How To Restore A Deck?
4 min read
Use a commercially available deck repair product to strip aged, grayed wood from surfaces and restore the wood’s original color and beauty. By applying deck stain restoration products to the surface of your wood, the products will fill any cracks, holes, and other imperfections. Deck paint restoration products are thick enough to fill in any cracks, knotholes, and spall, and provide an entirely new, texture-filled surface that may last up to 13 years without additional applications. Simply stain your old wood deck with thick, acrylic deck restoration paint, and it will provide a smooth finish that will last for years.
Next, carefully select the color of the deck’s wooden covering, as deck restoration coverings soak up lots of heat and hold on to that heat for much longer than untreated wood.
If your deck is brand new, and the wood still has most of its color and luster, then clear staining may be enough to give you some luster without the colors. I would love to have used a semi-transparent stain so we could see more of the wood grain, but it was not an option with our wooden deck. Plus, the wood was not in great shape, so the strong stain was the better choice for rebuilding old wood and getting a little extra life from it. Ultimately, for our deck, I believe that we needed both to sand it down and to use a stripper to remove enough stain to bring it to bare wood.
When up close and personal with the deck, I could see an old stain in the cracks of deck boards, which either did not remove or did not absorb new stain from their Deck Stripper. Even if a deck might be cleaned, it may still appear to be somewhat mottled and discolored by the staining or the sun. Even when you stain or seal wood decks, the boards may still chip and split, making your deck appear older and more worn.
The easiest way to make sure your deck looks its best is to periodically clean it and apply sealant again before the wood starts to look like it might need it. For a wooden deck, periodic care and maintenance mean cleaning it every two years, and applying another layer of stain when the older stain wears away.
Sometimes, a good clean using hot water and detergent will free up built-up mud and grime that has settled on a deck’s surface. Consider a deck-cleaning and scrubbing tool to get rid of more impurities beneath the surface, which makes the best contact. If a deck has been previously finished in opaque stain, even a power wash and clean/brighten can leave some stubborn spots from old finishes.
For older decks, or if you are looking to give a completely new color to the wood, semi-transparent or colored staining will be the better choice. Transparent stains do an excellent job at showing the appealing grain in a wood, so they are a great choice for brand-new decks that are not so battle-worn, or if you have a deck built from an especially appealing species of wood. Stains are designed specifically for wooden decks, and hold up better than paint, which tends to chip and peel over time. Clear finishes and clear stains are good on new wood, but John Starling recommends using a semi-transparent stain on older decks.
Oxalic-acid products, which are commonly found in deck-cleaning products, strip the wood of its graying surface fibers, as well as dark tanning stains, which may appear in redwood and cedar decks. There are a good number of branded deck brighteners, but you can make your own by adding oxalic acid (a powdered bleach) to hot water. Oxalic acid is not effective against mildew, so you might want to use it after cleaning the deck with bleach-based cleaners.
Brush over the deck with a stiff-bristled brush to get your cleaning solution in the wood fibers, and rinse off. Wet the deck and surrounding vegetation with a garden hose, then apply a cleaning liquid, working it into the surfaces with a long-handled scrubbing brush, and rinse. Spray a deck’s surface with water, and then spray yours on top of the surfaces, allowing you to sit for 15 minutes as you scrub with a stiff-bristled brush.
Wash My Deck Thoroughly: You can use deck cleanin products such as Sherwin Williams Deck Wash if you have lots of dirt or stains, or simply plain cleaning water to get rid of small staining and mud accumulation. The cleaner will strip away the weathered wood fibers, any oils or tannins, and return the existing deck to it is natural color. A deck restoration project such as this one can be done in two days, however, the best practice is to stain the job over two weekends so that the wood is fully dry before applying the stain. For the best long-lasting results when you are rejuvenating your deck, clean your stain off during spring and fall using a manufacturer’s cleaning solution.
Deck restoration staining is made with long-lasting, color-fast acrylic-based materials that contain UV inhibitors, with the addition of a hardener (aluminum oxide or sand). RAD Step 2 wood brightener is a safe, non-toxic product that not only brightens but also neutralizes wood surfaces, creating a perfect finish that is ready for staining.
Restore-A-Deck wood stains are safe, low-odor, and easily cleaned up with soap and water. Restore-A-Deck Wood Stains protect the wood against damaging UV light rays and water infiltration. Restore all wood surfaces to their original beauty. The Step 1 RAD wood cleaner does not harm wood fibers, pets, grass, or most plants.
