re: More DIY help needed!!

Re: SirSaintly's post about power washing being bad for the deck and/or causing coating failure

If you power wash at too high a pressure, with a zero tip or too close with a fan tip; you can damage the wood. You can shread the wood fibers and the boards will almost look like they have fuzz on them. There is some operator technique involved in power washing and if you're new to it, you should start in a less visible area and have some patience. If you put the wand tip an inch from the wood, you're going to make a mess unless you are operating at a very low pressure.

Coating failures on decks, especially adhesion problems, are often caused by the moisture content of the wood being too high. You can't power wash in the morning and coat that afternoon. (Well, you CAN, but you'll probably end up wishing you hadn't!) make sure the wood is thoroughly dry, if I recall correctly, below 10% moisture content is the standard for wood.

I haven't personally used Deckover or Restore, but I've seen it on decks. It goes on heavy, I'd guess about 20 mils (which is very thick on a deck. Normal primer & topcoat will probably be 3 to 5 mils) It solves the splinter problem and looks okay to me - almost a crinkled or "orange peel" looking finish. That being said, it also looks like it might be a pain in the arse to keep clean, because of the crinkles

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More DIY help needed!!I am in the process of taking up my deck boards. Anyone know the cheapest place for 16' boards on the Northshore.

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Lumber yards are normally cheaper than your big box stores. Remember when you install new boards the crown of the grain should go up.

Good luck