Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - Old deck question

My deck is about 20 yrs. old, haven't been sealed or stained in about 5 yrs. I plan this spring to install lattice on the railings, not sure if i should go with plastic or wood. But first my question is do you have the deck it power washed, then wait 3 days for it to dry, then put on a good sealer, in my case a "solid color stain" (because the deck would have dark spots, and solid color stain would cover them up, like paint. Now my next thing, the plastic lattice, can you use solid color stain on it so it matches the deck color, or will it peel like paint? It's about a 12X20 deck, with two elevations (a low side and a high side, i want the 2' X 4' lattice on the high side railing for privacy.
Thanks for any help

Heres a picture of the high side, where I'm going to put the lattice on the railing. Plan on having the deck the same color as the house. I live in Wisconsin and spring ain't to far away. I have a gallon of sanding sealer and when i was reading the label it said don't apply under 50*, it may get to 45* today (so springs coming. Deck.jpg picture by wallyp4600 - Photobucket (http://s112.photobucket.com/albums/n188/wallyp4600/?action=view&current=Deck.jpg)

How long you wait after powerwashing the deck before putting on the sealer depends on how fast the deck dries. Some wood will soak up more moisture than others and will take longer for it to dry. Also, the warmer it is and the more dirct sun it gets, the faster it'll dry. Every deck is ging to be different.

Neither paint nor stain will stick to vinyl lattice, at least not for any length of time. Rather than trying to MATCH the deck color, chose a color of vinyl lattice the will COORDINATE with the deck color.

Don't use sanding sealer!!! it is for interior only!

Go to your local paint store to get your solid stain, they'll have a better selection of quality stains to meet your needs. It's hard to find quality coatings at a big box - they stock coatings based on price, not quality.

SWP has a line of paints formulated for vinyl and adding emulsa bond to a quality latex paint will help with adhesion but I agree with Lefty - it's better to not paint the lattice -that way it will stay pretty much maintainence free.

You mentioned 'dark spots' on the deck. Are you referring to knots etc, or stuff like burger grease stains ?

Hard to tell till its up (or do a image editing on the pc).. but I wonder how that lattice will look.. you will have large horizontal lines with the bottom part, then 45deg lines with the lattice , and vertical lines with the posts and house siding.

How about filling in the gaps in between the balusters with something white to match the house trim ?

I did a quick edit to show the idea..


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