We recently bought a house in a very rainy area, and the stain on the wood on the lower half of our house is nearly all worn off. We're thinking it needs a new coat of stain, and I read that it can be a DIY project, but I wonder how doable it is. We're pretty handy, but this is not something we've tackled before. Apparently it involves having the stain matched at a place that sells it, then buying the stain and renting a paint sprayer to apply it. Seems simple enough, but I can see this becoming a big mess for someone who doesn't know what they're doing. (If it makes any difference, this is a one-story house, but it's tall enough in some areas that it could be considered the height of a two-story house. Two windows are high enough to be impossible to reach without a ladder.)
My (admittedly naive) biggest concerns are:
Do we really need to pry off two pieces of our house, as recommended by one company that sells stains, to have them matched? They want us to bring in a stained piece and one with the stain worn off. Is it possible to just get some samples and test them ourselves in an inconspicuous part of the house? And if we're slightly off, will it really matter if we're going over the whole house with the new stain anyway?
What's the best way to protect everything we don't want stained? Windows, doors, trim, etc. Will just taping up some plastic work?
(Edited to add some specific questions)