Hello--I had a new cedar deck built a year ago and wasn't able to seal it before the worst rain and mildew season in 20 years hit...the deck is two levels, pretty big at 900 s.f., railing all around...it went from that beautiful new cedar glow last year to completely deep gray this year...I had pretty good luck last week cleaning it with a deck cleaner and power washer, but it still has some gray tucked in the grain, is splotchy, and the knots are very dark...I was very careful with the pressure washer, but there is some fuzz...I think this might also be residual wood left from removing such a thick layer of mildew (the deck was completely, solid black after I applied the cleaner, which had a little sodium hydroxide in it)...bottom line is I want to sand it, to try to get back as close as possible to that new cedar "pop," and then seal it with something clear or natural to keep that feel...I tested a small area with a 1/3 sheet pad sander and some 80 and 60 grit paper, which looks like it will help moderately, but I can't imagine spending 20+ hours with knee pads on doing this...I gotta get this thing sanded and sealed ASAP...can I use a floor sander for this? I'm pretty good with tools but never used a floor sander...I also tried some wood brightener on some test boards, which didn't help much...also, I've read in some posts that Sikkens (sp?) is a good product? Which one would you recommend to keep that new wet cedar glow look, or perhaps a shade darker? Clear? Natural? Honey? Any help on this is greatly appreciated Mark

Hi We would like a new deck from our lounge room 5.2 m long and 6 m wide. The drop is from nil from the house to approx 1 metre high at the end of the deck. We have been quoted approx. $10,000 for a professional builder to build this project in spotted gum. We are considering undertaking this project ourselves. Has anyone an idea on how much approx. it would cost excluding tools?