30 Yr Old Deck Restoration

Stripping, Staining and Restoration of a 30 Yr Old Deck

This customer was referred to us and was in need of a deck staining company that knew how to apply the PPG ProLuxe stain (ProLuxe Cetol SRD RE Translucent – Natural 078) they wished to use on their old deck. Once we arrived to take a look at this Indianapolis deck staining project, we saw the old stain was peeling badly. The peeling was due to multiple coats of stain on the deck.  

The homeowners have done a great job keeping their deck in good shape, no rotting wood, but needed a restoration. One important thing homeowners should know is that when applying stain over a stain, any stain after the first does not soak into the wood. Applying a deck stain on top of an existing deck stain merely lays on top of the old stain never really bonding. This is one of the causes of premature failure of the stain and peeling.

Stripping the Old Stain

Before we applied the new stain to this deck, we needed to strip as much of the old layers of stain off in order to get to bare wood. Since the deck had multiple coats, stripping all the layers of stain off proved rather challenging. We underestimated the amount of prep work involved. Normally, a deck has 1 maybe 2 layers of stain before we touch the deck and one good stripping job does the trick. Not this deck. It was difficult to tell, but we believe there were 3 to 4 layers of stain. As a result, we had to strip the deck multiple times to get it to a point we can apply any new stain.  

Staining the Deck

After the prep work was done, we were able to get the vast majority of the old stain off, which was quite an accomplishment. But finally, the deck was ready to be stained.  It took our crew an entire day to apply 1 coat of new stain to the deck.  You can see in the pictures that the old stain left the old wood a little blotchy in some areas. But it gave the deck a rustic sort of feel in the process which looked great and unique to the deck.

Overall the deck restoration project turned out wonderful and the homeowners were happy.

If you are looking for deck staining contractor in Indianapolis, IN or anywhere around the metropolitan area, consider Legacy Painting (317) 560-7428.

We take pride in our work and will ensure your deck stain is applied properly to give your deck a longer life.