Deck Stain Re-Do or wait it out?

After prepping the back deck which has been on between 10 - 15 years depending on the section, I stained it trying to match a gazebo that we got this summer. I did a couple test patches before doing the whole thing and they matched up pretty well, so I got to it.

Well, the entire deck didn't turn out like the test patches and it is waaayyyy to "orange-y". I think I figured out that the difference between the test patches and the overall color was the fact that I brushed the test patches but rolled the entire deck. The brushing worked the stain into the grain of the wood causing a darker, more brown tint, than the rolling action. It is a Cabot semi-solid deck stain, supposed to let some grain through but not be completely opaque like regular paint.

I'm trying to figure out what to do to recover and make it look better since Halloween is over in about a week and the orange color will not be in season any more. My first choice is to let it "season" over the winter and see if it fades/wears to a more brownish color. I like this option since it requires the least effort on my part! My second choice is to power wash it down and stain again using a different color.

Anybody with some experience in this arena with some suggestions?!

In the mean time, anybody need a orange colored space to hold a Halloween themed party?

just HOW--wayyy to orangey???? I doubt if pressure cleaning will get that semi-solid ( or whatever they call that crap)off. titelist, stain is stain--that semi solid is right up there with PAINT--tough way to learn--I'd just let it set & hope for an early snow to cover it up--something to start your SPRING to-do list

The previous owner of my house used some kind of semi-solid stain on the deck, and it was also too "orange-y" for me. I spent about 15 hours with a pressure washer taking it off...I probably took 1/16" off the boards as well, and the grain is more pronounced...but at least it isn't orange!

Fred...yes a painful lesson, especially for my back just thinking about having to re-do it.

I was hoping for a little more protection than regular stain, but didn't want the complete color of paint. Something like a "pickled" finish I have done on a few bookshelves & cabinets. I should have tried it on the much smaller deck of the supply shed before the using it on the house deck.

From the way it looks on the edge near the siding where I brushed it on, I think that it would have been OK if I had brushed it everywhere. It is a noticeably duller brown/orange with more grain showing through rather than the more vivid orange-y semi solid color, less grain where it was roller-ed. I have a very soft car wash brush (~10") that I could have attached a pole to that would have probably worked very well as a paint brush and I wouldn't have been bending over all the time.

Anyway, hope others can benefit from my lessons learned....
Start with the small deck on the outbuilding....
Use same method of applying on test area as main project (brush vs. roller)