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Now five years later, you hardly notice the deck as you amble across it to take out the trash. Yes, the colors have faded, the wood is gray and there may even be some mildew. Well, don’t despair; this is a love affair that’s easily rekindled. It takes just a few days, mild cool weather, some cleaning and stripping solution and a few minor tools to get that old relationship right back where it started.
Look Over Your Deck and Test It to Find Out Just What You Need
to Do
Before you revive a tired-looking deck, look it over to
see that all the wood surfaces are sound. If the wood is rotten, a screwdriver
will push easily into the wood and the surface fibers will pull away easily. No
amount of cleaning is going to bring it back. If you have damaged wood, replace
it with new.
Deck cleaners are formulated to clean a deck surface whether it has a stain or sealer on it or not. However, if you have an old finish that’s worn out, the cleaner will do a blotchy job. It’ll clean the worn spots differently from the spots that still have finish on them. Look for signs of an old finish line. A stain finish is easy to spot because it leaves signs of wear in high-traffic areas. A sealer is harder to spot, but you can tell if it’s worn out because it’ll no longer bead water. Old sealers usually will come off with a deck cleaner. Look for a film in areas with lower traffic. If you detect a film, use a stripper on the railing (like we did) to get rid of it before you apply a cleaner. Examine the railing in the same manner as the deck boards.
The deck stripper (Photo 3) is designed to lift off the old finish (stain or sealer) and get the surface ready for the deck cleaner to do its work. Save time and stripper solution by first scraping away most of the old finish residue, using an ordinary paint scraper as shown in Photo 1. It may sound daunting, but keep in mind that you don’t need to get down to bare wood! Just scrape the surface enough to remove loose, flaky finish. Don’t spend more than two hours doing this on an average-size (10 x 16-ft.) deck.
The deck we cleaned for this article had all sound wood, but the semitransparent oil finish on the railing was starting to flake off. So we stripped the railings before applying a cleaner. The deck boards, on the other hand, were unfinished, so we used a deck cleaner only. It had been several years since this deck had received any attention, but it cleaned up beautifully.
How to Choose Deck Strippers and Cleaners
A deck stripper is used to remove old loose stain and deck
sealers, before cleaning and brightening. It breaks the finish loose from the
wood like a furniture stripper does. Several brand names are Wolman DeckStrip,
Flood Powerlift and Superdeck Wood Stripper (see Buyer’s Guide).
These products also enable you to get rid of an old color and apply a new stain
color. The deck stripper products are most effective on oil-based finishes. New
products that remove latex stains and finishes will be on the market
soon.
There are basically two types of deck cleaners: One type (liquid oxalic acid or powdered hydrogen peroxide) removes a thin layer of gray, dead wood fibers from the surface and exposes the fresh wood beneath. Several brand names are Wolman Deck and Siding Brightener and Rejuvenator, Flood Dekswood and Superdeck Wood Cleaner (see Buyer’s Guide). The other type has a bleach base that removes unsightly black and green stains on the surface such as mildew. If you notice this condition, clean off the mildew first and rinse, then use one of the standard deck cleaners mentioned above.
For the best buy, pay attention to the concentration of cleaner in the 1-gallon plastic jug. Some of the cleaners appear to cost more, but on closer inspection, you’ll see that the gallon container mixes with water to make 5 gallons of cleaning solution (enough for a large deck).
Get the Right Tools and Safety Gear
Even though this project is low-tech, there are a few
things you probably need to buy. Get rubber boots and rubber gloves. I like the
gloves that cover up the forearms to protect against stripper that splatters
and drips. Buy a paint applicator like the one shown in
Photo 3 to apply stripper. I’ve tried
brushes and rollers and this tool beats them all. You’ll also need a 1-
or 2-gallon pump sprayer (buy one specifically for deck cleaners) and a
hand-held stiff-bristle nylon scrub brush to scrub the stripper after you apply
it. For scrubbing the deck surface, you can use a stiff brush (and I mean
stiff!) with a pole handle like the one shown in
Photo 7. Also wear safety glasses and old
clothes because the stiff bristles of the scrubbing brushes can spit tiny
droplets everywhere.
You’ll also want to protect any plants surrounding your deck. Be sure to remove the plastic soon after cleaning and rinsing so it won’t stress the plants.
Skip This Job on a Hot, Sunny Day—Go to the Beach
Instead
Both strippers and cleaners evaporate rapidly and become
ineffective on hot, dry days. A cool, overcast day extends the working time of
these solutions. Besides, you’ll want to make this messy job as
comfortable as you can. This is hard work, so expect to sweat. You can work on
the deck in sections (stripping railing sections) over several days if you
don’t have an eight-hour block of time to do the whole
deck.
Keep Strippers and Cleaners Working by Keeping Them
Wet
Insects and spiders are about the only things I’ve
seen that’ll stay put on a vertical surface. In contrast, strippers run
down vertical surfaces easily. The only way to keep the stripper in contact
with the wood is to constantly go back with your applicator and smear the stuff
to the top, as shown in
Photo 3.
You only need to keep the stripper in contact with the wood for 15 minutes, then scrub and rinse as shown in Photo 5.
Mix your cleaner according to the directions on the container. Many deck cleaners are concentrated and require additional water. Stir the mixture with a clean piece of wood and put the top back on. Pump the sprayer until you feel resistance (usually about 25 pumps or so). Then grab the wand and spray the solution on the deck surface (Photo 6). Wait about 15 minutes before you start to scrub (Photo 7). After scrubbing, flush the surface with your garden hose sprayer until the deck looks clean. It’s best to work small sections at a time as shown in Photo 6; otherwise, the solution will dry before you get a chance to scrub the surface with a stiff brush.
Apply a Good-Quality Finish to Protect Your Deck From the
Effects of Aging
Let your deck dry for a couple of days before applying a
sealer or stain. For our deck railing, we applied a semitransparent oil stain
mixed to match the siding of the house. We brushed it on (Photo 8) and carefully cut in around the deck
boards. We didn’t want a colored stain on the deck boards, so we applied
CWF, a clear finish/ sealer made by Flood Co. This finish looked great and gave
the decking a warm, fresh look. Avoid using stain on the deck boards because
they quickly show wear.
Keep an eye on your deck and be prepared to clean and reseal it every couple of years. The longer you wait, the more weather-related damage can occur.
Buyer’s Guide
Cleaners, strippers, stains and sealers are available at
most home centers and lumberyards. For product information and where to find
deck cleaners and strippers, try these manufacturers:
Cabot Stains: (800) 877-8246. www.cabotstain.com
Duckback Products: (800) 825-5382. www.superdeck.com
The Flood Co.: (800) 321-3444. www.floodco.com
Ge Silicones “Weathermate”: (800) 626-2000. www.ge.com
Olympic:(888) 774-1010. www.olympic.com
Thompson “Deck Wash”: (800) 367-6297. www.thompsonsonline.com
Wolman Wood Care Products: (800) 556-7737. www.wolman.com
1. Scrape the old
finish residue off your deck railing and decking if you have an old
semi-transparent or solid color stain. The finish will flake off easily.
Don’t get bogged down with details; the deck stripper will get the
rest.
Click image to enlarge.
2. Cover your
plants with plastic sheets once you’ve soaked them with water. Most
strippers and deck cleaners won’t ruin your plants but can subject them
to unnecessary stress.
Click image to enlarge.
3. Apply the stripper with a paint applicator or a
brush. Follow the directions on the container. Keep the surface moist;
don’t get ahead of yourself. Work only a 6-ft. section of deck railing at
a time so the finish won’t evaporate before you can scrub and scrape
it.
4. Scrub loosened
finish off the surface with a synthetic stiff-bristle brush. It’ll take
some muscle to pull the finish loose from the wood.
Click image to enlarge.
5. Rinse the old finish away with a brisk stream of
water from your garden hose. You may have to reapply stripper if some finish is
left on the wood. You can use a pressure sprayer set at 1,000 psi, but be
warned that too much water pressure could ruin the soft fibers of the wood. We
had excellent results with a spray nozzle and regular water
pressure.
Click image to enlarge.
6. Spray the deck
surface with deck cleaner the day after you’ve completed the railing.
Also apply the deck cleaner to the railing with a sprayer, because the stripper
may have darkened the wood. The cleaner will bring the stripped surfaces back
to a fresh, bright wood look.
7. Scrub away the
loose wood fibers and residue 15 minutes after you’ve applied the
cleaner. Work the brush deeply into the wood in the direction of the grain. As
soon as you’re finished, rinse the deck thoroughly with a firm spray from
your garden hose and let the surface dry for at least two
days.
Click image to enlarge.
8. Brush your
stain onto the railings. Cover your deck boards with tape and plastic to catch
the drips. We recommend a semitransparent oil stain. Solid color stains have
heavy pigment that’ll be tough to renew the next time you refinish the
deck.
9. Roll on your
decking sealer with a roller. We used a clear finish with just a bit of amber
tone to warm the color of the decking. If you have tightly spaced deck boards,
use a brush to get between them (a couple of boards at a time) as you
roll.
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