I recentlybuilt a new deck. There is two thoughts here. One says seal it the other says just pwerwash everyyear. Anyine had experioence with this?
TK
I recentlybuilt a new deck. There is two thoughts here. One says seal it the other says just pwerwash everyyear. Anyine had experioence with this?
TK
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Replies
What kind of wood is it? Where do you live? Sunny, shady, or mixed?
Let me wade in as an anti power washer person.
There is a time for power washers - off the top of my head, concrete driveway cleaning, or sidewalks. I usually don't do more than that, although there are specialists who are competent to do more than that.
I have used power washers on decks and lived to regret it. Cedar is especially soft and power washers chew it up.
I would do a light wash with a garden hose and a mill glaze remover, then stain (if you want to) and seal it with a good finish. I like Penofin, but lots of people have other preferences, depending on locale.
Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the Handyman
Vancouver, Canada
Here's a link... don't want to clutter up the board.
Exterior Stain however you probably should have read this before you did the deck.
You may be better off with that new coating by General Coatings in Washington. Water based, so you can stain a wet deck.
L
Got a 20 year old cedar deck in partial sun/shade in central Texas. Powerwash every year and apply a coat of Thompsons Water Seal (oil based). Your new deck will turn gray the first year. The yearly PW will strip this off along with the mildew ane dirt giving you a new looking deck for the first couple of months. Then gray again.
I have done quite a few repairs on cedar decks where customers just "let them go", and with the price of cedar around here, those repairs are very costly.
The best thing I have seen to seal up the cedar is either Penofin (my favorite) or Cabots deck stain. Over the years I have been told to stay away from Thompson's Water Seal as it has a high silicone contents which seals up the wood too much and does not allow it to breath. Cedar will turn black if it is not allowed to breath.
Good luck
Brian....Bayview Renovations
TK
I built 2 cedar decks in 2000 for a friend. The guy put an oil based clear sealer on both decks that had full afternoon sun. Within months both decks had the sealer peeling off. We ended up sanding the deck down and stained both with a Cabot oil based deck stain. Since then both decks have held up well. I asked the paint store rep if there were any problems or complaints with the clear sealer but he had heard of none. The can specifically said it was ok to use on cedar. Bottom line, I would try a clear sealer, if that is your preference on a small portion of the deck and see how it performs before doing the entire deck. It might have been a isolated case with my friend's decks or maybe something in the cedar may have reacted with the sealer.
Tony