Deck Defeat

So I mentioned last week that before putting the suite on the market we did a little exterior beautification.  While the bark mulching of the flower beds was a big win, our attempt at tackling the back deck was a unfortunately a loss.

But first, let's backtrack a bit. When we bought the house, we inherited a perfectly good back deck. 

Having lived in the house for a year we realized that we almost never used that deck, preferring the deck on the front (sunnier south side) of the house, which leads straight off our living room.

Also realizing that the tenants bathroom and living room back right up to that other deck, meant we were even less likely to use the space moving forward (insert potty/peeping tom joke here!).

While structurally sound, the deck was not looking it's best.   The red itself was not my first choice of colours, but I could have lived with it.  But, the red finish was peeling off in spots and it left the deck looking pretty sad, dingy and dirty looking.

 

While strolling through Rona one Friday night (yup, we're that cool that we cruise the DIY stores Friday nights!), I spied an "Oops" can of dark grey/black opaque deck stain for $10 (please tell me I am not the only person who checks out that area every.time I am in the store, hoping for a jackpot colour?!), and thought bingo- good buy sad red deck!!

 

Later that weekend, we prepped the deck (sanded off any loose bit of old finish and debris) and cracked open the can of stain.  Unfortunately, about 10 minutes into the application process, H and I realized the error of my plan... 

 

 

The stain was absorbing and "working" on the raw wood, but not fully covering the red, resulting in a darker black tinted red deck.... Boo!  Two coats later it looks.... better (and our prospective tenants didn't seem to be bothered by it), but not what I had in mind.  I guess painting deck (with deck paint not stain!) is another thing to add to the To Do list for next spring!

 

 

So, I guess it's not really a defeat, but actually the loss of Round 1... here's hoping I can deliver the K.O. punch during Round 2 next year!