My daughter and I bought this house 2 years ago (2006). The deck was terribly weathered and looked like it had not been cleaned or sealed in several years. Last year (2007) we decided to tackle the deck but we wanted to do it right the first time. We purchased a power washer and a strong cleaner. The cleaner took the wood down to bare wood (pressure treated wood for decking) and then we rinsed it thoroughly with the power washer. A few days later when the wood was completely dry, we applied Cabot

The horizontal surfaces will always fade twice as fast as the verticals. Why it did in 1 year may have something to do with the deck being extremely neglected(very dried out) for so long. You could just do a light cleaning and a "maintenance" coat to the horizontals. This will be relatively easy.

Cabot Stains are advanced in nature and simple to use. It penetrates and fills the pores of the substrate. 175 square feet per gallon is the coverage for most wood.