Maintaining your deck can become one of the most cumbersome tasks a homeowner can undertake by themselves.
One of the many reasons for this is the basis of seasonality. Moreover, maintaining a deck is actually much more nuanced than many may have first assumed before taking on their respective projects on their own.
So if you’re in the business of DIY for your deck, then it’s good to inform yourself of all knowledge germane therein.
To that end, here is a list of some of the things you should do and other things you shouldn’t do respective to your deck.
Clean it once per year
In order to make your deck more receptive and efficacious to Rexoseal’s protective sealers, it’s advisable to clean your deck on a perennial basis. This way, our protective sealers are more likely to disperse deeper into the wood of your deck. For starters, when the temperature range is within the 60 to 70 degree Fahrenheit range, make sure to use a sprayer to kill off any excess mold or bacteria. This way, you can still clean your deck without incurring any unintentional damage to it during the cleaning process like with a pressure washer.
If you opt to use a pressure washer, take care
As mentioned before, if you elect to use a pressure washer, you’re incurring a risk of damaging the integrity of your deck’s surface area because of the sheer pressure it undergoes from the water hitting it at a high rate. So if you choose to go this route to save time, then make sure to spray the wood at a slight angle—kind of like using the ‘mist’ of the water—to remove unwanted dirt and debris.
Abstain from using chlorine bleach
Many homeowners will often think that using bleach will expedite the deck cleaning process. However, they couldn’t be farther from the truth. Not only will your cleaning process take longer, but you will also ruin the coloring and cellular structure of the wood’s surface, too, if you use bleach. Oxygen bleach can serve as a proxy for this in some instances, but it’s still not the going product to use for redwood decks.
Refrain from using paint as a sealant
After applying paint for the first time, the aesthetic effect does not leave much to be desired. However, after a certain amount of time, it begins to look eroded. So if you want to refinish the deck, do not simply paint it over again. In fact, you will most likely need to remove all of the paint and start from scratch by using a sander. You can consider using our Rexoseal DEK Deck Coating to get started on this since other oil-based products can attract unwanted mildew and other contaminants to your deck.
Perform routine inspections
While the interior of your home is largely protected from the outside elements, the same can rarely be said—unless covered and insulated to a wide degree—of your deck. Make sure to stymie water damage throughout the seasons during the year and sweep away leaves, snow branches, dirt and other debris on a regular basis.