Just found out my deck stain cost me way more in labor than material

I was adding up what it cost to re-stain my back deck here in Portland. Turns out the stain itself was only $45 a gallon, but I spent close to 12 hours over two weekends doing it. That means my own time, even at minimum wage, was like $160 just for the labor part. Has anyone else ever actually run the numbers on what their DIY time is worth?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.river20h ago

Figure out your hourly rate for labor and it gets real depressing real fast. I calculated mine at like $4.50 an hour for the time I spent painting my fence last spring, which is basically charity work. @sandralee is right about breaking it into sections, that saved me from throwing the brush at the neighbors cat halfway through. Might be worth it just for the free workout and fresh air though, even if my back hates me the next morning.

sandralee1d ago

oh man i totally get this. i did my own deck last summer and it was brutal. i spent like 10 hours scraping and staining, and then realized i coulda paid a kid down the street like 100 bucks to do it in a day. but honestly, what saved me was doing it in sections. i did the railing one weekend, the floor boards the next. it made it feel less like a whole weekend waste and more like a little project. plus i got to enjoy the deck sooner instead of staring at a half finished mess for weeks.