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deck staining – reall required?

strokeoluck | Posted in General Discussion on April 9, 2006 06:25am

Hi again everyone, we had a 20′ x 16′ cedar deck put on our home last year. We live in Michigan and the deck is on the south side of the house so you can imagine that it already looks slightly weathered. I was prepared to power wash it and then stain it. However my Father-In-Law told me not to do it. He’s retired and has been cleaning, staining, sealing decks in Wisconsin and South Carolina (right on the water) for years now. Last week he showed me a huge pine (?) deck in Myrtle Beach that looks just fine without being stained or sealed. He said all he does to it every year is washes/scrubs it with a water/bleach mixture. That’s it. He told me I shouldn’t power wash the cedar because an amateur (that’s me) is likely to gouge the wood because cedar is soft.

What do y’all think? Am I ok just washing it every year? I know, I SHOULD have used the recycled material then I wouldn’t even have to worry about this stuff…believe me, I learned my lesson. Thanks for the feedback!

– Rob

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  1. plumbbill | Apr 09, 2006 07:27pm | #1

    Ceder will "silver" no matter if you wash it or not.

    Personally I like penofin for ceder it absorbs the oil quite well.

    Just my opinion though.

    Do you look to the government for an entitlement, or to GOD for empowerment. BDW

  2. User avater
    Sphere | Apr 09, 2006 07:27pm | #2

    Cover the whole thing with good soil and plant it for sustanance. Decks are a largely overrated waste of viable realestate, that require an inordinant amout of energy to maintain and contribute to global disaster by leaching tannins and copperas sulfates into ground water, and makes your kids do drugs later on.

    Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

    " Iam not a poet, but your hat is singularily inadequate"

  3. User avater
    BarryE | Apr 09, 2006 08:37pm | #3

    in this neck o the woods we very rarely see finish on a deck, and they look just fine with a good cleaning every now and then.

    either way decks need regular maintenance, just seems like it's easier without a finish that's not really designed to take the beating and weather swings that a horizontal surface incurs in the midwest


    Barry E-Remodeler

     

  4. Danno | Apr 09, 2006 08:45pm | #4

    I am against the power washing idea--can gouge the wood and inject water where you don't want it. There are deck brightening products which I hear work quite well, which you may want to try. I know others here will recommend power washing--even using the deck wash products in a power washer.  At any rate I do agree with the idea of putting something on it to help preserve it--especially something to protect it from UV with the exposure you say you have. Otherwise the wood will degrade and become a spintery mess--that's my opinion anyway!

    1. davidmeiland | Apr 10, 2006 12:05am | #5

      Try 'Dekswood' on a cedar deck, it will brighten it up quite a bit. It's mainly oxalic acid, as are most of the other deck cleaner products. I definitely agree that a power washer could eat up a cedar deck if not done very carefully.

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