Oh, So Now the Sun Comes Out to Play!

Have you ever lined up outdoor projects only to have Mother Nature be uncooperative? 

This is what we have been facing when trying to get ahead of re-staining our 700 square foot back yard deck. I have labeled 2011 “Year of the Budget” and so we are wrapping our arms around re-staining our deck ourselves. We are handy and have tackled other large projects. In my head I double the time we think it will take. This tactic maximizes not having to experience frustration and disappointment when things do not go perfectly smooth. Small or epic, there are always some snags that come up during a home project.

When we moved into this home, the wood deck was 3 years new [old]. It looked well cared for and seemed to have proper maintenance. Not a year went by and you could see stain (it looked like an acrylic solid stain is what it had been coated with) was peeling, and in some areas even revealing bare wood. We hired someone to “redo” it. Not being fluent in how-to’s on redoing a deck—Is primer needed? Are all stains the same? Does it matter if it is scraped first, removing bits that have not adhered if you’re going to sand anyway? Do you prime wood first or can you apply any form of stain over the sanded area?—and with too many questions, I'd rather leave it to the professionals.  

What happens when you don’t hire a true professional? Your deck, again, doesn’t last long enough to make the professional cost valuable. Seeing is believing, and if you plan to hire someone who doesn’t have a huge reputation and isn’t a big firm/contractor, ask to see a portfolio of work and ask for some references you can call. Even then, it doesn’t always work out is what we found. So, here we are being DIYers!

We watch the weather and we see we have a short window over a typical weekend. We power wash about 48 hours in advance, allowing time for the wood deck to dry out, so come Saturday morning we can be in full motion with our rented plane sander. Mother Nature is not cooperating and we fess up knowing it will take longer then we think and it will most likely not be ready to be stained with even one coat, we will be rained out, we know it. We scrap the project for the weekend and move onto something else. And, yes, it did rain earlier then predicted, we would have been rained out and it was a good call! Although we’re somewhat annoyed, keeping perspective (don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s ALL small stuff) keeps any stress that could have been, at bay.

But, Mother nature; please tell me why the sun decided to peek out today and so far, no rain, just clouds? (Oh, now I asked for it, it is pouring rain outside my window! And I don’t feel like it is raining on my home project parade!)