Is your deck starting to look a little run down? You may be considering re-staining and finishing your desk to restore and give your deck a fresh new look. This can be a serious project to undergo and if you’ve never had the pleasure of re-staining a deck, please let L.W. Winslow Painting, Inc share a few helpful tips before you begin. We hope to help you better prepare for this task so your deck can have a professional clean finish.
Sand, Clean & Dry Deck
To start with, you will need to strip away the old stain. This means a lot of scraping and sanding. After all that is done you will have to pressure wash the entire deck. Don’t be in a rush to begin staining right away. You must allow the wood to completely dry and give it a day or two to breathe a bit. After wood gets wet and as it dries, it expands and contracts. If you begin staining while the wood is still wet, you will cause tiny splits in the wood. Giving the wood plenty out time to dry will help eliminate unsightly splits.
Treating a Deck to Prep Before Staining
If you’re restoring an older deck, the wood may need to be treated first. If your wood has some mild water damage of mildew, use a sodium per-carbonate wood cleaner, also known as oxygen bleach wood cleaner. This will stop the mildew and water damage from continuing. Another thing you may want to try for older wood, is a wood shiner. If your deck is old and starting to look dried out and grayish you may want to use a wood brightener. This doesn’t just make your wood look shinier but also and oil and hydrates old dry wood. In a sense it will bring life back into your deck.
Choose Best Deck Stain to Last the Longest
Restoring decks can be expensive and many people will try to save money where they can. However do not skimp on the stain you will use. Yes, this can be the most expensive part of restoring a deck. That is why it’s important to use good quality stains. If you use a cheap stain you will find yourself restoring your deck in the very near future. Make sure you get stain that is water based, and comes in resins, pigments, and contains mildewcides. You may find this will be an expensive stain but it is well worth it in the end.
Can You Apply Stain with a Brush?
Make sure before applying the stain that you read and follow the directions. Each stain is slightly different. Using a brush to apply the stain is the way to go. The bristles can get the stain into the grain of the wood, and spread the stain out very well. Most importantly, do not over use the stain. You want to give the wood time to absorb the stain slowly. You may need to do more then one coat but you will find the deck will turn out beautiful and look more professional.
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Now that the stain and sealers are on, keep up with maintenance. You will find as you repair those little small areas when they occur, your deck will last far longer. Never neglect your deck needs, you will find yourself restoring your deck again or even replacing it if you do. L.W. Winslow Painting, Inc. hopes this will aid you in your deck restoration project. Through our years of experience we’ve learned how to undergo the process of deck restoration both beautifully and professionally. Call L.W. Winslow Painting, Inc. to assist you in any of your deck restoration needs.