Strip and reseal a deck

A grey, splintery deck comes back with a pressure washer and two days of drying. Left alone it rots.

How big is the deck?

square feet

This fits in a car

About 40 lb of materials. Comfortably inside what a car carries (200 lb), so any shopper can take it. ⚠️ 2 items on the list have no weight on file, so the real load is a little heavier than this.

Before you start

A pressure washer will carve grooves in softwood at close range — start far back and come in. Rags soaked in oil-based stain can heat up on their own; spread them flat outdoors to dry before they go in a bin.

What to buy — untick anything you have

Deck

1 gallon of deck cleaner and brightener
2 gallons of semi-transparent deck stainBuy all the stain in one trip and check the batch numbers match — two batches on one deck shows. Weathered wood drinks more than the tin claims.
1 pack of sanding pads, 80 grit
1 roll of plastic sheeting
1 roll of painter’s tape

Hardware

1 box of exterior deck screws, 2.5 in

Tools — already ticked off, since most people have them

Tools

1 Pressure washer
1 Stain pad on a pole
1 Stain brush· most people have this
1 Drill driver· most people have this

Safety

1 Safety goggles· most people have this

It lands in the shopping form, where you can edit anything and say what you think each thing costs. Nothing is ordered until you send it.

How it goes · about a weekend · beginner

Clear the deck, cover the plants below, and drive down or replace any screw that has lifted.
Wash it with the cleaner and the pressure washer, keeping the fan tip moving and well back from the wood.
Let it dry properly — two full dry days, not one. Stain on damp wood peels within a season.
Sand back the fuzz the washing raised, and sweep.
Put the stain on with the pad along the length of each board, keeping a wet edge and finishing whole boards rather than stopping halfway.