Haul the decks

The (penultimate stage of the process was to re-stain the deck which runs around the house.  As the close of the project nears I felt as though all out Christmasses were gathering and thus decided to use a Xmassy title (but couldn't work out how to continue it with something about "Hows of Bolly").

In fact this stage of the process was remarkably straight foward.  Perhaps due to having purchased an aplicator - rather like a cross between a Merino wether and a squeeze mop. It certainly made applying the stain or whatever it was called very easy.  I think I took less than 2 hours to put on the second coat.

That being said, as with every other part of the project the preparations took about as long as actually doing the work.  Fortunately we got away without having to use any ing masking tape.  However it was necessary to 

1. powerwash all the deck;
2. use a sanding block to sort out the residue from other stages not whupped by step 1;
3. use a hammer and centre punch to discipline some errant nails; and 
4. sweep everything severely since the time required for steps 2 and 3 partially undid the good stuff achieved in step 1!

The most dramatic moment was when my hand slipped on the handle of the 10l can of paint and about a litre dived a) into the tray and b) splashed up all over my face.  Of course, with Murphy's law driving everything,  this was one of the few times I wasn't wearing safety googles and my $1300 spectacle lenses got a good gloop of stain.  My other concern was that it may have got my eyes (worth at least $0.45 if accompanied by a $5 cup of coffee).  Fortunately none of this seems to have happened.

The whole process with the deck was done over 4 days and probably took no more than 8 hoursof actual work.  As with everything else the effect is pretty damn good.