Deck sealing question.

[jdc491]

I have a home I am washing in the next few weeks and they are looking to get the deck washed and sealed as well.

The deck is roughly 50x13 and is 2 levels both being about the same size.

I need some advice in a few areas.

First being What sealer would you guys recommend? what have you used and had good results with?

Roughly what coverage area do you get out of a gallon of sealer? How many gallons would you estimate for a job this size?

Roughly how many man hours would you expect a deck of this size to take as far as sealing goes?

I am having trouble finding the formula for adding in all of the hand rails and spindles to the square footage.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

 

[bretmayo]

I got a big job coming up in a few week. What I like to do is let them choose the sealer/stain from readyseal.com and go from there.

 

[Everett Abrams]

I have a home I am washing in the next few weeks and they are looking to get the deck washed and sealed as well.

The deck is roughly 50x13 and is 2 levels both being about the same size.

I need some advice in a few areas.

First being What sealer would you guys recommend? what have you used and had good results with?

Roughly what coverage area do you get out of a gallon of sealer? How many gallons would you estimate for a job this size?

Roughly how many man hours would you expect a deck of this size to take as far as sealing goes?

I am having trouble finding the formula for adding in all of the hand rails and spindles to the square footage.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Pictures always help the best. No way to truly know by giving the floor square footage. You mention 2 levels so I will assume some height work which should be extra, even if you are only going up two rungs on a ladder it will take extra time when staining the spindles. I am different than most in that I convert everything to square footage since that is what I need to figure out how much product I should need. No reason to make it harder, 4 sides to a baluster and 4" centers so just treat it as a solid area. If I am to assume 50X13 and 50+13+13=76ft x 4' height of balusters and fascia 4x76=304 sq.ft. plus the 650sq.ft for the floor and we are at 954sq.ft. w/o any stairs and whatever else. Now are you cleaning (just gray or weathered wood) and brightening or stripping (is there any evidence of a coating) and brightening? Different price for each. You coverage is going to depend on new wood vs. old wood, neglected wood vs. well maintained wood but it should usually be between 100-200sq.ft. per gallon depending on wood condition and products. Regarding stain I will always say my Deck Restoration Plus Stains are the best, it is a water base product that performs like an oil. Regarding oil products their are pluses and minuses to all products and there is no perfect product. I prefer parafinic oil products and Ready Seal, Bakers, and Armstrong Clark all have great recommendations here from many folks.