat…
This type of deck will still be in pretty good condition but it may show some signs of fading…
This is commonly referred to as an “Annual Maintenance Coat”…
That’s what this first section is for…
The second type of deck that will need to be re stained is the decking that has been left for a few years and the current stain is possibly peeling, fading and flaking off…
I’ll cover how to restain a deck like this in the second section…
But first, let’s start with the annual decking maintenance recoats…
Hey! Do you have a question?
I know you’re busy reading all about re-staining your deck, but if there’s something you’re struggling to find answers for, why don’t you just ask me?
Yep, I can be your personal deck consultant…
How to Restain a Deck in 5 Easy Steps…
- Take everything off your deck…
- Clean your deck with a brightener before restaining…
- Cut in with deck stain…
- Use the Brush On Brush Off Technique…
- Apply only 1 coat of deck stain…
That’s all there is to it…
But don’t worry, I’ll go into more detail so you know exactly what to do…
Let’s get into it…
1. Take everything off your deck…
This first step sounds pretty obvious but you’d be very surprised…
So many people try to shuffle the deck furniture around while they clean and stain it…
I don’t get it…
It’s so much easier if you take everything off and work with a clean slate…
Agreed?
Perfect…
Let’s keep going…
2. Clean your deck with a brightener before restaining…
This step is just as important as the restaining itself…
Before you apply any stain to your decking you need to make sure that you have removed any dirt, grime, gunk and especially any mould that is on the surface…
If you try to restain a deck that has any of these contaminants on the surface, they’ll end up ruining the fresh coat of stain…
You’ll think you’ve gotten away with it but about a month after you’ve restained your deck, those contaminants can cause the stain to peel or flake off…
So make sure you clean your deck properly before you restain…
I’ll give you a quick run down here…
Grab yourself a Deck brightener like this one…
This is oxalic acid which is the main ingredient in any deck brightener…
The other ingredient is water…
So mix up 1 part oxalic acid to 4 parts water in a bucket and then give your deck a scrub…
For this, you need to grab yourself a deck scrub brush…
There’s a couple of different ones on the market so make sure you get the right type of deck brush…
Now simply, scrub the deck brightener all over the surface of our deck…
Get in there real good…
Put a little elbow grease into it…
At this point, you’ll discover how unfit you are…
And you’ll also work out that your hands are really soft and supple…
Soft and supple hands don’t work when it comes to doing a “Man’s Job”…
Ok, ok…
A woman can also do it…
Didn’t mean to offend…
My point is, if you have soft hands you’re probably going to get blisters on your hands…
So you may want to grab yourself a pair of fitted gloves when you’re scrubbing your deck…
These are the ones that I really love to use…
They fit really snug so they don’t affect my grip…
I can still grab and pick things up…
You can pick up some gloves that are pretty similar at Ace Hardware…
Anyway, it’s up to you…
Back to the scrub…
While you’re scrubbing, you can’t let the deck brightener dry on the surface…
So you need to give it a light spray and keep it wet for the full 20 minutes before you pressure wash it off…
After the 20 minutes you’re good to go to the next step…
To complete the clean you need to bust out the pressure washer…
For this part, you’re gonna need a pressure washer…
Any pressure washer will do, even the cheap electric pressure washers…
Now just pressure wash that brightener from your deck…
See, it’s pretty easy right?
That’s the cleaning part done…
Just make sure that you wait 24 to 48 hours for your deck to be completely dry…
It’s a bad idea to stain a deck that’s damp…
It’s the quickest way to destroy your finished deck stain…
Just be patient and make sure your deck is dry…
Now it’s time to restain your deck…
3. Cut in with the deck stain…
Start by restaining those sections around the edge of your decking and the boards that run along the side of your house…
But make sure you never cut in and leave only part of the board stained…
Once you start a board, you need to stain the whole length of that board…
Make sense??
If you leave the stain to dry, you’ll get lap marks all over your decking…
It isn’t like painting…
The paint will always blend in whereas a deck stain won’t…
Understand?
Perfect…
Only stain 2 boards at a time and stain the whole board without stopping
Then move onto the next 2 boards…
You’ll get a beautiful finish like this…
It may seem like it’s quicker to cut in every board then restain the rest of your deck but it isn’t…
Trust in the process and you won’t be sorry…
4. Use the Brush On Brush Off Technique…
Hold on to your seats because this is where I introduce you to the infamous brush on brush off technique…
This is the technique that the pros use to get that perfect finish on your deck…
It’s also a technique that’s so easy to do that most people ignore it and go back to doing it any-old-way they like…
Looky here…
It’s a bad idea to restain your deck any other way…
Let me just outline it for you here…
- Dip your deck brush applicator into the stain bucket so the stain covers half way up the bristles…
- Press the font of the bristles against the draining board in your stain bucket…
- Now brush the stain on by brushing forward…
- Then brush the stain off by brushing backwards…
- Brush on and off allong the entire length of the 2 boards…
- Then once they’re done, brush backwards along the entire length of those 2 boards…
- Repeat until the whole deck has been restained…
That’s it…
This is definitely the best way to stain a deck…
That’s how you get the most professional looking deck finish that is humanly possible…
It’s not tricky, you just need to do it…
Remember to only stain 2 boards at a time…
Then move onto the next 2…
Keep going until you’re finished…
5. Only apply 1 coat of deck stain…
When you’re restaining a deck, you’ll only need to apply 1 coat of deck stain…
Staining a new deck is a little different…
You’ll need 2 to 3 coats…
A deck that has been sanded back will need 3 coats…
But you, my friend, have specifically asked how to restain a deck…
Which means your deck already has a coat of stain on it…
So really you’re doing your annual maintenance coat…
Or you should be…
Either way…
If your deck has an existing coat of deck stain on it, you’ll only need to apply the 1 coat…
Happy with that?
Now, if you want to know how to restain a deck to cover up old damaged deck stain, then the process is totally different…
How to restain a deck that is old and damaged…
Now this section is for those who’ve let their decking weather a little bit beyond needing a maintenance coat…
And by little bit I mean…
You’re an evil person who’s neglected your deck and should be locked up…
But no judgement here…
It’s a safe space…
No, I’m just kidding…
It happens to the best of us…
All that matters is that you’re here now and you’re trying to right your wrongs…
So I offer you forgiveness for your crimes against deckings…
And lucky for you I’m feeling generous today…
Because I’m about to lay out the do’s and don’ts of how to restain a deck that is damaged…
The only thing is that this process of restaining a deck is a lot more involved than a simple maintenance coat so I’ve included links to previous articles on my website that cover each part of the process…
Let’s get into it shall we??
How to restain a deck that is peeling, fading and flaking…
The first thing to know is that if your deck stain is starting to fade and “lighten up” in sections, a simple clean and recoat will bring it back to life…
But…
If your deck is looking blotchy or if it’s starting to peel and flake, then any stain you put on it will not hide the damage…
Again, deck stain is not paint!
Even if you use the highest quality deck stain, it won’t cover up the damage…
Your best bet is to use a solid deck stain that looks like paint…
It won’t hide all of the damage but it will give you the best outcome…
So I highly recommend stripping it off and starting again rather than covering it up…
Sorry to disappoint but I’m the bearer of the truth and decking wisdom, not good news…
So keeping in line with the truth…
Here’s what you need to do if you want to restain a deck with peeling and flaking…
All you need to do is click the link in step 1 and read the guide…
Once you’ve removed all of the old flaky stain, come back here and click the link on step 2…
Then obviously once you’ve completed step 2, you come back here and click the link for step 3…
Then every 12 months, make sure you clean and restain with a maintenance coat so you don’t have to come here stricken with shame and guilt ever again…
I don’t enjoy publicly shaming people like this…
Believe me I don’t…
So let’s promise to never do this again…
Deal…
Now I know that some people will refuse to strip their deck back, even though it’s the most humane thing to do…
So if you’d rather try to hide your little crime, this next section is for you…
How to restain your deck so no one can see the damage…
I’ll be the first to admit that sanding and stripping your deck back can be a real pain in the gluteus maximus…
Who wants to be down on their hands and knees sanding a deck?
Your back will be aching…
While your knees are screaming…
Sometimes it’s just not worth all of the hassle and pain…
So let’s just cover that decking up and get it looking pretty decent…
It doesn’t have to be perfect, right?
Excellent, we’re on the same page…
This is what you need to do…
- Pressure wash your deck…
Even though we’re trying to cover up our little situation, it’s still not a good idea to stain on top of a peeling deck stain…
So the first step is to get yourself some deck brightener and a deck scrub brush then give your deck a good scrub…
You want to wet the deck first, then scrub it and let it sit for 20 minutes…
Then grab yourself a pressure washer and give your deck a clean…
The idea is to remove any of the loose deck stain so the new stain you put down will have a strong surface to bond to…
Now just wait a day or 2 for your deck to dry properly before you restain…
- Choose a solid deck stain…
You’ll notice now that your deck has been cleaned, it actually looks worse than it did before…
It’s gonna be really patchy now…
That’s why you want to choose a solid deck stain…
A solid deck stain will almost look like paint…
The reason you want a solid deck stain is because it’s the best type of stain for covering up stubborn stains and a patchy coating…
It’s not perfect but it’s your best option if you don’t want to strip your deck and start again…
- Restain your deck with 2 to 3 coats…
This is the same process that I explained earlier in this guide…
Grab yourself a deck brush applicator, a paint brush to cut in and get to work…
Cut in around the edges first and then brush on and brush off 2 boards at a time…
Once you’ve done the whole deck, wait at least 4 hours and then give it another coat…
The second coat should hide most of the blemishes…
And that is pretty much how you would restain a deck with peeling and flaking stain…
It’s not the best way to restain a deck but it is definitely one of the quickest and easiest ways to do it…
Well there you have it…
A step by step guide on How to restain a deck…
By now, you should have a clear idea of what you need to do…
Just remember that the key to a long lasting deck is decking maintenance…
If you give your deck a clean and recoat at least once every 12 months then your deck will look great for years to come…
If you have any questions, please leave me a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer any question you may have…
Peace,
Jason
Need some Expert Advice?
If you’ve been searching the internet trying to find an answer to a specific deck problem and you’ve found it impossible to get a straight answer…
Why not just reach out and ask me directly for an answer?
I’ve got 10 years of deck knowledge crammed into my noggin. I can pretty much guarantee I’ve got an answer to your problem just rattling around in there…
Come on, don’t be shy…
FAQ’s
To restain a deck you need to make sure you scrub and clean it with a deck brightener and then wait for it to dry. Then you can apply 1 coat of a decking stain…
You can restain an old deck without sanding but you need to make sure that the stain isn’t peeling or flaking. If it is peeling or flaking then you’ll need to sand it back then stain it…
It’s best to restain your deck with the exact same product and colour that your deck is currently stained with. If you want to change the colour, it’s usually best if you stripp it back and start again…
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