Spring is often the best window to refinish a deck in BC. Late April to early June usually gives enough warmth and dry weather to prep, stain, cure, and enjoy the deck before summer gets busy.
What deck refinishing involves
- Pressure wash to strip mildew and old finish
- Sand rough boards (especially railings, splinters)
- Replace rotten boards before staining, because finish cannot save failed wood
- Two coats of premium semi-transparent stain (Sansin, Behr Premium)
- Allow proper cure between coats and before furniture goes back
What drives the price
- Deck size (square footage of boards plus railings)
- Number of rotten boards needing replacement
- Condition of existing finish (full strip vs light prep)
- Stain choice, because better products cost more but usually hold up longer
- Access (ground-level vs raised second-storey)
When to call instead of DIY
A confident homeowner with a weekend and a pressure washer can absolutely refinish a small ground-level deck. The calls usually come for second-storey decks (ladder time and safety), decks with significant rotted boards (the rot needs proper diagnosis before any finish goes down), or decks where the homeowner has tried once and the result was disappointing. The cost of getting it right the first time, with proper prep and material selection, is almost always less than the cost of stripping a failed DIY job and starting over.