Grey Platform Deck Sanded & Oiled in Toronto

The deck: low, wide and gone grey

This Toronto backyard has a low platform deck that steps down from the house to a flagstone patio — no railings, no stairs to speak of, just a big clean rectangle of pressure-treated boards. Low decks like this take the most weather: water sits on them, shade keeps them damp, and leaves and planters leave marks. This one had gone the full silver-grey of untreated wood, with green algae along the shaded edge and dark water stains in the middle. Nothing was peeling, because there was no finish left to peel. It needed to be brought back, not replaced.

Sanding a grey deck back to bare wood

Grey wood is dead surface fibre broken down by UV, and stain applied over it bonds to that dead layer and comes off with it. So even with no old coating to remove, the job starts with a full sand. We took the whole platform, the raised step and the fascia boards down to clean, pale pressure-treated wood — the during photo shows how different the boards look once the grey is gone and the grain is back. Open decks with no railings sand fast and even, which is one reason this kind of deck restoration is such good value: the result looks like a new deck for a fraction of the cost.

Oil-based penetrating stain

We finished the deck with an oil-based penetrating stain in a warm honey tone. The oil soaks into the wood and cures inside it, so there is no surface film to crack, lift or peel — which matters most on a low, wet deck like this one. The grain and knots of the pressure-treated boards show through the colour, and the warm tone sits well against the grey flagstone, the cream siding and the planting beds. When the colour softens in a few years, the maintenance is a wash and a fresh coat of oil, with no sanding and no stripping.

The result

From a grey, algae-streaked platform to a warm wood deck that reads as the centrepiece of the yard. Same boards, same frame, one day of proper preparation and the right finish.

Deck sanding and staining in Toronto

UCO Construction Group restores and stains decks, platform decks, fences and porches across Toronto — Midtown, Leaside, North Toronto, the Annex, the Beaches, East York — and the rest of the GTA. If your deck has gone grey, see our deck staining and restoration service, and if the boards are past saving we also build new decks. Get in touch for a free on-site estimate.