HawthorneVillager.com

Hey guys, we had a deck built in 2011. We have not done anything to it so far in terms of maintenance. It's starting to look a little grey.

We are wondering if there is someone who will come and do it for us for a reasonable price, so if you have any referrals that would be great.

But I would also consider doing it myself, the biggest obstacle being I have a bad back, so there is no way I could do it on my hands and knees with a hand sander. Any advice would be appreciated, IE is there a stand up sander? How long would it take? Our Deck is 13' x 24' and has about 18' of rail.

I searched for a thread but the last one was a few years old.

Thanks.

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You can get floor sanders from Home Depot. I think you just have to make sure you get the "drum" kind, not the circular one.

power washer will remove the grey....is it cedar or pressure treated?

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viewtopic.php?f=1&t=55793&p=461080&hilit=deck#p461080

I think a drum sander is a big mistake for such a new deck, massive overkill. They are designed to remove considerable material, all you want to do is break up the glossy film before you stain. A palm sander and/or pressure washing is best, but maybe not for you considering your back.

Most painting contractors who advertise that they do outdoor work will likely do decks, I would think.

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I am not sure if it is pressure treated. Is there any way to tell by looking at it? It was definitely natural wood colour, not that greenish colour of the wood that I see at HD.

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It must be cedar, power washing should clean it up.

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Bleach, place it in an old fertilizer spray bottle with 1/2 water leave 5 minutes and wash way with a garden hose
You can also scrub with a straw broom if needed

I know sounds to simple but try it.
Just poor a cupful on your deck board and see for yourself

It's CAD$0.02 time.



Use some caution if you do this type of thing. Be very careful not to unevenly apply something like this, you could wind up with splotchy uneven results if not careful. Use a decent 4L garden sprayer with adjustable fan tip to put down the most even quantity, a hand-held trigger sprayer would not be easy to control.

This should work to kill algae and to brighten wood fibres, since most commercial preparations sold as "wood cleaners" or "brighteners" contain bleach or some other oxidizer as an active ingredient.

Find a truly inconspicuous spot to test this procedure, and wait a good day or three to examine the dry results before doing the whole thing!

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This one thing probably never goes away
I think this one thing is always supposed to stay
This one thing doesn't have to go away

Are you guys saying I don't need to put any kind of protective stain on it? Or just that I can use this procedure instead of sanding?

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I have restored 3 decks to look like new again bringing back the original brightness of the wood and then staining it to a more transparent stain which looks nice and will last you and protect your deck from going grey again .
Although your deck is huge . The largest I have done is 10 by 16 . 13 by 24 would have to take a minimum of 2 weeks to complete. I completed the 10 by 16 in about 4- 6 days . Time also depends how grey and dirty your deck is . The time involved also includes various drying times needed after cleaning off your deck in 1 or 2 passes depending how grey the deck is . A sander is only needed to remove paint, stain or dirt that is stubborn . To remove simple graying there might be minimal sanding involvement , although sanding can also still be done to smooth it out before staining for nice feel and look.

I could also advise you how to do it your self and the supplies and tools needed , but its laborious work on your hands and knees and involves a lot of scrubbing . Ive been thinking of doing this work part time after doing my deck and the 2 decks at my moms cottage . The decks at the cottage had 3 layers of paint and stain that were applied over 20 years , now that was a lot harder to remove then simply restoring an unstained grey deck similar to the deck I did at home.

The normal process
1.Remove paint or stain with stain or paint remover . Lots of hard scrubbing. Await drying.
2. If necessary sand of any paint or stubborn dirt
3. Apply wood brightener cleaner to clean the wood and restore back to bight original color. Await drying
4. If necessary light sanding for smoothing
5. Stain 2 layers


If you wanted to do under railings or places that are hard to reach and cant be seen nor usually not needing it anyway then its even more work.

And you have to make sure that you pick days for staining when its not going to rain . Although on one of decks I did a surprise rain fall came and it still came out acceptable but it will not be as good as a doing it on a dry day .

The method I use should be able to restore any deck as the one I did at my moms cottage had to be in the worst condition I have ever seen a deck.

Pm me if you want more info

So what has happened with your deck. Did you get it finished?

Here is the problem with blogs...you get advice from young people who know a lot about computers but very little about real life problems. If you want tried and true advice, talk to as many old people as you can.

I noticed my neighbour who is about 93, using a water seal (Thompson's) on his deck. He has had the deck for 25 years. It looks weathered, but still in great shape. So....I started water sealing my deck each and every year, about 7 years ago - with a paintbrush and water seal (you can use a stain water seal for the first time to brighten up the wood).

Every time it rains, the water beads rights off the wood. Pressure treated or not, you need to seal the wood. It will last, at least 25 years.

...

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Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.

Fell off the radar. Thanks for the reminder.

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I have a few jobs like that, summer is too short.