Deck Cleaning & Staining in Pickering, ON

First Coats in Seaton, Recoats Near the Waterfront

A brand-new pressure-treated deck shouldn't be stained the week it's built. The lumber is often still wet from treatment, and stain can't soak in until it dries out, which may take several weeks or most of a season depending on the wood and the weather. Leaving it bare for years is the opposite mistake, since sun and rain go straight to work on unprotected wood. For a new Seaton deck, the first coat is mostly about timing.

Older decks near the waterfront have the opposite problem: layers of old stain, some of it peeling, over wood that stays damp longer in the lake air. Stain over a failing finish won't hold, so we strip what's loose, wash off the mildew and sand back to sound wood before recoating. For this kind of deck refinishing, a solid stain often works best, since it hides patched boards and weathering better than a semi-transparent one.

Pickering's suburban backyards usually fall somewhere in between. A deck in semi-transparent stain needs a recoat roughly every 2 to 3 years, and solid stain lasts about 4 to 5. Cleaning plus staining on a standard 10x12 deck usually runs $400 to $800, and a power wash alone starts at $150. We need 24 to 48 hours of dry weather after staining, so we book around the forecast.

Pedro handles deck cleaning, sanding and staining. For how he approaches deck cleaning & staining in general, see our deck cleaning & staining page.