and I still have about a hundred wsd containers to plant.I still have about 6 roses to get in the ground too.I started 3 new beds this yr.One is strictly red,one is yellow/orange with white dahlias,one is my holding bed,where I am putting most of my wsd plants until I decide where to put them.My purple bed and pink bed has some yellows in them-that I have to transplant.I moved all my perennials out of my 2 rose beds because they were getting so crowded.It never ends.Besided the 3 new beds,I am putting in a bower.I also bought 10 adirondak chairs that have to be painted-2 each of pink,purple,yellow,green and blue.I am making rooms in my gardens,which has been sort of fun.I don't work at a job but this yr.has been so hard for me due to some health problems..but I am determined to finish,if there is such a thing..lol I too bought way too many clematis,have 2 on every arbor and I have run out of places to put the ones I bought.I may just let them wander thru the beds.I also put up a section of split rail fence to grow red climbing roses on behind my red bed.I have some already covered in a pinkish/white climber that has 11 bushes on it.Absolutely beautiful right now.Next yr.I hope I will not over load like I have done this yr.I do not see me getting finished any time soon....:-( and it is getting so hot outside.I work early morning and late afternoon but today I forgot to come in until almost 5..I am tired moonphase

We are getting ready to replace our 1700 sq ft deck around our geodesic dome in Washington State. I really appreciate all the comments. I have been doing a bunch of research and asking people that build, sell decking, etc. The main concern I hear/see is fading of composite (all brands). We saw some that was sitting in a lumberyard that looked terrible--dark green and black spotted algea(it had been returned after not being used for about a year was the explanation by the worker). I am real suspious now of using composite to have a beautiful deck after even 3 years since the shaded areas could end up being hideous next to the faded ares. One contractor showed us a small composite deck in full sun that was white after about 2 years--it had started out a beautiful wood tone. The fading is an issue with all composite from what I read/hear AND you cannot paint it. You can clean it, but when you read the warrantee, pressure washing voids it on some of the brands so hopefully there is some good product (30 Seconds?) that would make this twice yearly chore easy. I understand that large amounts of money is being spent in advertising--how it lasts a lifetime, is easy to work with, uses recycled material, etc. The real test is time. What will our deck look like in 5 years and will it need replaced again because it looks bad? I have written 3 manufacturers asking for decks that I can look at that have been installed for over 5 years. So far, no response. Unfortunately, a geodesic dome like ours wouldn't look right without the raised deck, but I'm still researching.... I would think that lawsuits are going to need to happen to prevent manufacturers from lying about "cool to the touch", etc. We have had the preserved wood deck for 30 years. It requires staining about every other year (Behr) which seems high maintanence, but it lasted AND looked great.

Thompson's Waterseal will probably give you good advice. They do have a facebook page, but I bet you could call them. We have an unsealed pressure treated wood deck, and I get splinters walking on it bare footed. The pool deck is the same, but we had that one sanded and painted, and it's much better.

The "Beading" effect is a TOTALLY meaningless parameter to deck stain quality and wear. The ONLY reason S/T stains bead temporarily, is that the stain is still "at/near the surface" of the wood, and all solvents aren't evaporated-off yet. Just like a waxed car, the effect is only temporary! Surface water doesn't hurt a deck....AT ALL...unless it's soaking for days on end without drainage. Even then, once the wood dries-out, it's fine! THE SUN, followed by surface traffic, is the great destroyer of wood fibers. Simple as that. Faron