hi i have 8 year old cedar deck. i applied stain on it 4 times . first application was not successful as i think too much stain was added or wood was wet. it left a coating on the deck instead taking the stain inside the wood. now every year i gets dark. very dark and dirty when you walk on it.
I power washed it recently. On the pictures that I attached you can see the difference. Also where the umbrella stand was standing all season the spot is clean and yellow.
I live on long island New York. Sun hits the deck most of the day. What should I do to fix this wood? Or is this normal ?