Swabbin' the deck....with stain.

Recently Sam and I took it upon ourselves to stain the new deck before we threw a party on Labor Day ( which naturally ended up being mainly indoors).

 We decide to do it in the middle of the day when the Texas sun is at it's hottest because we are suckers for sweaty labor, and also to avoid Matt saying it wasn't the perfect conditions to do it. True DIYers know...it's never the perfect conditions to do anything. Particularly outside. It ALWAYS might rain, it ALWAYS might be too hot. TEXAS.

Just to remind you, the old deck was this:

And we rebuilt it to be this:

Day One was the railing and one set of stairs so Todd still had access to the yard, and all was going well until the last five minutes when it started to sprinkle. We got it done and rushed inside and hoped for the best. The rain literally did nothing to the finish, so no big issue there.

Day Two was the second set of stairs and actual deck. This time we checked the weather online, because we learn from our previous experiences. Sometimes.

The dark stain accentuates the Jurassic Park-esque railing.
There is a T-rex beyond those wires.

Everyone notice the adult sized Wallace & Gromit Shirt.

Everything was going swimmingly, and we started to plan our exit in to the house so that we wouldn't walk on the stain.  It became a one man operation in the end, and that man was me:

I need to learn to control my facial expressions when cameras are present.

Matt came home just in time to see the finished product:

And pretty much had this reaction:

"I win again, just like always!"
- Matt, whose skin is stain free whilst Sam and I need many showers.

Someday you'll do a  home project, Matt. Someday. ( As he reads this he says" hey I tape off rooms sometimes!"... yes you do honey, yes you do.)

Still needs finishing touches, and more seating, but those updates with come in time....and money.