With Fall quickly approaching, its time to think about getting your outside projects finished before Winter moves in the St. Louis area. One thing to think about is protecting your deck before the harsh winter months. The first thing to do is inspect the finish on your deck. Is your wood starting to show signs of graying? Does the stain still repeal water off the deck? Is existing stain showing signs of fading? If so, then it is time to think about having your deck refinished.

The first stage of deck restoration is to have the deck properly cleaned. If you are going to be using the same stain, then a general light cleaning with a household solution and low pressure from a pressure washer will suffice. Your main concern here is to remove the mold, mildew, and dirt off the deck and not the finish. If you use too much pressure from the pressure washer, not only will you be doing unnecessary work, you may run the risk of damaging the wood.

If you are changing stains for whatever reasons, and then you will need to remove the stain that is on the deck itself. Removing a stain is a very tedious project. Once again, do not use high pressure. You will need to use a specialty cleaner, such as sodium hydroxide to remove the stain. When using sodium hydroxide, always take full safety precautions when using this cleaner. Make sure gloves, eyewear, a face shield and boots are worn at all times. Apply this cleaner using a pump-up garden sprayer to your deck. Once it dwells on the deck for 10-15 minutes, you can begin removing the stain by using a low pressure wash. If the stain still exists, reapply and wash again. If you are attempting to remove latex or silicone based deck stain, then it would be best to contact a local professional.

Once you have removed the entire deck stain, you will need to follow up this above mentioned treatment with oxalic acid. Oxalic acid will neutralize the sodium hydroxide and will give your deck a brightened look and rejuvenate the wood. You can apply the oxalic acid the same way you did the sodium hydroxide. There are different schools of thought when it comes to rinsing off the oxalic acid. Some companies do wash it off, while others don’t. It is up to the homeowner if you want to rinse the deck after applying the oxalic acid. After this is completed the deck needs to dry out for twenty-four hours before staining the deck.

When choosing a deck stain, always go with oil based deck stain. There are some deck stains on the market that claim a ten year warranty. Nothing last forever, and deck stains do not last ten years. These deck stains are latex based, basically like paint. These types of stains just lie on top of the wood and do not penetrate into the wood and protect the wood like it should. Chances are very high these types of stains will start peeling off your deck within twelve to twenty-four months.

A good oil based stain will penetrate into the wood and protect it. When using an oil based stain like Olympic Maximum, always apply two coats to all horizontal surfaces and one good full coat to all verticals. One coat on the verticals usually is good because the weather elements are really harsh on all the horizontal surfaces.

Once your deck staining project is complete, you will to wait twenty four hours before walking on your deck to give it time to dry. The life expectancy of your deck stain is anywhere from eighteen months to twenty-four months before you would need to give your deck a gentle wash and another application of the same oil based stain. After three to four reapplications, it would be wise to reconsider stripping your deck again and starting fresh again to keep your deck looking new for years to come.

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