Last weekend, I cleaned our deck, and applied some deck stain/sealer.
The deck was so filthy that not even two gallons of Olympic deck wash could get it clean down to the wood. I ended up having to use my pressure washer to clear off the crud (more than likely this is the first time this deck has been cleaned in 30 years).
Here is a comparison picture between my deck (clean) and the neighbor’s deck (echh). (This is pre-stain.)
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Sally chose a semi-transparent cedar stain (the other choice was redwood, which neither of us was fond of). Don’t have a picture at the moment.
A "surly curmudgeon[], suspicious and lacking in altruism." (Robert A. Heinlein)