Vinyl and Composite decking maintenance

Do you have Vinyl and Composite decking that needs maintenance or should have maintenance?

Most who have had composite decking or vinyl railing systems installed on your home and thought or was told it was maintenance free have been fooled.  This “maintenance free”decking actually requires cleaning yearly and sometimes multiple times a year.

As you can see in the header picture this vinyl railing system is in need of a cleaning pretty badly.  This deck was located on a shady side of a home and under a beautiful Oak shade tree which enabled the mold to grow.  The homeowners have multiple entrances and this one was not used very often which allowed it to be out of sight out of mind.

How to maintain Vinyl and Composite decking:

Vinyl Railing Cleaning:

• rinse with garden house on a regular basis to prevent algae and dirt to take hold
  

  How to clean composite decking in the Andover, MA

• use a soft scrub brush for stubborn areas with a mild cleaner.
• If needed utilize a power washer using a non aggressive spray tip to remove the hard to reach areas.
• After using any cleaner rinse the area around the railings with straight water so not to harm the grass or vegetation.
• One of the products we have had luck with and recommend is Simple Green concentrate mixed with warm water and a sponge.

Composite deck cleaning:

Before you start it is best to rid the deck of any debris from trees.  We find if leaves are left to decay on the decking for  period of time it leaves stain marks on the decking.

• Rinse, rinse, rinse with water
• according to Trex which is one of the largest distributors of composite decking recommends washing stained areas from leaves and such with water and then a rinse of oxalic acid to brighten and soft scrub brush.
• Some manufactures recommend a power washer but from my experience BE CAREFUL as a powerwasher on the wrong setting or using the wrong tip will permanently damage the decking and the boards will have to be replaced.  Quite often decking that needs to be replaced does not match the existing decking due to the fade factor of the materials. 

The down and dirty of Vinyl and Composite decking  is to rinse often with just water and allow it to receive regular sunlight to assist with keeping the Algae at bay.

If we can assist with you decking needs from washing, maintenance and or staining  please do not hesitate in contacting gus at https://ramsdenpainting.com   or 978-693-9119

Thank you for reading,

Ron Ramsden, owner

Ramsden Painting