Do you want to take your deck from this… to this..
To this?
Stick around!
[MUSIC INTRO]
I had this deck built less than 3 years ago.
It’s a fairly large deck made entirely of cedar, including the railings.
The cedar was so beautiful at first (and smelled so good), but… it quickly turned gray and
weathered after barely 2 years.
Unprotected cedar will inevitably do this.
Some people like the look, but I just think it looks kinda dirty.
Now while my first motivation for restoring this deck is for the looks, there’s another
reason too.
And that’s the waps.
Yep, the wasps.
They love having this huge supply of raw cedar that they chew on and use to build their hives.
The lines you see here are pieces that they’ve actually removed - and I have these all over
the railings.
Alright, I’m ready to get started but there’s someone who doesn’t want me to restore this
deck..
Yep, nothing but attitude here.
The first step in restoring this deck is to clean it.
I’ll start by scraping and cleaning away some of this debris that’s caked into this
center joint because of the way my deck is built.
Luckily I planned ahead and picked up some knee pads at Princess Auto.
For some reason I feel like I’ll be using them a lot today!
Now I know a lot of you are probably thinking “pull out the pressure washer already”
but I’m not going to use a pressure washer.
I do actually own one, but I’ve always heard that pressure washers can do more damage than
good on soft woods like cedar, and this was confirmed by my friends over at Osmo who recommended
I avoid using one.
And a big thanks to Osmo Canada for sponsoring this video.
I often use their wood finishing oils and today I’m excited to introduce you to their
decking products.
First up is this Wood Reviver Power gel.
They’ve put some thought into this and even included the scrub brush and handle right
in the package.
This is a deck cleaning solution that contains oxalic acid that comes as a gel so it’s
easier to apply.
It’s supposed to reverse graying and restore the natural color tone of wood.
Almost sounds too good to be true!
But let’s give it a shot.
I’ll start by lightly misting the area to be cleaned, then start applying the wood reviver
with the provided brush.
I’m also using Osmo’s telescopic handle, but I’ll admit it was a little awkward on
the railings, so I quickly dropped the handle and used a shorter grip.
This stuff works fast and the results are dramatic.
Ready?
Watch it go from this - to this.
This - to this.
I painted on the cleaner in a thin coat all across the railing then let it sit.
After 20 minutes, I gave it a good scrub down using the scrub brush then rinsed it off with
the hose.
You can see it working right before your eyes.
It’s pretty crazy.
I wasn’t expecting this.
After cleaning all the railings, I moved onto the actual deck.
I’ll admit, this part was much more fun.
Same process: wet the deck, apply the wood reviver, let it sit for 20 minutes, then scrub
and rinse.
You can literally see the wood getting cleaner and brighter right before your eyes.
I was lucky because it was a cloudy day.
Ideally you don’t want to do this in the direct sun, otherwise your product will dry
too fast.
If it does, just lightly mist it just enough to keep it moist without rinsing away the
product.
It felt good to take a step back at this point and see the difference it was making, and
that all this hard work was paying off.
But…
I’ve still got some work to do.
This deck has never been stained but the mistake I made is not finishing it the very first
year.
Now you should never apply a stain or finish on a brand new deck; ideally you want to wait
at least 3 months to let that new wood fully dry out so it’ll take the stain.
But try not to wait 3 years like I did.
As the deck started to dry it was looking so much better already.
No more water stains, no more grey, just bright clean wood.
In 48 hours, I’ll be able to start staining it.
Or maybe not…
Less than a day later, it rained.
Then it rained again the next day.
And the next.
Eventually the sun finally came out and dried the deck for a full 48 hours, which means
I can finally get started on the decking oil.
To protect the deck, I’m using Osmo’s decking oil.
It’s weather and UV resistant and has a microporous finish that won’t crack, peel
or flake over time.
I chose a color called Garapa but I’ve also got some clear oil too, and I’m going to
mix them together.
Now the colors have UV protection but the clear oil doesn’t.
I personally prefer lighter colors, but I still want the UV protection, so Osmo recommended
that I create a 50-50 mix to get a slightly lighter color without sacrificing protection.
I can reuse the pail from the wood reviver to create my mix.
It’s really important to stir the oil well.
All the pigments are usually at the bottom of the can, so you want to make sure to mix
those in.
Osmo sent me their decking brush set which includes a detail brush as well as a floor
brush, a handle and a tray with extra liners.
I’ll start with all the vertical surfaces first and finish with the floor last.
I figured it would be best to start with the detail brush in the corners and hard to reach
areas, then follow up with the floor brush.
This didn’t really feel comfortable to me so I ended up switching over to a regular
paint brush only to realize later that Osmo’s “floor brush with handle” is actually
designed to be used without the handle on the smaller or less ergonomic areas and would
probably have been a lot easier than using a regular paint brush.
Anyhow…
You want to go with the grain and apply a thin coat methodically, one slat at a time,
using natural stopping points if you can.
If you’re wondering how I did the outside of the railings, well here I am.
Using a ladder I could work on the first few slats on the bottom from the outside, then
finish the rest of the slats by reaching over the railing.
Once all the railings were done, I started on the deck itself.
I would first go up the ladder to get the exterior edges, working one small section
at a time so the stain doesn’t have time to dry out, and also use the detail brush
to go around any obstacles like the post anchors.
I could then grab the floor brush and apply the oil to the floorboards, again being very
systematic and going with the grain, one board at a time.
I actually realized that the floor brush fits under the railings, so no need to run up and
down the ladder to get to the exterior edges.
I’ll admit the railings are the most tedious part of this whole process, but if you only
have the deck to refinish, it’s actually kinda fun!
The Osmo decking brush makes it super easy to apply.
I didn’t even need to use a smaller brush to get in between the slats.
That being said, I did spend a full 12 hours applying this first coat, yep 12 hours, but
the floor itself only took a couple hours to do.
And really, that’s the most satisfying part of this whole process.
After the first coat was done, and barely had 10 hours to dry, it unexpectedly rained.
A lot.
And then even more.
When it finally dried out after a couple of days I inspected the deck for any white spots
or blotchiness, but didn’t see anything to be concerned with.
The stain looks a little thirsty, but that’s normal after only one coat.
And so, I got to work on the second coat, again starting with the railings and finishing
with the deck.
You can already see the color getting more rich and fully saturated.
What a difference it makes!
No more dull gray wood, no more stains and water spots, just a beautiful deck that looks
like new again.
This was so worth it.
But guess what?
24 hours later, it rained again.
But the good news is look at how the rain puddles on the surface with the decking oil
repelling all that water.
Be sure to check out the links below for all the products I used to refinish this deck.
Hope you enjoyed this video and here are a few more I think you might like too.
Thanks for watching!
Until next time, see you soon!