We completed the porch about 7 years ago. The deck is Douglas Fir and we used Penofin Verde to seal it sometime around July 2011. It weathered nicely but was time for a little preventative maintenance. The sun and rain can do some damage.

The south and west sides get more sun and were starting to look thirsty and the end boards were starting to crack and shrink. The north side was starting to grow a greenish tint from lack of sun.

We did some light sanding with a 5” hand sander to remove the dirt and gray weathered surface to reveal that beautiful red cedar color. Then we applied a new coat of the same Penefin stain.

7 years was a bit long. We’ll likely need to do this again in about 5 years. It is more work to maintain natural wood with natural stains, but the benefit is that the porch looks new again.