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Summary: Are you tired of cleaning and sealing your deck every year? Here are some tips and suggestions for easier and durable maintenance of the decks which help you in skipping a couple of years of hassles. If you wish to clean them you can consider using oxygen bleach as the wood of the deck would be chewed by power washing. This also allows the synthetic resin water repellant to seep in the wood. This is because they aren’t the type of sealants which will let mildew and algae grow. This information below can provide you of some ways which you can make use of to maintain the decks and still managing time off from the task every year.
Question - The condominium deck is troubling me and my husband. During the summers of the last season, we observed that the cedar wood had turned gray and we had to pressure wash it. Though it appeared to be great after applying some sealers, the sealant started peeling off during the spring, though we had expected that it would work for at least a couple of years. We want to know if there is some way we can prevent the process or sealing process of the deck every year and what are the probable reasons of the peelings.
Answer - Don’t be worried!! You are not the only one who is going through this terrible problem. There are several hundred thousand people who have stretched their backs in working to clean and seal the fishing piers, boat docks, playsets and the wooden docks, and even after all the hard work and effort they have put in, they have faced similar experiences with time and weather changes. But for all the people who have this question, it would give them a sigh of relief to know that a number of products to clean and care the decks are available in the market, which will take good care of the wood and you can relax for a couple of years with ease.
The simple reason for the sealant’s peeling is the film forming product which you have used, as not all the water repellants and sealers are designed for such use. Another fact is the use resins in manufacturing of such finishing material, causes seeps in the surface of the wood. So use of such products should always be avoided and penetrating water repellants should be used instead, as they seep deep inside the wood to prevent the water from damaging the surface.
Another factor which affects the surfaces of the horizontal decks are the sunrays which contain UV (ultraviolet) rays, during the day. They not only affect the horizontal bases but also the vertical railings, which explain why these railings look dull. Rain water and snowflakes which accumulate on the surfaces are another cause the peeling of the film layer. These UV rays, snow and water constantly damage the wooden surfaces and lead to damage of the film finishing.
Pressure watering is another major cause which adds to this damage, which may have proved to be excellent in removing the metal paints, but is highly responsible for ruining the decks. You must have observed wooden bands in the wood of the deck. The light ones in color are the growth rings which are formed during the springs and light summers, and are not as dense as the dark colored rings which are formed during the winters as the lumber hardens. Use of pressure water can conveniently erode the light rings and make your deck look dull and old as if it dates back thirty years.
The first and foremost step would be to remove the old layer of the film forming which was applied previously over the deck surface. The good thing is, it will be done on its own by the other factors, if you wish to wait!! But most probably you would not want to wait for that. If you don’t take proper care of the deck, factors like ultraviolet rays and water will damage the surface, and the water which seeps inside the wood will cause it to expand and contract as it is moistened and dried with the weather, which would further lead to cracking of the wood in which the rainwater is bound to accumulate causing harm to the wood.
After peeling of the filming layer, the wood should be cleaned using oxygen bleach, but it is recommended not to clean the surface with products which contain sodium hypochlorite, which is the main ingredient in chlorine bleach, used in the homes. The chlorine bleach can prove to be poisonous for vegetation around and also affects the wood color, by destroying the elements which keep together the wooden fibers. But if you oxygen bleach you need not worry about such factors and forms froth which help in cleaning the surface of the deck.
Purchasing a penetrating water repellant made using synthetic resins is best recommended after cleaning the deck surface. In general, most of the sealants for the deck are produced waxes and oils, which is an inviting diet for algae and mildew. Fungicides and mildewcides are used by some manufactures which helps in preventing the deck from turning green and black, but such chemicals don’t come in handy for long as they are not capable of resisting snow and water, so it is always suggested to use repellants made using synthetic resins as these do not attract the mildew and algae or let them grow.
It is always advised to buy such sealers which possess the color pigments, as these act as a shield from the harmful ultra violet rays, which often cause the wood to turn grayish in color. If the above steps are followed properly and the application of water repellants is handled rightly, it can comfortably save you 2 to 3 years of hard work. On vertical surfaces like log cabins, the same procedure has proved to be effective for as long as 5 to 7 years.
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