Secret DIY Project

I'm not really what most people would consider "handy", despite the fact that I made a pretty awesome peace sign clock out of wood and metal in grade 8 Industrial Arts!  When home reno projects come up, I am not often asked to help or for my thoughts on things.  However, I do actually have quite a few thoughts and ideas and have done a lot of research (Pinterest and Reality shows about home renovations - Rehab Addict is my fave, that woman is amazing!) and I decided that I really wanted our deck fixed up.  We have been in this house for 2 summers, we have a fairly nice deck space, but we have rarely used our yard, not had friends over for BBQ's or done much outdoor living or entertaining.  That makes me sad.  Those are all the things I love about summer.  Plus we finally have the yard we want, but we haven't been using it because our deck was such a disaster and so ugly.  I wanted to tackle this project.  I saw an idea (on Rehab Addict) that I thought would work great on our deck and since we have a small budget, I thought it would be perfect.  This was a deck similar to ours... older, cracked and peeling paint and just in rough shape.  It was sanded down (not perfectly, not removing every single scrap of paint) and then restained with a semi transparent stain.... and it was okay, and actually part of the design for the specks of old paint to show through to give the deck a "weathered" kind of look. 

Idea, done. 

Now... I have no tools... my husband has no tools.  So off to Lowe's we go.  I asked a lot of questions, I figured out what I needed and got some supplies and was excited to get started.  A few days into my project, I realized that my paint remover, scraper, and orbit sander were working great, however it was going to take me 3 years to get it done since I can only work in 2 hours blocks when kids are sleeping. So Home Depot to the rescue with a rental of a giant power sander!!  So much fun! This made my progress way quicker and much more encouraging!  I got both decks sanded in just one afternoon/evening combo.  Then all I had to do was use my orbit sander for the edges and touch ups where the big sander didn't reach. 

Picking stain was another challenge... I have never stained anything before. Again, I asked a lot of questions, and figured out what was needed and the best way to apply it.  Plus I picked a stain that had a mail in rebate, so I saved money too!! Two coats of stain on the deck completed and all I have left to do now is finish painting the railings.  This should be completed this week (again working in short chunks makes projects take a bit longer) and my deck will be all done.  Yay!  (I still have to complete the lower deck, but we wanted to just focus on the top one first to make sure it actually turned out before spending a lot more time and energy completing that one.)

So I feel really good.  I think it turned out well.  It is not perfect, but that is okay with me.  It looks a billion times better than it did, and I guess that is the main thing.  I am pretty pleased with the results of my efforts (and it was an effort, it was a lot of really hard work), and I am happy with how it looks.  Hopefully I can get the lower one done before snow!!

Before

(cracked, peeling, patchy paint)

My awesome toy!

Sanded!

(so much faster with my big sander and it worked great)

Sanding in progress on the lower deck

(Dad and Uncle Mark would definitely not approve of my flip flops, but since it is my first big project, maybe they can forgive me since I don't have any work boots!!)

After!

(The stain is called Tugboat, and I thought that was a great name and just the right colour)

 

Now to finish the lower deck and get some cool new furniture and enjoy the rest of the nice weather!!