Deck cleaners and sealers

[Kraniac]

Pam wrote:
[quote=Kraniac]
[quote=Pam]
[quote=Kraniac]
Hi Pam..

don't use a deck cleaner.

What kind of wood?
Size of deck?
Is it a Sunny deck?

After 8 years...


I would suggest that you go to your local tool rental and rent a 12 x 16 or thereabouts, orbital sander..it'll save you a lot of unknowns..most of these 'washing' agents are harmful and really not what you want to do with wood...

Dry the deck out and sand it..find a good clearish coating..the darker the better because, as you noticed, the ones with pigment offer a 'bit' more longevity and certainly more protection..pigment is the protector..not the plasticized coating..gone are the days of real, slow drying and longer lasting, oil based products..the stuff you get these days is basically plastic that dries so fast that it never, ever, gets a chance to bond properly..

These sanders are easy to operate once you get the hang of it and they do a great job...any detailing can be done with hand tool..a random orbital sander..

The greater goal here is to completely remove that 8 year old finish..Even in a 2 year cycle for avid maintenance of a deck..it's best to sand..be a rebel..dont fall for this power wash /power wash with cleanser thing..and don't forget to sand in the cracks like your Aunty told you..

I have two decks. Both are large, pressure treated lumber. Nothing fancy. The upper deck receives a lot of sun. A third of the lower deck sees a lot of sun. No doubt sanding would be best. That's not too bad on the large horizontal surfaces. The vertical part of the railings would be a pita.
Pam..how large..rough square footage of both?

Treat your verticals and your horizontals as two different things..

The horizontals (deck, duh, i know) are the most important..so sand those..

Come up with a scheme for the verticals n railings..if it's pressure cleansing or whatever..maybe get those prepped and finished, first..

then do your deck..you could probably flip that around but you'd want to protect the finished deck from the cleaning agent if it was me i'd the railings first.

Is there a ton of cupping in the deck boards..you know..where the board becomes concave?

If, over the last 8 years, you've developed serious cupping, then you might want to go the route of cleaning and finishing..bad cupping can be a difficult to sand..reaching the low spots..I've done it many times with typical cupping though.. and usually a couple of passes gets most of it off and then detail with a large random orbital..
We're talking 200 sqft. Each. No cupping.
Easy Peasy, IMO..I'd sand.

Are you doing this project? hub? Flock of cousins?

take some pics, could you? I'd be interested in seeing the deck surfaces and the railing set up..