2 tone deck question

[the_GUNN_man 14]

I have someone who wants there deck done in cedar tone but the spindals in white. The question is do you stain the whole spindal white or do you stain it white just to the point where it reaches the floor. I thought it may look a little tacky if the spindal was white about 4 to 5 inches past the floor while the bottom board the spindals are attached to would be cedar tone.

[big mike 14]

I would stain all verical surfaces white, and the floor, handrail & stair treads cedar. my2cents

[the_GUNN_man 14]

They said they wanted all railing white. I was wondering if I should do the spindals and top rail white and then do the floor and steps cedar and then the posts to the deck and the baseboards white.

[Gavin 14]

I agree with big Mike. I do all horizontals (including the rail) in the transparent and all verts in white. Do the semi-solid first. 2 reasons. You can sand any you might get on the horizontals before you stain them and tape won't stick to the transparents anyway.

I charge at least a 1.00 more per square for 2 tones. They take twice as long with all the prep work and taping. They also look the best!

Gavin

Oh, and to actually answer your question; I do the whole spindle including the backside of the top rail and the fascia (skirt) on the bottom.

[Aplus 525]

I do alot of two tone decks. There are no hard and fast rules, it is whatever you and/or your customer decide upon. Generally I do the entire railing assembly solid, and the floor semi.

I find it best to do the solid staining first, because you need to be able to get around on the deck while working on the railings, and if you stain the floor first, then how are you going to do that, unless you come back the next day?

Everybody has there own preferences, so think about all your options, and reasons for doing it a certain way, and proceed. The more you do, the easier they get. Here is a picture of the railing as I described.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Ooooooohhh Aaaaaaahhh! Wow!

Niiiiiice!

Beth