Since 1997, HomeTips has guided millions of homeowners with original, expert advice for DIY home improvement and repair. Founder Don Vandervort, a nationally recognized authority, has written more than 30 books and countless magazine articles, been a host on HGTV, and served as MSN's home improvement expert. MORE
It often only takes a year or two for a fresh-looking deck to become dreary. Where you once enjoyed relaxing and chatting with friends you now dread to tread. Often, however, what looks like severe damage can be fixed with a little elbow grease and the right products.
Give your tired-looking deck a facelift sooner rather than later. Wood that is left unprotected will soak up moisture, leading to serious damage. Because decks come in for abuse—harsh sun, foot traffic, rain, snow, and ice—you may need to treat your deck regularly, perhaps even once a year.
1. Inspect the deck If your deck was built with pressure-treated lumber rated for ground contact, the wood will be very resistant to rot. If it was built of untreated redwood, cedar, or other wood, there is a greater risk of rot, particularly if the wood is light-colored sapwood rather than dark-brown heartwood.
Just about any wood, however, can rot if it stays wet long enough. (Look at tags at the ends of boards, or printed stamps on boards, to find out about your wood. A deck may be made from several types of lumber.)
Take the time to examine all the wood carefully to see if any boards are rotten. Unfortunately, most wood rot occurs in places that are hard to see—under the decking boards, at the ledger (the board that is attached to the house), on the underside of stair treads, and so on. If possible, crawl underneath the deck to make your inspection.
Materials & Tools HomeTips Recommends for This Project
2. Make repairs If the rot is less than 1/2 inch deep, the board can probably be left in place. More extensive rot calls for a replacement board. Use a flat pry bar to carefully remove rotten boards. Replace them with rot-resistant wood.
If nails or boards are popping up or coming loose, do not pound the old nails down again; remove them and replace them with longer nails, special decking nails, or decking screws.
3. Ensure against future rot If any part of your deck stays wet for a day or more after a rainfall, take steps to see that it can dry out. You’ll probably need to use a leaf blower or a broom to sweep away leaves and dirt from between boards or where the deck meets the house. Perhaps a bush or tree limb needs to be trimmed back, or a gutter downspout moved to direct water away from the deck.
Debris between deck boards looks bad and soaks up water, promoting rot. Use a putty knife or, even better, a plastic laminate scoring tool like the one pictured here to clear out the debris.
4. Clean a discolored deck If the deck has taken on a dull gray color, the problem looks much worse than it is. The chances are it’s covered with a thin film of mildew and needs only a cleaning. (Redwood decks are sometimes left untreated and allowed to go gray, attaining a silvery appearance than many people like.)
Dark stains may be due to mildew; cleaning with soap and water or bleach will clear up the problem. Ensure that your deck can dry out so the mildew does not return.
To clean a deck, purchase a commercial deck cleaner or TSP heavy-duty cleanser and follow directions—usually this means scrubbing and rinsing. For more serious problems, purchase wood brightener (oxalic acid), mix it according to label directions, scrub, and rinse. Be sure to wear rubber gloves and safety glasses. You may need to repeat the process. (Also see How to Acid-Wash a Deck.)
You can wash a deck by hand or, for a large deck, use a pressure washer. Using a stiff fiber bristle brush on a broom-type handle, throughly scrub the surfac with a sudsy solution of water and laundry detergent. Rinse with clear water and allow to dry. If you decide to use a pressure washer, get one that delivers 1,200 psi (pounds per square inch) of pressure or less and has a spray nozzle that fans an arc of abut 25 to 40 degrees. Be careful—the powerful spray can erode soft wood grain. Allow the deck to dry for several days before applying any type of finish.
5. Seal and finish the deck After cleaning a deck, allow it to dry thoroughly before sealing it, but don’t wait too long or it will get dirty again. Determine if it needs to be sealed by sprinkling a few drops of water on the wood. If the water doesn’t bead up and instead soaks right in, the deck needs to be sealed.
Consult with a paint supplier or other expert to choose the finish best suited to the lumber used to build your deck. It should contain either oil or paraffin to keep moisture from soaking in. In addition, it should have UV blockers or pigment (color) to keep rays of the sun from turning the deck gray, unless that's the look you want. If your home is subject to wood-eating bugs, see that the finish contains insecticide as well.
Apply a finish using a paint roller, brush, or pump-type sprayer. Stand back every few minutes and examine the finish to make sure the color is being applied evenly.
In this article:
