Cedar-Tone Stain on a New Deck — Chattanooga, TN

Fresh pressure-treated lumber starts out pale yellow-green, as the before photo of these stairs shows. For this deck staining project in Chattanooga, we brought the whole structure into a warm, reddish cedar tone that lets the grain and knots show through.

Every surface was coated, not just the floor: deck boards, the square balusters, top rails, wide handrail caps on the stairs, rim boards, stair treads and risers, and the support posts down to the footings. Board ends and the edges between pickets take extra attention with a brush, and the color stays even across them. Against the gray siding of the house, the stained wood reads rich and deliberate, and the stair rails frame the landing nicely from the yard.