During our kitchen renovation in 2019, we also built a new deck off the back of the house. Our contractor built the structure, but I then spent many weekends with friends – and a very pregnant belly – installing the deck boards and building a privacy fence.
Three years and three kids later, the deck was looking a little tired. I hadn’t done anything to it since the initial build; I had three kids at home thanks to a pandemic and I had little to no energy to deal with cedar maintenance.
The first bit I tackled was the deck surface itself. I bought a new broom and imagined that I could just scrub the boards clean with the broom and be done with it. Unfortunately the broom didn’t really help, so I cleaned the entire surface on my hands and knees with a kitchen sponge. It was back-breaking, but effective.
Once the deck was clean, I reapplied Cabot deck stain to bring out the cedar again.’
About three months later, I finally had time to move onto the privacy fence. It had turned really grey and looked quite dirty over the years . I often use it as a backdrop for pictures of my kids too, so it was really driving me crazy.
Cleaning the pine wasn’t working, so I decided to sand it down.
All in all, I’m happy with my deck refresh, although I feel like I might have to take the sander to the deck boards in the near future, as it’s already looking a bit tired again.
