This is my first attempt at staining a deck. I’m planning on staining my deck this week, as the next 10 days look to be no rain. My deck was built 14 months ago with treated Southern Yellow Pine. It doesn’t have any prior stain or sealer on it.

I’m planning on renting a large deck sander from Home Depot to sand the whole thing down faster than a handheld orbital sander since it’s taken a beating from its first Chicago winter and is greyed all over and chipped a bit on some boards where it’s not comfortable to walk on barefoot and I want it to be nice and smooth. After prepping, I’m planning on using an Armstrong Clark oil based semi-transparent stain.

Couple prep questions for you deck pros: 1) Since I’m sanding all the “weathered grey” parts off would it still help to prep the deck with wood cleaner (with sodium percarbonate) and wood brighter (with citric or oxalic acid)? 2) If so, would I do the prep and brighten before or after sanding? 3) Would it help to put on a Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner or is that not needed? I would use this to keep the stain less blotchy looking since my deck is pine.

Thanks for your help!