This post is sponsored by HomeRight.

How to stain a deck- the easy way

We have stained and painted a lot of decks and porches around our house.

Like this one.

And this one.

It’s our permanent hobby along with power washing the siding and edging the lawn.

And every time we paint (and by we…I mean me and the mouse in my pocket) it’s a lot of bending and stretching and getting up to go to the paint bucket…

….and a lot of time.

Until now.

The workshop floor after it was stained

This workshop deck was painted in under an hour.

Seriously.

And it’s all because of this.

This amazing tool made staining the deck a breeze

Drumroll please.

It’s called StainStick Stain Applicator and it’s made by HomeRight and you can read all about it here.

They should have called it something fancier like Save You Hours Stick or I Have Time to Watch the Baseball Game Now Stick.

And it’s so easy to use.

Here’s how it works.

This applicator sticks to the side of your stain can

It comes with an applicator that clips onto the side of your can.

Like this one.

You stick the end down into the stain and the other end clips up above the can.

Stain stick applicator to stain your deck

There’s an attachment on the side of the StainStick that fits right into the applicator on the side of the can.

Then you slowly pull up stain into the tube.

Like this.

Applying the stain to the deck with the stain stick was so easy

Then you stain the deck using the applicator.

The stain is already in the applicator, so you just brush it on.

Just keep the applicator going in one direction and the paint slowly releases right from the tube onto your deck.

We used the applicator to apply most of the paint, but we had to use a brush to get into tight corners and under the lip of the deck.

Move the stain stick in one direction to release the paint

Like this.

You can also purchase a StainStick with a wheel adapter to get between the deck boards.

Before we stained we made sure to power wash the deck and get big blobs of spider webs off from the corners.

We let the deck dry thouroughly before we stained it.

We used a solid stain called Cape Cod Gray and put on two coats letting it dry between coats.

The newly painted deck floor outside the workshop

Here’s a close-up of the finished deck.

It’s a little more gray than it appears in these pictures.

I’m thinking about painting a pattern on the top of it going down the ramp.

Maybe I’ll tape it all off and see if the mouse is available to paint it. 🙂

A giant shout out to HomeRight for sponsoring this post and providing amazing products like the StainStick.

Thanks for supporting these sponsors who help to make Thistlewood Farms possible.

Please see my disclosure page for more information.

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Comments

  1. Image for Wendi @ H2OBungalow Wendi @ H2OBungalow

    Are you kidding me? No bending, back aches or hours in the sun? My family would have done ANYTHING for one of these, actually three of them, when we stained our entire deck on Fathers Day and it took all day for 3 of us! ) Love!!

  2. Image for Nancy @ Slightly Coastal Nancy @ Slightly Coastal

    I just stained our deck this summer and would have loved this! I did use a long handle so it saved my back but my shorts and shoes could not be saved as the stain splattered them badly. We are going to stain our brand new craftsman fence that my dad and I built this fall. I'm thinking it could work on fences also. Thanks for the great tip! Have a great weekend Kari Anne!

  3. Image for Design Chic Design Chic

    Well that is brilliant and don't you always think "why didn't I think of that"?! Your workshop is adorable and the deck staining just finishes it off! Happy weekend!

  4. Image for Debbie from MountainMamaOnline Debbie from MountainMamaOnline

    KariAnne - I've been dreading staining my deck and it totally needs it! This is definitely worth a shot! Your house is so beautiful - I honestly don't know how you EVER get anything accomplished with all those gorgeous seating areas you have - I'd be wandering from one to the other plopping my butt down and testing them all out daily! Morning tests with coffee....evening tests with wine....:) Happy Weekend, Friend. Debbie

  5. Image for Marisa Franca @ All Our Way Marisa Franca @ All Our Way

    It looks great!! When I first started reading I thought you were going to do a power paint sprayer. I've never seen a magic want like it. What about indoors? Would it do as well? I suppose my lazy fingers could go to the link and find out -- but that's almost too easy :-) The X on the doors look like they are a different shade -- is it another type of wood that absorbed the paint in a different way? Does the Mouse do work for anyone else? I think there could be a few (LOTS) of paint jobs around here. Have a wonderful weekend -- Fantastic job!

  6. Image for Susan Susan

    Your deck is truly lovely, KariAnne! This StainStick sounds like the ideal tool for staining decks and I should really do mine before the weather starts turning cold. Also love that Cape Cod Grey and will have to check into it...will be a bit of a welcome difference to just using sealer on the bare wood. By the by, your mouse has a great set of legs...he's a biggun, though...do you feed him raw steak? (Sorry...couldn't resist!) Have a blissful weekend, friend! :)

  7. Image for Bethanie Bethanie

    Sure..... now you post the easy way!! I have been staining deck and railings for days...the hard way! In fact, I just looked at my feet and still have polka dots of gray stain. Yes, I did bathe... :)

  8. Image for Karen Karen

    LET ME GET THIS STAIGHT.....you are the one doing all decking?...LOL. THOSE CANT be your HAIRY LEGS....the little lady with red lipstick and high heals....LOL. Good job, I'm looking into the product.....I'll take the HAIRY LEGS to help me out!!!! LOL.

  9. Image for Cindy Cindy

    I love you right now!! We have to do our deck and this will be perfect. I'm actually excited. Now, when I check and they have small ones for the rails I'll be beside myself Cindy

  10. Image for gail gail

    That workshop deck is beautiful! Isn't paint/stain amazing? :) of course, you know how much I LOVE Homeright! have a great weekend karianne! gail

  11. Image for FrenchGardenHouse FrenchGardenHouse

    That looks amazing! I have painted kitchen floors, and surely this is the miracle that is going to save me huge amounts of time. Thanks for sharing this wonder, I had never seen one before, Karianne.

  12. Image for Jillynn Jillynn

    I just tackled Stripping and Staining my front door... but the deck intimidates me!!!!! I will do it though!!!! Always an inspiration KariAnne!!!! Now... do I do strips.... Jillynn

  13. Image for Kerrianne Kerrianne

    Oh how I could have used this tip a weekend ago. I stained three decks and needed to take off from work Monday to recover. LOL :)

  14. Image for Dale D. Dale D.

    The deck looks so fresh and how can you not love that color combo. As I was scrolling down to write my comment, I kept on reading hairy legs on the comments...what? Had to pop back up to check out the pics and I guess I was so focused on the stain stick, I missed the leg...wink. we have decks in front and back and love this newest stain stick since we have to paint every couple of years. Thanks for sharing Karianne and hope you are sitting on your deck with that sweet accomplished look of success..another maintenance job completed in a fraction of the time. Now that is my kind of project.

  15. Image for Charlotte Charlotte

    Your house seems to be perfect from every angle. Except for that ceiling fan. :) I found your one imperfection. Love you!

  16. Image for NormaJean NormaJean

    KariAnne, I purchased their Paint Stick years ago and couldn't paint without it! No fuss, no muss. It makes short work of painting walls and is easy to clean too. BTW, judging from the size of the shoes in a couple of the photos, you must have a really big pocket for that mouse to hang out in! Hugs!

Comments are closed.