As a 60 year old widow, I was dreading refinishing my 555 sq ft, seriously neglected deck. I'd done some repairs and cleaned it in the 9 years I've owned my home but never managed to get it stained/resealed. I have a dog and both doors that access the backyard from the house open onto the deck. I worried about how to block off half the deck to seal at a time so we could get out without having to leash up and go around the front to go through the fence gate. I belong to a handy women's group online and several members recommended Ready Seal. They said you can walk on it pretty much immediately. They also said it was foolproof. I did some reading. In addition, I learned I will never have to remove the old finish to reapply. I was sold! I replaced the top board of my railing because it was in terrible shape (knowing I can't stain it yet). Then I pressure washed all parts. I used a homemade brightener, sprayed it on, let it set 15-20 mins, scrubbed with a push broom, rinsed very well. I waited several 90 degree, rain-free days. Sanded some parts of the railing that old finish still clung to. Checked the moisture level with a meter. It took me two days (separated by a day that I had to work) to stain the railing with a 3" angled brush and then the deck floor with a 4" brush (what I had). I realized at one point I had some color variation and then saw I had 2 (of 6) cans with a different lot #. There's room in the cans so I just shook and then stirred each can and then poured the product back and forth between the cans so they were well mixed (recommended anyway, d'oh). Brushed some more product onto the lighter section and it blended right in. I was almost out with a 6' x 6' area left so needed to purchase another gallon (3rd different lot #), which I mixed with the remaining stain. It's been a week now since I started staining, any variation from doing different parts on different days has evened out. And it works! It rained the day after I finished and it beaded up rather than soaked in. I chose the color PECAN after much deliberation. I knew I didn't want anything with red or yellow tones, I prefer darker stains but worried about darker colors causing the deck to be hot to walk on. I finally decided I could always go darker next time if I didn't care for the color. Pecan is perfect and my deck looks SERIOUSLY AMAZING! I can't believe *I* did that and can't stop looking at it.