Deck Cleaning/Staining Recommendations
- Thread starter Big12Cy
- Start date
If you are going down to the bare wood and starting over, I would recommend oil based stain, with a sealer you reapply every year or two.
All we've done is pressure washed our deck (approx 11 yrs old). Looks like new! Bought an electric Ryobi pressure washer (recommend by Handyman magazine). Works like charm!
Pressure wash for sure. Then I just use a tinted water sealer. They claim the water sealer lasts 3-5 years but that is a lie.
I need to do this too. Any recommendations on a good sealer. One I don't have to apply every two years.
I used this on my pressure treated deck that had failing stain on it. It has held up to two full summers and winters well. I did spend two or three solid days stripping and prepping the existing surface though.
http://www.menards.com/main/exterio...avy-moderate-resurfacer-/p-2737700-c-7957.htm
http://www.menards.com/main/exterio...avy-moderate-resurfacer-/p-2737700-c-7957.htm
I power wash and seal my deck every summer. Just make sure the deck is really dried out usually a day of 2 after power washing. Then I roll on a cedar tint sealer that might hold up longer but my deck gets a lot of mildew in the shady spots so I do it every year.
Has anyone ever just flipped the boards over instead of replacing?
This thought occurred to me this year when I was looking at underside of my deck. On topside the boards are splintering and in poor shape. Underneath side looks fairly good. You still have the labor of removing them (and reattaching) but I'd think you'd save quite a bit in materials.
This thought occurred to me this year when I was looking at underside of my deck. On topside the boards are splintering and in poor shape. Underneath side looks fairly good. You still have the labor of removing them (and reattaching) but I'd think you'd save quite a bit in materials.
Oil based stain and sealer, would not go with anything with too much tone/color, I have had horrible luck with those, it chips badly.... If you have wood spindles there is new brush out that seems to work pretty good to apply to those, found it at Lowe's it is a sponge-based brush that bends to get the spindle angle... That always takes the longest.
^ If you have treated wood, why mess with stain at all? Do you just prefer the look? It just seems like you're creating additional work for yourself because once you've committed to staining it, you're going to have to continue this practice to make it look nice.
That product does not exist. With the way the wood expands and contracts with the Iowa weather it just isn't possible.
Prep of the deck is the most important step of a good deck restoration. You should use a detergent that will break down gray wood fibers on the surface for easy rinsing. Depending on if your deck is stained currently or not you will want a sodium percarbonate or a sodium hydroxide based deck cleaner/stripper. The step that is always skipped is neutralizing the deck/ground with an oxilac or citric acid. These does several things 1 it brightens the wood, 2 it helps open the pores of the boards up to accept new stain, and 3 it neutralizes the 10+ ph cleaner/stripper you just put on your deck and surrounding ground.
Next step is to let the wood get below 20% moisture content, depending on the amount of shade, weather, other factors this will take between 3-7 days, if it rains the clock resets.
Picking a stain is also important I recommend only oil or water based semi-transparent stains. There are tons of good brands out there that will run you between $25-$50 per gallon. You don't want to use paint, solid stain, or any type of acrylic stain. These types of finishes are very difficult to remove/maintain.
http://www.olympic.com/products/stains/13/olympic-maximum-stain-sealant-in-one
With a good oil based semi transparent you can maintain the flat surfaces/traffic areas every 2 years, and rails every 4-6. The key is to do maintenance before the stain starts to fail, once it fails in order to do it properly all the stain must then be removed to apply a good looking new coat. These finishes can also be easily removed without using extremely dangerous chemicals that is harmful to people and plants. So if you don't like how it looks you can somewhat easily change your mind.