How to Make Your Deck Look Brand New…For Free and Without Sanding!

by Jeffrey

gardening, green building, home improvement

Looking for a great and FREE weekend DIY project that will make a big difference?

How about making your deck look like it’s brand new…and WITHOUT all of that sanding and staining?

deck-flip.jpg

Walk over to your back door or window and take a look outside.

What do you see?

If you have one, I can almost guarantee you see a dull, dingy, and neglected looking deck don’t you?

Come on…be honest.

Hey, it’s not your fault (actually, yes it is, but we’ll all look the other way). Maintaining a deck is a LOT of work and most of us just don’t want to take the time to sand, stain, seal, etc every 3-5 years.

So how would you like to make that deck look BRAND NEW without all of that work?

Well one of my favorite DIY/home blogs, Apartment Therapy’s Re-Nest, comes through with another great idea

FLIP YOUR DECK BOARDS!

Re-Nest says,

"The boards were put in with old nasty nails in need of being removed anyway so our plan was to use deck screws this time to attach the boards. Our only cost in this project was about $30 – $40 in deck screws and the cost of a new crow bar to replace my neighbors which we broke."

Of course if deck screws are already what’s holding down your deck boards, you can just unscrew the boards, flip them over, and screw them back in with the same screws!

If you’re looking to build a brand new deck, there are TONS of sustainable and eco-friendly materials to build a deck with…even including uber-easy to install pavers made from recycled tires and plastic containers!

diy-vertical-herb-garden.jpg Now that you have that brand new (or at least new looking) deck, wouldn’t it be nice to have a little herb garden on it? Well you can build one of those for almost free as well!

Check out this idea at Green Upgrader for how to build a vertical herb garden from a hanging shoe organizer!

With both of these great ideas, it’s tough to find an excuse to NOT tackle them this weekend isn’t it? Would you tackle either one of these great projects?