It’s Deck Cleaning Time

There’s nothing quite like enjoying a nice summer day relaxing on your deck with friends and family. That’s why you decided to get it: to spend quality time with those close to you. However, To make your deck fresh like when it was built, you may need a deck cleaning.

When the temperatures drop our good old deck sees a lot less use but a lot more elements of abuse. Winter can be tough on your deck and anything that lives outside. It can leave your deck looking dull and can even damage it. So as soon as winter is gone, here are some things you can do to liven your deck back up and get it ready for summer.

Deck Cleaning 101

Keeping it clean is the first line of defense against the elements. A clean deck is a happy deck. A thorough deck cleaning can keep it not only looking good but can also prevent mold from forming. Also make sure you are cleaning around your deck. Plants around your deck can hold moisture that in time can cause your deck to fill up with mold and possibly lead to rot.

The first thing you can do to keep it clean is to give it a good scrubbing with soap and water. In most cases this is all that’s needed. If you need some additional help, there are some products that can help remove stains, mold, or any other type of buildup.

If you need to take it step further, power washing is a great option. It can reach places that are very hard to get to just with a garden hose and brush. The one thing to keep an eye out is that it can also strip off some of the finish from your deck. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though, as long as you plan on re-treating your wood.

Seal the Deal

After cleaning your deck, you might notice that it looks better but not quite as you remember it. That’s because finish on the wood might have started to break down. This is normal, especially if you went the power washing route to clean it up.

Refinishing the wood is a fairly simple thing to do. Start by giving it a light sanding and apply either a dye or a sealer. Some sealers include a dye if you wish to change the color of the wood a bit.

Before you start, make sure that you find 2-3 days of sunshine. Even a slight drizzle can ruin the sealer and you might have to sand and reapply it again.

A Rotten Thing to Happen

Although there are many things we can do to make sure we extend the life our wooden deck the wood can eventually rot.

To start off you need to evaluate the extent of the damage. How many and which boards and pieces are damaged? What usually happens is that when you start replacing the pieces that you found rot on you will probably find more. So make sure you are prepared to for that, both with time and budget.

This is one of the cases where you might want to hire a contractor, because the process of finding and fixing rot can be very time consuming if you don’t know exactly what to look for.