Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

So I put my Troy Built 2550 psi pressure washer to use and cleaned my unbelievably large wood deck.  Came out great (I'll post a before and after photo when I'm done).  I don't want to have to do this every year, so I need the board's advice on the best sealer to finish the job.  I don't think I'm going to stain the deck (I think the fading would get on my nerves), so I'm looking for a clear or tinted sealer that hopefully will give me a few years good protection.  What do y'all like? TIA!

I think I will let my deck go and replace with that plastic decking they have out now.  There are very many benefits to those products.  For future reference is TREX about the best there is? 

AJace wrote:
Consumer Reports tested 16 different synthetic decking materials.  In general they all worked pretty well and are competitive in price with hardwoods but 1.5 to 3 or 4 times pressure treated pine. All the vertical parts and the joists are still wood because the synthetics aren't stiff enough.

Well-rated materials included Eon Deckboard; Veranda Composite; ChoiceDeck Plus; Evergreen (Epoch); WeatherBest Premium. Some of them pretend to look like wood, others don't.

AJace wrote:

Im on my 3rd year with Trex. Only maintainance is pressure washing it yearly to remove the mold and moss that almost every deck acumulates. And be carefull, you can cut trex in half with a washer, so use a wide pattern nozzle.

I have NO SPLINTERS, where my neighbors 1 year old deck has given my wife and myself splinters. The colour is through the material, so no cost for stain, no day off to do the staining.

As far as cost, when I bough Trex, it was $22 per 16' Board( Have receipt still). #1 Pressure treated was at about $15 Board. I used 50 Boards or so. So trex cost About $350 extra. But you saved on stain, about $80-100 and all that labour. A Very wise investment in a long term item.

Edit: I have conventional wood railings, topped with trex. The composite railings were incredibly expensive, I think 40-50 a foot !! Would have doubled or trippled my cost. But with a trex topper, no splinters from railings,.

Yes, splinters was on my list also.  Rhino Deck is also another plastic deck.  It has a 10 year warranty.  I guess they are all about recycling so we are walking on some awesome conglomerated stuff. Looks like Tri-Max is another one with a 50 year warranty.  Appears Tri-Max and Rhino are together, not sure why the warranty is different.

Call a few Lumber yards. My distributor had a sample deck made from about 5 different brands of composite decking. One felt and sounded like a Aluminum bleacher !? Some are hollow composites, some solid.

Also, the color from the factory is bright, and fades to the final shade. You'l want to see that before a final choice.

I used one of those products from the big orange box to build the ramp for my shed.
I used it on the top and on the bottom so it, not the pressure treated side runners of the frame of the ramp are sitting on the dirt.
It's holding up great, but when in flip flops or when wet it can be slippery.
I've done some good splits.

There's a tread built into the surface and works great dry, but not always wet.

Careful Ramit,  I haven't yet achived a split. 

Ajace,
I certainly can not to one on command, so it's a very big unwelcome surprise when it happens. Before to much personal damage is done I guess I should put some traction tape on the boards.

Thanks for all the input everyone.  I ultimately decided on Cabot's Deck Stain in Rosewood.  Consumer Reports ranks it number one, but that was only one factor in the decision.  I'll post some before and after pictures soon, but the deck came out great.  What a difference from looking worn and grey to almost new and well . . . red.

The wood really soaked up the stain; it took 22 gallons (told y'all it was a big deck).  I'm glad I had someone do the work because it was a really big project.  My stainer (he also did the stain/poly on my new handrail and balusters on my staircase) used two guys for one day and four guys for the better part of another day.  That's a lot of man hours, mostly because of how much vertical surface I needed stained (the railing and balusters).  If anyone on Long Island needs a recommendation for a painter/stainer, let me know as my guy is top notch and fairly priced.

And to uc113, thanks for the recommendation of onetime.  I strongly considered it, but it would have added $1250 to the project and I couldn't justify the cost.  I don't need to get seven years out of the stain, as I plan to do an addition to the kitchen and dining room of my home in 3-5 years, which will cause me to change the layout of my deck.  When I redo the deck, I'm going to do it with TimberTek or the like.

Thanks again to all and I'll post pictures soon.

Congratulations on getting the deck done.  you were not kidding when you said the deck was large.  22 Gallons of onetime would have definately been very expensive.  Keep it in mind if you do any other outdoor wood projects that need to be sealed.  You will be very happy with it.  Enjoy your deck.