How to Paint a Deck Quickly and Easily

Update your deck or porch quickly and easily with these painting tips

If you do something enough times you end up getting good at it.

That’s how I feel about these outdoor makeovers, we have done enough of them by now that I have definitely learned some things!

We are officially experts at creating outdoor curtains super cheap, the best way to pressure wash vinyl siding, and how to paint/stain a deck quickly.

The first time I painted a deck was during our big front porch makeover and I learned some tips and tricks to make the whole process quick and easy.

During our outdoor makeovers I can guarantee we will also be painting the ceiling, I recommend painting that first if that’s your plan too!

Here are 18 amazing painted ceiling ideas

We have lived in our new house for a little over 2 years, but this is the first time we will be updating the back deck.

It is in rough condition, eventually our plan is to replace these boards with a Trex system but that project is still a couple years away.

The goal for this space is a quick, easy, and inexpensive makeover that will hold us over until we are ready to replace the deck.

For the indoor and outdoor projects, paint is my #1 go to for completely transforming a space on a serious budget.

How to Paint a Deck Quickly and Easily

Supplies:

• Wood Deck Prep Cleaner
• Pre-taped Painters Plastic
• Paint Brush
• Airless Paint Sprayer (optional)

Prepping a Deck for Paint

Prep work is my least favorite part of every project (besides cleanup) but it is 100% necessary if you want a lasting finish.

The key to having to do less prep work is to choose a solid wood deck stain rather than a transparent one.

Since we chose a solid deck stain I got to skip all the sanding and went straight to cleaning the deck with a wood deck prep cleaner.

I used our battery powered sprayer to apply a layer of the prep solution and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

After letting it soak in I used a large bristle brush to scrub it into the wood.

I was actually really surprised with how well this solution did at cleaning off the grime of the deck.

After I scrubbed the solution in, I used our pressure washer to wash off the solution.

The deep stains are still visible but they will be covered by the solid stain.

If you are using a paint gun the next steps are absolutely necessary if not then you can skip the major taping off.

Back when I was working on our office renovation, I would this pre-taped plastic sheeting and it is a game changer!

It comes on a roll so you simply stick the tape where it needs to go and then unfold the sheeting.

This saved me a ton of time and was easy to do by myself.

If you are using just rollers and brushes I still recommend taping off the bottom of any columns and also the shoe moulding that touches the house.

Painting the Deck

Finally onto the fun part, actually painting the deck.

I used solid exterior wood stain from Valspar in Rusticana.

This was my first time using our air-less Wagner paint sprayer but it won’t be my last.

Using a sprayer instead of painting the whole thing by hand was so much quicker and the finish was a lot smoother.

I applied two coats total and each coat took me maybe 5 minutes to spray.

The color is a lot pinker than I thought it would be… but it does look good against the black railings and ceiling.

Painted Deck and Railing Reveal

Its amazing what a difference a little paint makes!

This deck makeover went so much quicker than the front porch makeover.

It is a smaller area, but using the airless sprayer really sped the process up.

Also using a solid stain saved me a bunch of sanding time, which is always good!

The only regret I have is not sampling the stain before buying two gallons of it…

I am warming up to the stain color but it definitely wouldn’t have been my first choice.

What do you think, would you keep it or re-stain?