Thanks -- all but one are now claimed, and I'm pretty sure that one will be gone tomorrow evening. Rosefolly

Hi, I just went through the process of having my deck refinished. The deck is about 500 sqft half covered, half full sun. The deck had lousy opaque stain that was badly weathered. I estimate the deck at 10 years old and the stain at 5 years since application. About 20% of the boards needed replacing. I didn't do the work, I found a contractor who had done similar projects in the area and had him do it. The results are ok, but not as good as I hoped. I wound up spending about $1300 on the lumber and stain and $2000 on the labor. I think I didn't get great value. This is the step by step guide to how I think I should have done it. If I had held my contractor to this process, and presented it this fully at the start of the project, I would have had a better chance at getting the beautiful result I wanted. This is not a quick of easy approach, but I think it would work well. Restaining a Redwood Deck in Bay Area - Total elapsed time should be about 20 days. Assumes no rain at all for the duration time, normal summer weather. Agree on goals and the quality standard. e.g. No glossiness. No rough spots or unevenness. Gap should be about 1/8" and all the wood should be installed to cup down. Agree on inspection failure and rework approach. -If it fails a step, then what will we do? Will it add cost? What about accidentally destroyed materials? Assess wood, choose boards to be replaced. Decide on additional wood, eg trim to be added. Note trim should be al single pieces even on long sections. Scarph join sections when long pieces can't be found. Agree on stains (Cabot semi transparent oil), paint (Sherwin Williams Duration) and primer to be used. Get all needed plus one gallon for paint and stain. Take delivery, check color, get receipts, note formula used to mix color. Light power wash deck, 500 psi, 40 deg tip, 18 inches away. Wait to dry out for 5 days. Go get wood at yard together, agree on quality and kind of trim. Shoot for older wood to maximize color match. OK Lumber in Redwood City is a good yard to use. Buyer to keep all scrap / excess lumber. Do a color check on trim, old wood, new wood, house with stain and paint. Inspect all wood, get receipts. Lightly sand (120 grit) all new wood to remove mill finish. Remove all boards, including verticals. Make temp ramp for access top back yard from kitchen door. Make sure ramp is dog friendly. Sand all faces of boards using orbital sander with 80 grit, get into all tight spots with hand sanding or sharp detail sander. Vacuum all boards with brush attachment. Power wash all boards, 1000 psi, 12 inches away, 40deg tip Wash house too. Allow to dry 5 dry days While waiting, fix substructure of the deck, clean and repair. Vacuum all substructure, garage, driveway and surrounding area. No sanding dust left anywhere. Stain all trim. Stain extra trim to allow for scrap. Stain with brush or mitt. Apply stain outside in the shade from 10am - 4pm. Set to dry in garage. Work only with great light, bright and indirect. Brush oil stain into each board on all faces. Use natural bristle brush, set to dry on blocks in normal horizontal position. Apply only one coat. Stain 5% extra boards to allow for scrap. Do not use too much, to avoid glossiness. Allow to dry 4 days in garage. Do all house painting while waiting. Inspect and approve all boards and trim for color and quality of stain. Also inspect against warping. Install boards - remain careful to not scratch or mar finish. Do not over drive deck stews, they should sit just slightly below flush. Position at least one inch from board edge. Use good, color appropriate corrosion resistant hardware. Inspect all boards as installed. Check no big gaps, no gouges or scratches. No warping. If any boards fail, use back up boards, use new spot for attachment of board to substructure to avoid stripping out hole. Walk all boards individually to check for squeaking or looseness. Install all vertical boards, use small screws. Will require piloting holes first. Inspect verticals for thin, even gaps, good attachment. Install trim. Use finishing nails. Mitre all corners. Scarph joints, not butt joints when necessary. Inspect all trim work. Look for good joints even miters. Check straightness of lines. Check good attachment, give spots a light kick, especially on step edges. Vacuum up all debris and dust. The End! Wasn't that fun and easy!

This seems to have turned into a radiant floor heat discussion. I have no experience with floor heat in the USA, but we worked/lived in Asia for a few years and had electric floor heat as our only source of heat in the house (I don't know the intricacies of its mechanisms of operation). It was set up to only work at night. We could not make it turn on in the day, but the house had huge whole wall windows on two sides to take in the sun. It had a learning curve because you had to anticipate how cold the next day would be so you could get it warm enough over the night, but we grew to really like it. We didn't turn it on in the bathrooms because it would make the tile hot enough to burn your feet (even at the lowest setting). You would have to keep towels on the floor if you wanted to use it. The rest of the house had wood floor and it would not hurt your feet no matter how hot we set it. We spent the least on energy of anyone we knew there during our stay, but we are also frugal.

Even if you don't install grab bars now, if you want to later, you want to plan the major plumbing so that you can. Swapping the toilet and sink will give you the wall space to be able to install grab bars. I usually am not interested in 2 doors to a single bath, but in your case, I'd prefer to have easy access to the powder from the main family entrance. But, it is good to know what you want/don't want. I can see not wanting the only entrance to be through the mudroom. (But, one possibility I would consider is swapping location of the closets in that block with the powder room, and then making the only access to the powder through that "mudroom". When you do that, you get closet nearer the front entrance, as well as the ability to close off the mudroom and still have guest access to the powder. And, you hide the powder a bit more from your front entrance.) Just an option. I really like the elevation.