A deck takes more weather than anything else you own. Whether that finish holds up or gives out early comes down to how it gets prepped and who’s doing the work.
Nice painters. Nice paint job.
Twice nationally awarded · 400+ foothill homes
You got here about thirty seconds ago, so there’s no reason to take our word for any of this yet.
Before you call anyone
Will the finish actually hold up outside? Is the price fair when one deck is nothing like the next? How much do I hand a stranger before they start, and what if I spot something I don’t like halfway through? Here’s where we answer all of that, in writing.
A deck lives out in the weather and takes a beating from everyday foot traffic. We clean it, sand it, and fix what has failed before any stain goes down, because a fresh coat over gray, weathered boards won’t last no matter what you paid for it.
See why it lastsDecks vary more than anything else we do, so we won’t pretend yours comes with an off-the-shelf price. We come out and see it, measure it, and hand you one written, fixed number for the deck you actually have.
How deck pricing worksHanding a big deposit to someone you just met should feel uncomfortable, so we don’t ask for one. We’re a family business. Projects here start with 10% or $1,000, whichever is less, which is the most California allows anyone to ask for. You pay the rest as the work gets done.
Book your estimateIf something catches your eye mid-job, you shouldn’t have to work up the nerve to say something. Ask on day two, ask on day six, whenever you notice it. The job isn’t finished until you and your crew leader have walked the whole thing together.
How that works on siteThe part you never see
The product matters, and we use finishes made to take foot traffic and weather. Even so, no finish can do much for boards that were prepped in a hurry.
Most of how a deck finish ages is settled before the first coat goes on, back during the cleaning and sanding and the board repairs nobody notices later. Put a stain over a gray, splintering board and it gives out fast, so on your deck we take the time to do that part right.
Almost every deck we do gets stained rather than painted, and we match the type of stain to your boards and how the deck actually gets used. The wrong product on the wrong deck is a big part of why a finish fails early, so we don’t guess at it.
Your project is assigned to a Michael Hines Painting crew, not a rotating collection of whoever is available that morning. Every worker on your project is our employee, and an experienced crew leader stays with the job from beginning to end.
They know what you asked for, what has already been done, and what comes next. They’re also the person you talk to each day. You never have to find out who’s in charge.
Brian
Chad
Kaden
Matthew
Sam
Fewer than 1%
of completed projects have required a callback for touch-up work after the final walkthrough.
Awards do not paint houses. People do.
Still, winning that kind of recognition year after year tells you what the people doing the work are held to. It’s the same bar we work to on every deck we refinish in Mount Aukum.
Finished decks
Gray, worn-out boards brought back to something you’d want to stand on again.
Every one of these decks got refinished instead of torn out.
Before you assume the worst
You’ve watched the boards go gray and splinter for a couple of summers, and you’re not sure whether refinishing runs a few thousand dollars or tens of thousands.
Decks vary more than anything else we do. This year the smallest deck we took on ran $2,400. The biggest we quoted came to about $24,000, for three tiers of decking down a steep hillside, over 3,000 square feet of boards and hundreds of feet of railing. Yours lands somewhere in between, and the only real way to pin it down is to get out there and look at it.
A handful of things move that number: how much decking there is, how much railing and what style, how many levels and how tough the access is, what shape the boards are in, and which finish you go with.
Read before we ever meet
Prep, square footage, railing, levels, and board condition all move the number. We come measure your deck and put a fixed price in writing.
See our painting cost guidesWhat moves the number
Before
After
We’re rarely the cheapest bid, and I’d rather you hear that from me now than feel blindsided by it later. And if your deck is honestly too far gone to refinish, I’ll tell you it’s time to replace it instead of selling you a coat of stain over a problem.
Book Your EstimateAfter you tap the button
Six steps, and you can see every one of them coming.
You book online: pick a real time on a real calendar, about ninety seconds.
The visit: we come measure, and you walk us through whatever’s been on your mind.
A written proposal: the scope and the price, fixed.
Your crew arrives: the deck cleaned and prepped, and landscaping nearby protected before staining starts.
Every day after: a crew leader on site, with an update going to our office and to you.
The final walkthrough: we walk the whole job together before anyone calls it done.
Pick a real appointment time on a real calendar, whenever works for you. If you decide to hire us afterward, 10% holds your project dates, never more than $1,000.
Day three, on your job
It’s day three, and it looks like there’s a small spot of missed stain in the corner by the house. You’ve noticed it every time you’ve walked past since yesterday, and you’re rehearsing how to mention it without sounding difficult.
On our jobs you never have to rehearse it. Your crew leader is standing right there, and the small stuff is exactly what you want to raise early, while it’s still small. We get an update from the crew every day, and so do you.
Anybody can type the word care onto a website. On your property it means your deck furniture, the plants around it and the siding nearby all covered before the work starts, the site left orderly at the end of each day, and cleanup good enough that customers bring it up in their reviews before we ever ask.
By the time we get to the final walkthrough, you’ve had the whole job to speak up. We walk it together at the end as one last check that nothing slipped past either of us before we call it done.
These are screenshots straight off Google, so what you’re reading is what these homeowners actually typed. Zoom in on them, then go read the rest at the source.
The founder answers to his own name in every review.
Read them all on GoogleStraight answers
Answered here the same way we answer them standing in your driveway.
It depends on how big the deck is, how much railing it has, how many levels, and what shape the boards are in, so any honest number needs us to see the deck first. This year our deck jobs have run from about $2,400 up to a $24,000 quote for a big multi-level deck. We come out to your deck and put a fixed price in writing.
Stained, not painted. Paint sits on top of a surface you walk on and peels no matter how well it goes on. Stain is made for it, and there’s more than one kind: a penetrating stain soaks into the grain and keeps the wood looking like wood, while a solid-color stain covers heavier when the boards are too worn to show grain. We recommend the right one for your deck once we’re standing on it.
Usually, yes. We clean it, sand it, and repair or swap out any boards that have failed before we put down a finish. If yours really is too far gone, we’ll say so plainly instead of staining over a problem and calling it done.
It depends on the product and the weather, but most finishes need a little time to cure before furniture and foot traffic go back on. Your crew leader will give you the timeline for the exact finish we use.
No. Every worker on your project is a Michael Hines Painting employee.
Whatever brought you here
See our Mount Aukum painting company page. Deck staining nearby: Somerset · River Pines · or see everywhere we work.
The 90 second step
Reach us however suits you, by the form here or a call or a text. Whichever you pick, we come see the deck for ourselves, then a written, fixed price. Nothing is due until you decide to hire us.
Michael Hines Painting · Ione, CA 95640 · (209) 256-4587