21 Quick and Easy Budget Upgrades

By the time contractor Stephen Bonesteel arrived on the scene, the condition of this pine deck was bleak. Twenty years of harsh upstate New York weather without a lick of care had turned its once-bright boards a weatherbeaten gray, flecked with slimy algae and black leaf stains.

Still, even wood this neglected can be brought back to respectability. Over the course of a week, he power-washed and hand-scrubbed the deck back to a semblance of newness, then brushed on a protective coat of semitransparent stain to protect it from the elements.

Cost: About $80.

See How to Spruce Up Your Deck for this pro's full step-by-step instructions. In addition, you'll want to make sure your structure is stable by doing a Deck Check.