2 tone advice

Use a solid color deck stain in white. look at Flood Pro Series and they can custom mix the white for you to whatever white you want. You should strip off the AC before applying the solid stain.

Thanks for your quick response... i see Restore-A-Deck also makes a white that looks good in your review section. I may try that.

Two more questions...

1) I have a few cracks in some of the railings...should i fill them before using the solid stain?  if so, what can I fill them with?

2) When applying the solid stain do I use a brush or roller? I want it to appear as solid as possible - not sure if brush application leaves marks.

Thanks!

1. No need and filler does not work that well on decks.

2. Brush or roller will work. We normally roll as much as we can and then brush the rest.

Update - Almost finished staining the deck... hot temps here have held me up.  If anyone is interested I went with Restore A Deck solid in classic white for the verticals and Armstrong Clark Semi-Transparent Rustic Brown for the deck and top of rail.  Also added some trim to the base of each post.  We are very pleased with how it turned out!  Thanks for your help!

Looks great!

Looks awesome

I tried going the 2 tone approach

Armstrong Clark Semi solid Mountain Cedar for vertical  rails

Armstrong Clark Semi transparent Cedar for the boards and some horizontal rail parts

Unfortunately it didnt quite work well as the colours were too close to each other. I can tell the difference but to a person who doesn't know what I did, it all looks the same colour. Perhaps I didnt mix the Mountain Cedar well, but I stirred the can for a good 15mins plus occasionally stirred it as I worked so it can't be that 

Typically when you do a two-toned deck you need contrasting colors. One is a solid stain and the other a semi-transparent. Like the picture above.