We see this a bunch.  A very functional deck that has been cared for in the past with a solid or a semi solid stain.  I forget this exact story, but from what I remember, this RED job was done 8-10 years ago.  Capitola, New Brighton Beach area deck.  Gets tons of sun.  That being said, I knew that just by washing the deck, an additional 85% of red would wash away, and it did.  In addition to that, all the bare wood you see in the pictures would become very clean and ready to go the transparent route.

Had we tried to convert this deck five years go, there may have been too much existing stain.  This company does NOT sand, stain, strip, and/or the like.  If a mistake was made in the past with a stain that was TOO dark or TOO solid, or TOO dark AND solid, the silver lining is that the wood is probably being very well protected.

Unfortunately I do not have any additional shots of this particular project.  It was all washed, and just the floor and top piece of rail were stained with a redwood tone transparent stain.  Water based of course.  The white pickets were also washed, and to save a $$$, the client decided to stain them herself.