Deck the... deck!

We bought a Generac 2500 PSI washer last week. On Friday, Tom began power washing. We really didn't get much done that evening since we work late. But he hooked it up and played around with it. He found it was a little more powerful than he thought...

Tom didn't realize how powerful his pressure washer would be. He hooked up the straight attachment and "carved" his name into the deck. You could still see it etched in after he washed over the area!

Almost permanent.  

 Tom resumed pressure washing on Saturday and finished on Sunday. Probably a bit over 8 cumulative hours of washing. Our water bill is going to be so high!

On Monday, we began using  Thompson's WaterSeal Clear Multi-Surface Waterproofer to seal the deck. Tom left work early(ish- he got called back for a service call). I started helping when I got home. We worked together from about 6:45-9:30pm sealing the spindles and other small/tedious areas. Tom knew this would be most time consuming, so we started with that. We left the deck for Tuesday.

We finished the project at 7:45pm Tuesday! Here are the before and afters:

All the while... the weather forecast kept calling for rain. It kept changing from 30% chance to 60% chance. I was praying so hard that it would not rain!

I didn't sleep well Tuesday night thinking I kept hearing rain. Throughout the day Wednesday, I probably checked the forecast, 10 times. Tom stated he did this as well! Finally, 7:45 rolled about and NO RAIN!!! It began raining about 11:00pm. The water was beading up, just as it should! We are very relieved and happy with the results.

railing

deck

We learned that Thompson's Waterproofer needs to be applied every year. We're ok with that being it was the first time that we did the deck and this year we had to purchase the pressure washer. Next year, we'll be able to afford a longer lasting product and might even pick a tint to add to the stain.

With the remaining sealant, I am going to wash and seal the concrete in the garage!