Decks | Deck Maintenance

A deck extends your home’s living space to the outdoors. Deck building begins with a solid deck design. Regular deck maintenance is necessary for keeping your deck looking new.

Your deck needs periodic DIY deck maintenance to insure that it will last for years and have an excellent appearance. The weather is hard on the finish of most decks, particularly if they are constructed of real wood rather than composite material. Ideally a deck is constructed of redwood, cedar, or mahogany. These woods fair well in all weather conditions but they do need some sprucing up from time to time. Decking made from composite material will weather to a gray tone but does not require refinishing. If your decking is pressure treated wood I recommend that it be replaced with a better quality material such as redwood, cedar, or mahogany. Pressure treated wood does not hold up well to weather and it requires frequent refinishing.

Sun and water are the two worst enemies of decking, requiring periodic deck maintenance The constant expansion and contraction of the wood allows water to penetrate the surface, eventually causing discoloration, chipping, and warping. This can be overcome by periodically applying a good sealer.

There are many deck sealers to choose from but you are primarily interested in a sealer that blocks ultraviolet light as much as possible. A clear sealer does not do the job as well as sealers that contain a decking stain. Using a transparent stain permits the grain of the wood to show and stills provides long protection from ultraviolet sun rays.

Never use a varnish sealer on the deck or for that matter on any outside wood furniture such as arbor swings or garden benches. The hard surface of varnish does not block ultraviolet sun rays, consequently the varnish will crack and peal in a very short time, usually in one season.

My decking is a wooden deck made of mahogany. Mahogany is an excellent hardwood that is nearly completely impervious to insects and weather deterioration. Without periodic refinishing it will weather to a light gray in about two or three years. I use a transparent sealer stain every three years manufactured by Skkens. In Figure-1 and 2 a ten year old deck is displayed that has been refinished with a Sekken transparent teak stain three times. It holds up extremely well although it is covered with three feet or more of snow for four months of the year.

Deck 1

Deck 2

There are other great products manufactured by Cabot, Behr, Thomson, and Sears. A good sealer such as Skkens or Cabot cost nearly thirty dollars a gallon where Behr and Sears are approximately twenty dollars a gallon.

Whatever product you use, you should always thoroughly clean the deck before applying a sealer. A pressure washer is recommended. The best time of the year to reseal your deck is on a sunny hot day, in July or August, to allow the wood to completely expand so it can absorb as much of the sealer as possible. Deck maintenance is an easy DIY home improvement project for the homeowner.

Dry Deck

Deck Cleaning.

Staining a Deck

For more DIY information Check out these Resources

A Great DIY Guide