Deck Cleaning

Midwestpro · Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:13 pm Post subject: Deck Cleaning

Deck cleaning or wood restoration is one of the most misunderstood services in the pressure washing industry. There is more to deck cleaning than just blasting away at the wood with water and sealing it.
The most common reason a sealer fails is because the wood wasn't prepped properly.

Wood is actually pretty soft and can be damaged easily with too much water pressure, so it is necessary to turn down the pressure and achieve the desired results with the proper chemicals. Many factors will determine which chemicals to use to restore a deck. If the wood is gray from sun damage, a good deck cleaner should work well. Moreover, if traces of an old deck sealer are present then the use of a deck stripper will be necessary to remove all the remnants of the failing wood sealer.

Once the proper deck cleaning chemicals to be used are determined, they can be applied to the wood deck, allowed to dwell and then the deck can be washed using a pressure washer. After the deck has been correctly cleaned or stripped it must be neutralized to offset the caustic chemicals and to prepare the wood for sealer. This neutralizing process is achieved by applying a special acid to the wooden deck and then rinsed. The deck should then be allowed to dry for a couple of days before being sealed with a quality oil based deck sealer.

You may want to consider hiring a competent pressure washing company that specializes in wood restoration. Be sure to ask the contractor the right questions to determine their amount of knowledge of deck cleaning so you can be sure the job gets done properly.