How To Clean A Hardwood Deck

!±8± How To Clean A Hardwood Deck

Has your hardwood deck lost its beautiful sheen that it once had right after installation? Are you looking at it, after years of neglect, thinking it can't possibly look good again?

Is your deck stained and discolored or mildewed? Relax, you can soon be out on your beautiful deck again.

There are new products on the market today that will help to not only clean your hardwood deck, but give it a color that makes it look new again. There is no predetermined amount of time you have to wait before cleaning your deck. Everyone's deck is different. Sun, rain, snow, sleet, ice, and humidity will all affect your deck. When the time comes to clean your deck, do the research to find the products that are formulated specifically for your type of deck.

There are cleaners and brighteners. Cleaners are used, just like their name implies, to clean your deck surface. Brighteners on the other hand tend to confuse people a bit more about what its actual purpose is. The brightener will help you to eliminate darker stains and tends to lighten your deck boards, making them look "brighter". Usually, a good strong cleaner is all you really need though.

First and foremost, read and make sure that you understand all instructions before beginning your cleaning process and follow all safety guides. This can't be stressed enough.

Start by doing a thorough sweep of your deck. This includes removing dirt, leaves, needles, and anything else found on your deck. If you are using a cleaner concentrate, which many are, you are ready to dissolve the cleaner in a bucket or pail of warm water at the recommended strength. The warm water helps to activate the chemicals in the cleaner. Let the cleaner and warm water sit for a few minutes to allow the activation process to begin.

While the cleaning mixture is sitting, you need to thoroughly wet your deck using a garden hose. Once the deck is adequately saturated, it's now time to apply the cleaner. To properly apply the cleaner, a mop, pump sprayer, or pressure washer can be used. Please note that if using a pressure washer, you need to be very careful as not to harm the wood with the powerful jet spray. If you aren't confident with a pressure washer, I would recommend using the mop or pump sprayer because if sprayed too harshly, it can actually damage your deck boards by causing grain tear out which leaves a "fuzzy layer" after it dries.

Whichever method you choose to apply it with, let it sit for at least ten minutes, making sure not to let it dry. If it starts to dry before the ten minutes have passed, just mop a little more on, it's that simple. After the ten minutes have passed, it's time to add a little elbow grease. Using some sort of scrub brush, scrub all of the loosed dirt and debris from the wood. The amount of elbow grease needed will be determined by the state of your deck.

Once you have scrubbed your deck until you feel that you have removed as much grime as possible, rinse everything off with a garden hose. That's it. Once completely dried, your deck will be ready to stain or oil.