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Stain’d

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We did a butt ton of prep and now it was finally time to get some stain on that deck!

If you are just joining us, this post is part of our Deck Diaries.  Long story short, we moved into this house four years ago, never used the deck because it wasn’t safe, so this year we are changing it all.  We came up with a plan, pressure washed it, fixed the safety issues, built a baby gate, sanded the whole thing and now it was finally time to get some color on it!

Stain is really important…not just for looks.  It’s kinda like foundation that also has an SPF and a moisturizer.  Sure, it helps hide the sun spots and the craters left by picking those angry whiteheads, but it also protects from future damage.  Same with exterior wood stain.  Unprotected wood can absorb tons of moisture and cause warping, twisting and cracks.  The sun can do serious damage to it….breaking down the wood and allowing fungus to grow, allowing dry rot to happen, not to mention scream-inducing splinters and structural issues.  And they don’t make botox for decks….I checked.  So that is why it’s super important to coat your deck with a weather proofing exterior stain.

For our little staining journey, we picked up samples first….just to make sure that we were gonna choose something that would go with our exterior house color and that we would like in the long run.

The colors we picked were more to see the undertone.  We chose Behr semi-transparent stain (we went with semi-transparent because we needed some coverage but we didn’t want to cover up all the wood grain) in Tugboat, Chocolate, Valise, and Cordovan Brown.  We honestly thought that we would prefer something with a more red undertone vs yellow or gray but in the end, we went with Cordovan.

Since the furniture pretty much matches the trim color exactly, we figured that a darker deck would add a little contrast.   Also…it should be noted…this is a really dark DARK brown….like we might be crazy to pick something that dark in the Georgia sun.  BUT we do know that this side of the house gets the least amount of sun and so for the majority of the day, our house blocks it completely….and we plan on a rug….so those are all things that help keep the burn off the ole tootsies.

After choosing our color, we went back and had a five gallon bucket made and bought a bunch of supplies.  I wish I could tell you that this process was super easy and nobody freaked out….but that would be lying on the internet and that, as we all know, is a crime punishable by death.

The fact is….I got everything ready….felt really good about having a solid 36 hours of dry weather and both Weston and LJ down for a nap.  It was perfect….

Until it wasn’t.  Apparently, dry weather doesn’t mean non-windy weather….because dang….I felt like we were in the middle of a tornado.  I poured some stain into a small bucket….it flipped over…dripping everywhere….including down below to the patio….and then the pump sprayer didn’t work….and then the stain in the bucket was splattering out of the bucket because of the wind….then the roller pan flipped.  Jeremy was on the ladder but couldn’t let go because the wind was so strong.  Forty five minutes of clean up later….this is how much we had done.  Put that angry cat emoji here.

Then the kiddos woke up and Jeremy and I finally decided that I would stay outside and continue staining while he did dinner and watched the babes.

I have literally never been so frustrated at a DIY project in my life.  I think I yelled CRAP!  like ten times….and then had to apologize because our basement friends kid’s heard me.  Yeah.  Epic fail.

So in the end, we scrapped the roller/sprayer plan because the wind just would not allow it.  And I ended up hand brushing the entire thing.

That night was just as windy….not really that cold (like 46 degrees)….just super windy and I bundled up to continue my labor of love.

I got through with 75% of the upper deck portion that night.  I finished right around 2 am.

The next morning, I woke up at 6 am and finished up the remaining portion.  I still haven’t done the stairs or the baby gate because our weather has been so wet….so just pretend those don’t exist okay?  Also…I haven’t done a second coat….just one…so also pretend this is two coats.  Just pretend a lot of stuff in general….like pretend this post tells you detailed instructions on spraying and then back brushing a deck stain….and that DIY with three kids under the age of five and a giant pregnant belly is easy.  Pretend that I cook every night and that I have a thigh gap.  Ok thanks.

So this is the before picture….do you remember this?

And here she is after one coat in the stain….

Looks good right?!

I will tell ya what…I can not wait till this thing is completely finished and we have no more follow up on this.  I just need one week of dry weather.  One.  Week.  And no wind.  Let’s make that very clear.  Dry and still.  And no children.  And coffee.  And giant soft pretzels with cheese dip.  Maybe I should just talk about food….because let’s be honest….that’s all that on my mind these days 🙂  And yes, when I say Cordovan Brown stain….all I think about is Chicken Cordon Bleu.  Now let’s go eat 🙂

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  2. It’s looking FABULOUS. Virtual high five for all the hard work and long hours you’ve been putting in, I’m endlessly impressed! YOU GO GIRL!

  3. Hey Katie…I feel your pain! Last summer I stripped the thick, orange stain off our deck with a chemical stripper…it was miserable!! But it looks fab now, with 2 nice coats of Cordovan Brown!! It took me almost the entire summer…so glad it’s done!

  5. Katie you are too funny! That totally sucks that the weather wouldn’t cooperate with you! It looks great though! I can’t believe you stayed up that late working on it!!

  7. How do you do all this work on 4 hours sleep with 3 kids and pregnant?? I want to read a post about how you manage it. I have a 3 month old and realize I can’t even squeeze in an hour of work each day.

  9. Wow, what a difference! The floor boards look like new in comparison! And thanks for keeping it real. DIY is not always easy, especially when you’re dependent on weather and kids and all kinds of uncontrollable factors.

  10. Stop beating yourself up – I can’t believe you even did all that pregnant with 3 kids! You are a DIY champ!! Go get a second pretzel today!! 🙂 the deck will get done eventually.

  11. Goodness…. I don’t know how you do it!! 2:00 a.m…… and back up at 6:00 a.m. ~ pregnant and 3 little ones. 😮

    Looks great!!

  12. I’ve never commented but check here for my daily fix. I love your sense of humor btw 🙂 Just commiserating with you….I’m in the process of painting the exterior of my house…all alone….just me and a brush…and months later still painting. It looks great though….if you pretend half the house doesn’t exist! (I am totally with you on the denial) 😀 AND right now….could we get some dry weather? I mean seriously I get maybe ONE day a week to paint…ONE. This is torture….sweet torture! Love the stain you chose! PERFECT. Waiting patiently for the finished project!

  13. Oh man you crack me up. Here’s to a beautifully finished deck and thigh gap. haha

  14. That deck is a labor of love- I am so impressed by the time and physical labor you’ve put into it!

    I’ve been meaning to ask this- Would you write a post that details how you accomplish your projects with such a busy family life? How many projects are in the works at once to allow for dry time, etc.? When do you work and what do you do to keep the boys occupied? How often do you get your mom’s babysitting help, eat boxed meals, ignore a messy house, etc? I can’t figure out how you accomplish so many projects while blogging about them AND allowing time for family, friends, and self. It takes me an average of 2 months per project, no matter how big or small. 🙂 I’d love to hear your productivity secrets!

  16. This post made me wish two things….1- that our new house had an awesome outdoor living space and 2- that I could magically conjure up some cheese dip and really any food that’s socially acceptable to eat with it because…from one pregnant lady to another…there is just nothing like it…am I right?!?!? 🙂

  17. You’re incredible, woman!!! Not only did you do an awesome job, but dude…preggers AND little ones AND super windy conditions AND tired AND hungry — er, yeah. Killin’ it, Mama.

    (And huge props to Jeremy for making dinner and watching the kiddos. That wouldn’t necessarily be a given at my house. ;-))

  19. Beautiful! Looks like it was worth all of the effort. I am super impressed and jealous of your deck! We can’t do wood decks in Las Vegas because the sun will kill it after one summer. My backyard is all rock and concrete 🙁 .

  22. and that DIY with three kids under the age of five and a giant pregnant belly is easy. Pretend that I cook every night and that I have a thigh gap.”

    Amen, sister, except i only have one little one!

  23. 3 kids and pregnant?! 2am?! I actually think you might be superhuman. It looks amazing! When it is finished I demand that you sit out there on a lounger with a lemonade in hand for at least a couple hours… by yourself!

  25. It already looks a million times better. As always, I love your humor and transparency. Can’t wait to see the final product.

  26. In our house, anyone who criticizes has to do the next coat. Or the next step in whatever job is getting done. Staining till 2 am? The only thing I’m doing at 2 am is sleeping … or possibly sneaking into the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (Ben and Jerry are directly responsible for my non-existent thigh gap).

    So we argree. It looks perfect. Good on ya, Katie!

  27. Agree not argree. You really need spell check for the comments. I shouldn’t be allowed to type without it.

  28. Katie, you are amazing!!! And the deck already looks 99% better! But be careful, you need to alero more Than 4 hours!
    Now in hungry too!! Where can we get chicken cordon blue when we need it!

  29. I second that. HOW Katie, how do you do it?! And now I worry about you. Please be good to yourself hon, you’re pregnant for crying out loud!

  30. It looks great I like the stain choice. Not that you consulted me or anything, but I right away thought that was a good one. Sorry it was such a ordeal. BTW laughed out loud a few times with this, eat all you want, with cheese, have a thigh gap, and did this whole thing majorly preggo with ease. I mean you were probably sunning while doing it or something. Easy stuff 😉

  31. Hi Katie
    Whenever I stain our decks, I use a lambs wool cover thing on a stick (sorry, don’t know the technical term!). Think of a mop but with a flat lambs wool cover over it – it will seriously change your life and the deck will be finished in no time,
    Mel

  32. Looks so good, Katie girl. You are crazytown, as you are well aware! Who can manage all of this? Driven, nesting, rocking it out- whatever you want to call it. Bottom line- you are getting it done. Somehow, and credit it to God- you are able to get this done because He is guiding you through it. Enough said!! You are an inspiration!!

  34. It looks great! You’re going to love having teenage boys to help you with these things someday!
    From a mom of 3 grown sons

  35. Looks great! I have staining our wood stairs on our To Do list for the past 5 years and after reading your posts, I might be motivated to do it this year:) Just a quick question, did you have to wipe off any of the stain? I have stained some things in the past and brushed the stain on, then wiped it off and repeated the process until getting the desired shade of stain. This is honestly one of the reasons why staining our wood stairs have been on our To Do list for so long and would love to know what you did. (Please let it be no wiping!)

  36. Seriously? Four hours sleep? I would have burned that deck down in a heartbeat! House might have been collateral damage. You are one amazing Mama!

  37. Wishing you cooperative weather. And pretzels. And sleep. And, heck, a fair amount of dark chocolate too, because You Have Earned It, woman.

  38. We actually have one and tried it but like I said…the wind was literally blowing the stain out of the bucket…it was Cah-razy.
    xo – kb

  40. Hahaha!!! My mom comes over once a week for three hours usually. We ignore a messy house ALL THE TIME. I blog at night after the boys go to bed and Jeremy wakes up with them in the morning so I can sleep till 8-9. Then we switch. We usually have about three to six projects going at any time. And usually we do projects while Weston is down for his afternoon nap. Does that answer all of them? 🙂
    xo – kb

  41. There isn’t wiping…but there is back brushing. That means that even if you spray it, you still have to brush the entire surface.
    xo – kb

  42. As someone who will probably need to re – stain her deck this spring, oh man and I feeling lazy because there is NO WAY I will be staining til 2AM. But I hear you about needing one DRY week. Staining and being at the mercy of mother nature is an exercise in patience. Your deck looks great!

  44. That looks AMAZING! Your hard work and dedication while juggling so many responsibilities is really inspiring! 🙂 Can’t wait to see the finished product!

  45. It looks fantastic! The color looks beautiful and complements your house wonderfully. Fingers crossed for good weather for you 🙂 Did you consider a long-handled deck brush for the project? We used one when staining our deck and it worked great!

  48. We did consider a long handled deck roller or pad but the pan was flipping so it was out of the question. Errgh.
    xo – kb

  49. Such a timely post as this is a project in my near future! I know wind was a challenge for you but curious as to why you bought a hand pump sprayer (sure that’s not the technical term) vs. a paint sprayer that you would have attached to your air compressor. I know you have recommended sprayers and thinking its a great future gift for the hubby! You did an amazing job!!!!

  50. We have a paint sprayer but honestly I couldn’t find a definitive source on how clean it would be and how much I would have to replace if I couldn’t get it perfectly clean (just the spray nozzle? the tank? etc.) so I didn’t want to risk our expensive sprayer for something that we could technically do for $15. It comes down to expense really.
    xo – kb

  53. I have a question not related to the deck. Did you paint your patio doors? They look just like the
    white ones we got at Lowe’s or Home Depot. I never got around to painting them even though I know
    you should right away since the white is really only a primer. If so, can you tell me how you did it? Thanks!

  55. bananas! the stain makes the side of your house look SO GOOD! 🙂 things are starting to pop! (and you are SO MUCH better about being pregs than me. i was like… “9:30? whoa. lets go to bed!” you are a rockstar!! and i had some blessings quick as lightning like you… well… not really… but 4, 4 and under still)

  56. Are you guys planning to stain the underside of the deck? I’ve seen arguments both for and against and was curious your take.

  58. Thanks for your response! I still think you could write a whole post or series on how to manage projects (planning, shopping, multi-tasking) and maximize productivity with young kids underfoot. You’ve got it figured out, and I love seeing what you’re up to!

  59. This gives me so much hope for my own deck! It’s about ten years old and the previous owners never stained or sealed it so it looks just like your before picture. I absolutely love the Cordovan Brown—color decision MADE at last! Thanks for sharing

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