It’s time to give your tired old deck a facelift. You have a lot of choices when it comes to restoring the wood and protecting it from further damage, this article will walk through the steps you need to take to get started.
1. Stain or Seal Your Deck
Deck staining or sealing the deck is the best to do so in the early morning or late afternoon. The sun’s rays can cause the wood to dry too quickly, and the finish won’t adhere properly if temperatures are too high. To ensure proper coverage, use a roller on flat surfaces and brushes on vertical surfaces such as steps. If working with really large areas of wood, consider using a paint pad instead of a brush or roller; these are made specifically for covering large areas quickly without leaving streaks behind.
2. Inspect All Surfaces
Check for loose boards and cracks. Loose boards may be the result of poor installation or structural damage from ice dams, tree roots, or shifting soil. If you see any loose boards, it’s best to remove them so that they don’t cause further damage to your deck surface.
Check for mildew, moss, and algae growth on the surface of your decking material. Mildew can be removed with a deck cleaner or by simply cleaning it away with a broom and a garden hose after brushing off excess dirt from the surrounding area. Moss should be removed by using a pressure washer that has been adjusted according to manufacturer specifications (some models require that you reduce pressure to avoid damaging wood). After removing moss with a pressure washer, apply an antimicrobial solution such as bleach-based cleaners to disinfect the affected areas before resealing them with sealer products as needed depending on exposure level/length/nature.
3. Clean the Deck with a Power Washer
The first step to restoring a weathered deck is cleaning it with a power washer. If you have plants on your deck, use a low-pressure setting on the power washer and avoid blasting them away. Also, if you have a wood or composite deck, don’t use a pressure washer at all, it will damage the material and result in splinters falling off as well as dirt getting lodged in cracks that are hard to reach by hand.
4. Remove All Furniture and Decor from the Deck
Draw the curtain and move all furniture, art, plants, and other accessories off of your deck. After you’re done cleaning with a power washer, you’ll want to make sure that your deck is dry before moving anything back on.
Then, use an orbital sander with 80-grit sandpaper to remove all loose or flaking paint or sealer from the wood surface of your deck railing post. If necessary, use a brush to apply stain or sealers evenly to every board before reassembling your yard furniture and decorating again.
5. Apply a Brightener to the Deck
Once the deck has been sanded, you can apply a brightener. Brighteners are used to restore the natural color of the wood by removing dark spots, blemishes, and stains.
If applying with a brush, use a paintbrush or roller to apply the brightener evenly across your deck. Work in sections so that you don’t get too much coverage at once; this will make it easier for you to work around cracks in your decking as well as around doorways and windows without getting too much on them. You should apply two coats or one coat before sealing and one coat after sealing to ensure maximum coverage on all sides of your decking pieces if possible. If using rollers instead of brushes, follow manufacturer instructions for how long each coat should be left on before wiping off excess product with clean rags until only about 1/4 remains on each side of every piece. When using sprayers instead of rollers or brushes, follow the same instructions except do not leave any excess product behind once it dries.
Conclusion
This post was written to help you with your specific project. It’s a guide that will walk you through the steps of what needs to be done, and give you a step-by-step process for achieving it successfully.
