How to Makeover Your Deck || Jaw Dropping Before & After

What's up world this is Brad from Project Build Stuff and today we're giving my neglected worn out deck a much needed makeover. This deck was built by the previous owner of this house and we are so happy they did. It's one of our favorite places to hang out all summer long but lately I've been noticing how neglected and need of work it really is. The boards are starting to dry gray and crack and the overall style is just blah. It so doesn't match the rest of the awesome outdoor projects I've done back here in the backyard. So today we're going to give it a full strip and re-stain thanks to our partners over at Wagner Sprayers and then I'm going to put my own modern spin on it to make it look awesome. While these old railing boards are getting tossed out I am going to try to save as much of the wood on this deck as possible. So before stain we're going to clean it all with some deck cleaner. This is a really simple process just spray a generous amount all over the deck and then use a stiff bristled outdoor brush to brush it in deep into the wood. This will clean any dirt grime or old stain out of your boards and get your deck looking nice and clean before stain. If you have access to a pressure washer or want to rent one from your local hardware store this is also a great time to do that. It helps get all that dirt and grime out of those nooks and crannies that the deck cleaner just can't reach. With the deck all clean I wanted to give it a quick sand and I found a drywall sander was great for this application. The deck is cleaned up and looking great we have the old railing and lattice torn off but before we're ready for stain I need a new top rail as well as something to fill in this bottom section so the local critters can't make a home under my deck. One of my railing posts is longer than the rest you're going to have to stick around to find out why which meant this first piece of railing had to be cut to go around it. For these mitered cuts it's nice to use relative measurements just set your board in place mark your line and cut it no need to pull out a tape measure. As with most deck applications I'm just using deck screws to hold everything in place it's pulling these miters tight and keeping the railing nice and strong. For the bottom skirt I'm going with this really awesome modern horizontal pattern that I think is going to look great. I broke down these boards on the table saw and then I'm just nailing them in place with my framing nailer. It's quick and easy and it's going to look so nice. The pattern is super simple it's just alternating between four inch boards and two inch boards with a scrap piece of plywood in between. It looks really nice and gives it that awesome modern feel. The construction portion of this deck rebuild is done and it is looking fantastic. I love this new railing and skirt it looks great but we haven't even made it to the most impactful part of this project and that's the stain. For all the stain on this project I'm going to be using the Wagner Control Pro 130. Staining a deck can be quite the pain using rollers and brushes but spraying using a Wagner sprayer makes it so much easier and the great part about this it doesn't even require a compressor any filtering any of that just pour your stain in and get to spraying. Let me show you. This Wagner sprayer is so easy to use no need to thin the stain just pour it in and you're ready to go. Spraying the stain on this deck was such a quick and efficient process so much faster than trying to use rollers and brushes especially to get into those tight corners and small spaces. Normally I dread painting because it takes so long but using the Wagner sprayer it only took me about 30 minutes to stain the whole deck. I'll take that as a win. The stain on this deck came out excellent I love the look of it and that Wagner sprayer is so easy to use highly recommend be sure to check the link out down in the description but we're missing something here we need some railing and to give it that modern flair I really want on this deck we're going to go with some horizontal stainless steel cable railing that's going to look awesome. The first step of this wire railing is to create a jig for drilling all of our holes into our posts these holes will allow the wire to pass through the post to create the railing. To adhere to deck building codes here in Indiana I went with four inch spacing between my wires but be sure to check the code in your area so you don't get in trouble. I opted for these metal inserts in all the holes to help protect the wood from the metal wire as well as give it a nice finished look. Be sure to check the links down in the description for all the products I used here I did tons of research to figure out the best and most cost effective way to do this type of wire railing and I hope to save you guys tons of time and money. With all the wire ran then comes the tricky part you got to use your crimper to crimp your wire to your turnbuckle and then on the other side I use these static stops bolted to the post to hold the wire in place. To get a nice taut line all you have to do is tighten down your turnbuckle and you're ready to go. The stairs are a little more tricky being at an angle our wire has to be at an angle so we need some pivoting turnbuckles and stops to accommodate for this. Before crimping your wire to your turnbuckle it's super important to extend it out as far as it can go so you have tons of flexibility when tightening down the wire. These short runs of wire on the stairs are pretty easy just crimp your wire at one end cut it to length and then crimp it onto the turnbuckle as well. With the wire in place a quick tighten of the turnbuckle and you're good to go. Another great way to spruce up your deck is replacing old and outdated light fixtures like this one it's old rusted and I need something new. Our final step here on the deck is to address this lack of shade it can get so hot out here during the summer. To fix this issue we're going to be putting up a big sunshade above the deck. We need to start by taking out one of the railing posts and replacing it with a much taller one to support the shade. To secure this 14 foot 4x4 I'm going to use two methods. The first is using this plate to anchor the post to the concrete footings of the deck. The second is to bolt it directly to the deck which should keep it nice and strong even in high winds. The post will serve as one anchor point for the sunshade the other three anchor points will be on the house. At all my anchor points I'm just drilling holes and threading large eye bolts which should be plenty strong to hold up this canopy. I am so happy with how nice this deck came out and it's going to be the perfect place to hang out on those warm summer nights after a long day of work. I know I'm not the only one with an old neglected deck that needs a makeover so as always let me break down the budget for you guys. In total I spent about $600. $300 of that went into the wire and the hardware for the railing alone and the other $300 includes the stain, the lumber, and the canopy. I can't wait to see you guys make over your decks and make them look awesome so be sure to tag me in all of your progress pictures over on instagram at projectbuildstuff. Also be sure to subscribe down below so you can see all my future projects I have some great ones coming up and as always it's your turn go build stuff!