Hi Have a slate deck. From time to time some slate come loose. I can remove old mortar and grout. But can a newbie mortar/grout/seal the slate back into place? Or does that require a pro? Thank you.

Hi, I have an 1100 sq ft deck that has about 3 double coats of semi transparent behrs on it. It has been peeling for a while now and I'm trying to figure out whats the best solution for the problem. Pardon me if this gets lengthy. For one thing I am sick and tired of staining. With a deck that big its a never ending job. Although it has been about 3 years if I'm not mistaken since I did the deck boards. The main thing I hate about staining is the way Behrs is you have to do two coats and you can't let the first coat get too dry before applying the second. If you can accomplish this without it raining and without applying too much it actually last quite a while. My deck is 12 years old. I have looked at composite and it will cost around 5 grand either composite deck boards or tile. I'm not willing to do that even over time because I'm going to be moving sometime in the distant future. Right now I am thinking about taking up the boards and sanding them about 5 feet at the time and staining then while they are off the deck then putting them back down. For two reasons. I want to gain full access to the joist so I can easily inspect them for bee damage and I also want to increase the space between the deck boards. I'm also thinking about wrapping something like aluminum screen around the joist so maybe the bees cant get to them. I would like to find a stain that is either easier to put down. Or last a long time. Or both. Behrs is ok as far as performance as far as I can tell as long as everything goes ok and mainly it doesnt rain after, Which it always does with me no matter what the forecast. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!