I have a 5 year old cedar deck. Ontario, Canada.
I originally used Sikens stain (clear) for the deck because it brought out
the beauty of the wood. I know that it is easily damaged by sunlight and I
thought I realised the maintenance involved , but I have had to powerwash
the walking area and completely restain every year. Last year the local
supplier of Sikkens went bankrupt and I made the mistake of using Behr's
stain instead of Sikkens. The peeling was even worse.

This year I went back to Sikkens. I powerwashed off the old stain:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gbmiller/washing.jpg
Then I put on a coat of Sikkens Cetol SRD 072 Butternut.
I'm very pleased with the result:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gbmiller/finished.jpg
But how do I ensure that it will stay that way? I can't believe the
deterioration in the last year alone. Should I lightly powerwash regularly?
with some sort of detergent? Should I put on a second coat? If so, when? I
begin to get the impression that I need to powerwash down to the wood each
year because I'm somehow not applying the stain peoperly in the first place.
Any advice would be appreciated.