Decks are the highlights of many people’s homes and a lot of time and money goes into building them. It is important to clean the deck regularly, so that it looks beautiful for a long time without any major repairs. Deck maintenance is as important as maintenance for your health or your vehicle’s oil changes. One loose board or railing can cause personal injury to anyone who visits your deck. Here are the steps that we use to ensure that a deck looks like it was just built recently and is safe for use:
- Inspect the entire deck: Check all of the posts, stairs and joists to make sure they are not rotting and make sure that all of the screws and bolts are tightened. If any nails are popping out, they can either be tapped back in or replaced with screws. If you find anything that has rotted, you will have to replace those items. It is also important to check for any loose wood that can cause splinters.
- Clean the surface: The surface of a deck should be cleaned every year. There are many different products available for cleaning a deck or you can make your own with bleach, laundry detergent, and warm water. The cleaner should be applied to the deck and then a stiff brush should be used to scrub the deck before rinsing. Pressure washing can damage the surface of the deck and cause splintering. Always let one of our professional deck maintenance teams handle the pressure washing for you if needed.
- Apply stain to the deck: After the deck has been cleaned and has dried thoroughly for a few days, it is time to apply the stain. A clear or transparent stain is a good choice for a newly built deck, but older decks will need a semitransparent stain. The semitransparent stain will provide extra protection and lasts much longer than clear finishes do. The stain can either be applied by spraying or brushing, but a thicker coat is applied when a sprayer is used.
If more than one coat of stain is needed, it should be applied immediately, so that the stain is absorbed into the wood. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. We recommend that stain is applied at least every other year for the best results. Maintaining a deck is quite simple and if you follow these steps, you should be able to enjoy your deck for years to come.
Give us a call at 404-939-2201 if you would like to discuss your ideas for preparing your deck for summer in true southern style. We’re located in Suwanee and provide home remodeling, deck building and remodeling, and construction of other outdoor structures to homeowners in the north metro Atlanta area. Let us know your building or remodeling plans and we’ll discuss the details when we schedule an onsite consultation to begin making plans.