I am a person that enjoys projects. I have a good feeling when I complete a project. It’s an opportunity to know that I can create, change and positively impact my environment. Of the many projects that I like, building and staining decks is of great fun to me. This might be because I have a worldview that thinks everything is fun on the lake, or it might be that I am outside in the nice weather. The other part is that I like creating and enhancing items around my lake front.

Staining my deck allows me to create a beautiful finish that will protect and enhance the aesthetics of the deck for years to come. Here is some reason to stain your deck:

• Protects from mold and mildew (that green stuff)

• Maintains the natural wood look (Using clear stain)

• Reduces splinters

• Without staining the wood goes grey and looks old (driftwood)

• Adds years on to the life of the deck

• Aesthetically, enhances the beauty of the deck.

• Over long periods of time, will help the deck maintain strength.

• Helps to protect deck hardware (Screws, lag bolts)

I have stained about five decks in my life. I do not claim to be an expert, but I am willing to pass on my insight.

The first deck that I stained I did so with a solid color. I was looking for a deck stain that would last at least five years without re-staining. I used a brand called Sikkens, I followed the directions to a tee. I individually sanded each board. I made sure that the lumber was dry. I purchased the lumber from an indoor lumber yard, paying a bit more to make sure it was dry.

I stained each board before assembling the deck. Of course there is some waste in this as you have to cut some boards. This was a 10 x 12 foot deck with an out cove for my BBQ grill. I also had a built in bench. Because of the sanding and painting prior to assembly, it took three times as long to build this deck. I know of no contractors that would sand and paint each board prior to assembly. This was fun, but tremendous work. I was very pleased with the outcome of the deck. Three years later it still looked great! By the fourth year, the paint had some minor peeling. This would leave spots of bare wood against the solid stain color. By the fifth and sixth year, more peeling had occurred. I was still happy with the deck and stain, but now I was going to have sand and re-stain. Without doing this, the stain was in contrast to the bare wood.

My next job was to stain a wood fence. For this I decided to use a water based wood protector. Thompsons I believe. This went on easy, cleaned up easy, but did not last more the 2 years. I learned that you would have to apply this almost every year to keep the wood looking nice.

I decided that I wanted a clear oil based stain that would not show such a contrast when it wore off, such as described above with the solid color stain. I decided water based products were not effective enough for me. For staining my lake front deck I decided on a product sold at Lowes called Olympic clear stain with a 2 year guarantee. I was not happy to think that I would have to re-stain every 2 years, but the only way to increase that time was by getting a more pigmented stain, this reduced the visibility of the wood underneath. Cedar tone might go three years, redwood four years, etc. But with each step up, the closer you were to a solid color. I wanted to see the natural wood.

The nice thing about using a clear stain is that you can’t really mess up. Because it’s clear, if you go to light or heavy in application, it looks close to the same. If you were to miss, you would barely notice it. I have had all my teenager kids help me. You can’t really go wrong in application (unless it rains within 24 hours of application). This stain tends to make the wood designs (knots or grain) stand out more, so that you get the wood look. This stain tends to make it shine, a bit of a yellow tint and provides for a smooth feel. I have used this stain for about 8 years now, and I am able to go three years before it is noticeable that it needs to be restrained. My dock has gone five years since last using this product, and you can clearly see that it is starting to “grey out”. This Olympic 2 year guaranteed clear stain is in a blue gallon can at Lowes.

partially stained

This is a tough question to answer due to the variety of people, their experiences, and their world view. The kind of people that like lake front are those people who have some positive experiences with water activities. I will try to list a few perspectives of people who might like waterfront, and then a few people who might not like waterfront. Use it as a starting point to determine if waterfront is for you and/or your family. Also, consider if the person you invite up to your lake front is a match.
People who might like waterfront are:

…People who have had positives experiences with water activity

…People who are “outdoors” people.
… who like camping
…like exploring
…like living close to nature
…like water sports
…like the feeling of getting away from the “hustle and bustle” of a busy life
…like to maintain property
…like to rough it
…like fishing and swimming
…like the sun in their face
…like a campfire
…like board games on a rainy day
…are willing to share with bugs, birds, bees and animals.
…can tolerate some inconveniences
…can live without TV, Internet, texting, and many other instantaneous devices.
…can live without a mall nearby
…are willing to give up some home community activities to go to the lake on weekends
People who might NOT like waterfront (mostly you can’t change people):
…People who have had traumatic experiences in the water.
…People who are happy staying inside and watching TV
…who dislike camping
…solitary sedentary type of people.
…who have never lived near nature and may be fearful of it
…who need the busy life and feel empty when they don’t have it
…who do not like yard work or property maintenance

…who need all the conveniences such as dishwasher, washing machine and public water supply

…like swimming in a pool with chlorine as they do not like plants and fish.
…worried about the effects of the sun such as cancer (even with sunscreen)
…that are afraid they will get diseases from the outdoors
…hate bugs
…hate inconveniences
…cannot imagine life without instantaneous media or communications.
…have to have everything right now, live close to malls and stores so they don’t have to wait.
…Have community commitments that will not allow you to get away on the weekends
…often run their lives around their kid’s neighborhood activities (birthday parties, sports, etc.)

Lake friends

Over the past ten years of owning my lake front property I had always thought of it as the best place to enjoy with friends and relatives. As many of you may know, childhood experiences play into our beliefs about how the world operates. This, in psychological terms is called our world view.
As a child, I was the relative and guest at my grandfather’s lakefront, and then as a teenager, at my Mom’s husband’s lake front. Many people would gather with us to enjoy the activity of the lakefront. It seemed to me to be the center of fun and community. I could not understand why my grandfather would occasionally complain “Everyone is happy to come and use my boat, motor and equipment, but no one is around when it comes to maintenance”.
Having guests over to your lakefront property is very different then having them over to your house. The obvious answer is well of course there is a lake! This also brings about some very special and unique considerations that you may want to take into account while entertaining.
First of all, many people have had very negative experiences around water. Unfortunately, some people have had experiences around near drowning, which contributes to phobias around water. I know this well, when my wife was a child of about six she was at Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn with her family. She and her mom were on the water, it was a swimming lesson in progress. However, both were pulled under the ocean current by a huge wave. My wife recalls someone carrying her to safety just in time to observe her mother lying on the sand with a lifeguard trying to revive her. In the end both were ok. Some years later, while swimming with friends at Jones Beach (Long Island) she was pulled under the current by a wave. She recalls feeling disoriented and unable to breathe. Events such as these will forever scar an individual’s ability to be comfortable around water and related activities. I can still hear my mother (Social Worker by occupation) saying to me “Pete, when you are with the kids in the lake always be close enough so that you can grab them if their head goes under the water…Once they have a negative experience they will not want to swim”.

Many people do not know how to swim. My wife’s family, I love them dearly, but many of them have lived there life in New York City and are non-swimmers or limited swimmers.
This is challenging for me as I have such a different worldview and experience. As young child my family would have fun trying to sink each other’s canoe! King of the dock was as much fun as wrestling could be. Diving off a variety of rock formations and swimming in cold deep water was fun and exciting. As a child water was my play ground, but for my wife, it triggers fear and anxiety. It is hard to recognize that people can have an almost alternate world view from yours.
Recently my wife and I had two foster kids ages 6 and 9 up to the lake. The 9 year old claimed that she was a good swimmer and eagerly walked into the lake. These claims were quite the opposite. She had very little swimming experience, and had never been over her head. She was so afraid of the deep water that she refused to take the YMCA swimming test.
I had a situation where an adult did something similar; she asked to drive a 9.9 hp tiller outboard on a 12 foot row boat. Within minutes it was obvious that she did not have prior experience driving a motorized boat. Later, she stated that she had never drove a boat before, and she admitted that she actually had certain phobias about boats and motors. I wish that I had known that prior to the boat ride! She became terrified during the course of this “at dusk” boat ride.
Lastly, I have a good friend who knew how to swim and was a capable driver of many vehicles, including being a pilot. He asked if he and his wife could drive the 17 foot boat with a 90 hp. This is a person that I trust. I said “have fun”! I neglected to show him a map of the lake and where to avoid the rocks. I looked up from my dock to see a boat squeeze in between two islands where the water was only about 4-6 inches deep. I said to myself, there is another person that doesn’t know the lake and they are going to be buying a new motor! Then I realized that was my boat! My heart went through my stomach. At this point I prayed quietly. Amazingly enough, perhaps because the boat was on a plane, he missed any damage. He returned the keys to me with smile none to the wiser about the danger that he had just missed.
There are many other areas that are vastly different for entertaining at your lakefront then from your home. Many people do not understand the compromises that you must make to live on the water. A septic system may be one of them. No washer or dishwasher may be others. I converted my “grandfathered make shift” septic system to a holding tank. Being about 40 feet from the lake, it is not comforting to know that your sewage enters the place you might swim. Many state and local laws are now very strict about what you can and can’t do around lakes. So when you entertain at your lake front you also increase the use of your well and septic system. It’s not free. You pay in terms of money, impact to the lake and environment. We have a rule that we ask people to follow, “Yellow mellow, brown flush is down”. This combined with a low water usage toilet allows having our holding tank pumped only 2 times per year at a cost of $500. Many people who have visited us don’t like this rule. Yes, it can make the bathroom smell. Remember, indoor plumbing did not happen in the US for most households until the early 1900’s. That hundreds of years of using out houses.
In conclusion, entertaining can be fun and enjoyable, but entertaining lake side is vastly different then entertaining at your home. Screen the people you invite. Some people are just not “lake” people.