I know the feeling. We had a painted deck when we moved in. I repainted it twice and said "this is enough" when I was laying out and a snake came up through the boards and was tickling my ankle with his tongue. I started saving to put in a full fledged patio. The back of our house faces west so if I didn't paint early morning it was god-awful. I still have to pressure wash the patio, but it is not as bad as the painting. Do you use a roller on a pole? That is what I used for all but the railings... or do you use a sprayer?