If I had a Hammer…AKA Plans for a DIY Deck Makeover

DIY deck makeover…

You like folk music? Me too…especially in the summer. There’s something about Bob Dylan, Indigo Girls or a little James Taylor on a summer day.

 

A day where you can just lounge outside with a nice, refreshing “adult drink” as we tell the kids they are called. Ahhh to just stretch out on that comfy patio furniture on my back deck and be summery lazy while listening to my chill folk tunes.

 

Problem is, the song I hear when I sit out on my wooden deck is “If I had a hammer”.

 

 

That and “Ring of Fire”. Every time I walk out on this red as fire wood deck I hear Dylan singing “I fell into this burning deck of fire”. And it burn, burn, burns me every. time.

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with sponsors to include HomeRight, Cabot and UltimatePatio.com in regard to this post who have supplied product and/or compensation in exchange for this content, but as always, all opinions, cheesy song references and the lot are all mine. This post may also contain affiliate links for your convenience. Please see full disclosure policy HERE.

 

 

We inherited this wood deck when we bought our house, and don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled to have a deck…

 

It’s just that the fire red stain is more than starting to fail. There are splintery spots all over the wood, and slippery areas from all the algae/fungus/what-have-you. It needs a good bit of deck maintenance and clean up all round.

 

Even the carpenter bees are comin’ round nowadays…they sense this baby is almost a goner. Like vultures circling a fresh kill.

I made a new year’s resolution list this year…called my Penny Pinching 2015 Punchlist. Giving this deck a low budget, large impact makeover was on that list.

 

 

And as I am a woman of my word, we’ve come up with a plan so that I’ll no longer feel like “leaving on a jet plane” every time I see this outdated outcropping from my kitchen window…but we won’t be breaking the bank to get it there.

Here’s my inspiration board:

 

Ahhh…I feel better already just seeing this inkling of a plan. There will be some work ahead, but we’re up for the challenge. First things first, we gotta do some major deck clean-up.

 

For that, we’re going to do some power washing and we’ll give it a scrubbing with Homeright’s Deck Washer Broom and a good cleaning solution.

 

 

Then, the plan is to use a solid Cabot deck stain in a lovely shade of gray to ERADICATE the red, and bring this deck back to life!! I’m leaning toward their Seacoast Gray, Sky Gray or Granite. WOO HOO! I can hardly wait.

 

The closer I get to being rid of that color, the closer I am to fine, as another beloved folk group, the Indigo Girls would say.

 

Since the deck is such a large area, ain’t no chance in Hades I’m gettin’ out there with a paintbrush, folks. Staining a deck with a paintbrush ain’t my idea of a good time. I’m gonna spray that sucker with a paint sprayer.

The Homeright Finish Max Pro sprayer, to be exact. I’m looking forward to trying it out, and my back will definitely thank me for avoiding the paintbrush/hands/knees technique on this project!

 

 

Ever since we moved into this house, I’ve been scheming to give this outdoor space an update. There’s been a lot of marital back and forth on this plan…most of it surrounding railings.

To me, those rails look like miles of red prison bars. Why on Earth do we need all this fencing for a deck that’s less than two feet off the ground? Especially when the view beyond the prison gates looks like this…

 

I would MUCH rather see these views without the pickets standing between us.

Whoops-a-daisy!! How in the world did that picket get down there?

Husband:  “Wife, how did the railing that was ON our deck this morning suddenly end up OFF the deck this evening?”

Wife: “What?”

Husband: Repeats the statement above.

Wife: “I couldn’t help myself. That damn Peter, Paul and Mary…they MADE me do it with that incessant hammer song they keep screaming at me!”

It’s okay now. That whole railing thing…it’s water under the bridge. And I’ll tell you, seeing this plan come together is like a bridge over troubled waters.

 

What’s that? Pretty sweet, right? That’s gonna be one of the keys to making this deck makeover a winner, I think. It’s called the Alpine Flame 4-person Patio Conversation Set with Fire Pit Table. Come on baby light my fire around this thing!

I looked at a LOT of firepits before I found this one. I really liked it because there is table room around the firepit to set your smores, adult drinks, what-have-you, AND there is that great pizza wedge seating underneath! It’s pretty clutch having extra seating around when you’re entertaining.

So, the process is underway. Check back next week, when I’m pretty sure we’ll still have hammers, and we’ll still be hammering in the morning, and in the evening, all over this here little patch of land…or deck, as the case may be.