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Decks, Docks, Fences, and other outdoor furniture
Most exterior decks, docks, fences, and outdoor wood furniture is made of "pressure treated" pine, while you may
also find even softer wood in the pickets in porch and deck railings.
The worst enemies of your decks, fences, and outdoor furniture are moisture, and "UVA / UVB / UVC" rays from
the
sun, which is what causes the "graying" you see. What you DON'T see is that wood that is not maintained properly
(by sealing when necessary) will also hold moisture. It will decay from the inside (I have seen wood railing that was so
badly decayed that it LOOKED okay, but was only an outer shell, with almost nothing inside) out. You will begin to
see splitting and cracking, allowing the wood to retain even more moisture, causing even more damage that at some
point will become permanent and will be impossible to correct without replacing the damaged wood ($$$).
There is little need to ever have to repair or replace wood that is cleaned and sealed as required, as wood that is
properly maintained and protected should very likely last longer than either you or I will.
Also, PLEASE CONSIDER THIS, as I believe this to be TERRIBLY important - Many people enjoy having a beautiful
deck, maybe it is nestled in shrubbery, and maybe it has some kind of growth (such as vines, etc.) intertwined through
the railing and pickets. You probably have planters that have a circular base, and you probably haven't thought of using
planters with only three small points that actually touch the wood, which will keep you from having any more of those
ugly ringed stains on your deck surface.
This type of deck can be very attractive to look at and to use, but from a maintenance standpoint, it can be a flippin'
nightmare to maintain. It is nearly impossible to clean a deck surface that is so close to shrubbery, what is so close
to the deck will have to be cut back, and what is intertwined will have to either be unthreaded or cut back.
It is nearly impossible to use any pressure washer or deck cleaner without doing damage to greenery that is so close
to the deck, and it is nearly impossible not to get some stain on greenery that is so close.
Many people like to have their decks cleaned and sealed in the Spring, which is also the worst possible time to have
to mess with your greenery, while keeping it attractive for the Summer season.
ALSO - it is VITALLY important that you wood be able to BREATHE, and it needs some room is terms of air space to
be able to do so. Having shrubbery so close to the deck willl cause it to RETAIN moisture, and will accelerate the
decaying process to the wood that is caused by moisture.
FOR SEVERAL REASONS, PLEASE keep your greenery AT LEAST a distance of 18"-30"
away from the deck
and railings. Doing this will help extend the life of your deck and the sealer that is applied, and will greatly reduce the
labor costs the contractor will have to charge you to clean and seal your deck.
"Pressure Treated" wood is done with a process of chemically injecting "CCA", the "A"
being arsenic, into the wood
to protect it from damage caused by various insects. When the human body ingests arsenic, the intake is "cumulative",
and it may eventually make you very sick (or worse).
It is important to pressure clean your wood as a part of normal maintenance
to keep your wood looking nice, and to
prepare it to be "sealed" or stained (to keep the moisture sealed OUT, and to keep the arsenic (and other chemicals)
sealed IN, and off your hands, as well as off the hands of children, who often seem to have their hands around their
mouth). We can pressure clean your wood surfaces, doing anything from a light cleaning just to spruce it up, to a
deeper cleaning to prep it to be sealed or stained.
After we have cleaned your deck, we will be happy to seal it for you, or we might refer that to others (who we know
to be qualified - we clean for them, they stain and seal for us) but we will ALWAYS make sure they use high
quality
products. We often recommend Sherwin Williams products, or in some cases, a high grade product called "TWP",
or another we have recently started using called Ready Seal. We will always try to help you to make the best choice
for what you need and want for your specific situation (budget and needs).
Many people seem to think that cleaning and sealing a deck is a two-step approach, because so many people do it
that way. They use a pressure washer to clean the deck, maybe also using bleach in a "bleach and blast" approach,
then sealing the deck shortly after, maybe not even allowing the deck to dry when that is required.
We perform more of a "restoration" process to/for your wood than just merely cleaning and then sealing it.
When we clean your deck, we will use a pressure washer as one of the tools we use, but we also use cleaners that
are made specifically to clean the deck back to a natural colored surface. THEN we will apply materials that are
designed to restore/rejuvenate the wood to prepare it to be stained. After the deck has been cleaned, we will lightly
sand when/where necessary, and we will tighten or replace nails when/where necessary. THEN we apply a high quality
sealer or stain as our FINAL step.
ALSO, in almost ALL cases, we recommend using either transparent or semi-transparent stains over solid colored
stains (essentially paint). Not only will the beauty of the woodgrain show through, but it can be cleaned as needed,
and restained when necessary. Once you paint a wood surface, you are usually STUCK with that color, and you can
seldom, if ever restore it back to such beautiful wood as it was before you made the awful mistake of using paint on
your deck.
We WILL paint fences and some railings, etc. (with Sherwin Williams products, usually either "Duration" or "A-100"),
and we can offer you as much as a full 10 year written warranty for some of the surfaces we paint, but ONLY if WE
perform the normal regular cleaning and maintenance for those painted surfaces, otherwise a standard length warranty
will apply.
WE ALSO CLEAN AND SEAL DOCKS - WE HAVE SOME NEW TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS THAT WE
CAN
INTRODUCE TO YOU. WHEN APPLIED TO YOUR DECK AND DOCK SURFACES -THIS PRODUCT WILL LAST
FOR MANY YEARS.
PLEASE CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION.
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