(Kinda repeating myself, sorry). But, I've seem in your gallery that some seal & finish the
deck right-away upon completion. Others look like they leave it natural. I'm using treated
Southern Yellow Pine, and have been told by some to "let it sit for 6-12 months" so the chemicals air out and the wood season. What is a proper? I'm in NW Pa. and weather will be
pretty bad in six months. Haven't investigated what to use yet either, any hints ...

And, we're planning to have a slide placed near one corner of the deck (to the ground) for
the grandkids. Should I just build up a railing to 4'-6" or 5'-0" to mount the slide on, or leave the rail and build a separate ladder to support the slide over the rail?

thanx

Definitely do you your homework when it comes to finishing the deck. Every deck is different so its hard to give good advice. The type of deck material you use will dictate what type of finish you use. The best thing you can do is find a finish color you like and see what the instructions recommend. Another good thing to do is talk to several people at several different hardware stores to see what they recommend.

Deckman

John,

What have you found out about when to seal/stain/finish?

I am planning for my deck build and I would like to know if there are any advantages to doing any staining/sealing before installing the deck boards. Then coming back and touching up areas around nails, screws, etc.

Cas

You might want stain everything after the decking is installed rather than touch up the stain after the decking is put in place. Deck stain is not my specialty but I do have some general knowledge to pass along. From I have read you should wait 6 months for your decking to dry before applying stain. Touch up work might end up making you deck look odd. Unless you are right on your screws you will end up putting two coats of stain around the screws. So you could have a dotted deck.

Deckman