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April 17, 2016Winter is over and the grill has been dormant under the cover of snow. Look you found the deck.
You are antsy to utilize that beautiful deck but one glance at the decking under your feet turns your stomach remembering how much work it was to make it look great last year.
Keeping a maintained deck in New England is hard work. We shovel them, move patio furniture on them, cook on them and walk on them.
We do not even want to think of all the weather they get from freezing cold to hot summer sun.
A few easy steps can maintain your deck from year to year to make maintenance much more manageable.
A few steps in maintaining your deck:
- Wash your deck with a soft wash, not a high pressure power washer with deck cleaner made specifically for decking.
- if you have peeling, scratched or flaky areas use an orbital sander and lightly sand just those areas
and feather out the edges.
- Apply a stain just to those areas you had sanded, do not put to thick of a coat on the initial coat.
- Restain all flat surfaces with a fresh coat and let dry as per directions on the can.
We find that any flat surfaces, decking and handrails have to be restained every year here in new England. ballasts and posts often can go two or three years without a fresh coat of stain due to the weather not sitting on them for long periods of time.
If you have composite decking there are specific cleaners on the market just for that specific purpose sold at most Big box stores or paint stores.
Using the proper cleaners and staining products make what seems difficult an afternoon project.
if you need further direction on restaining your deck or need a free estimate on staining or maintaining your deck we would be more than happy to provide a FREE estimate. Please give us a call at 978-683-9119