House Deck

August 2010: We have a 10 x 12 foot deck on the back of the house that is out of the kitchen. It is up on the second level and there are no stairs down to the backyard. This deck is just big enough that we can have a small grill and table and chairs on it, but will only be used when we want some quiet time or when we want to barbeque. We decided the deck looked pretty shabby so before we got out our patio set we spent a week or so staining the deck and getting it to look better. It is amazing what stain can do for older looking wood. I use a brand called Super Duck. It is a clear oil based stain. I like how it makes the wood look after a good staining. Once we got the entire deck stained Lori found a 10 x 10 pop up shade tent. When we set it up it covered the entire deck except the very edge where we have the grill. It makes it nice to have a shade cover and not have to worry about the grill under it. We tied the tent down so the wind would not blow it away. It didn't even move though we had many hard winds that blew through our area.