Tips for Cleaning Wood Decks

Cleaning a deck is a homeowner's responsibility. Cleaning a dirty-looking deck is mostly for appearance purposes, and does not affect the performance of the deck's composite materials. Deck cleaning should be regularly done because it does away with the fibers that prevent adhesion of any type of top coat. In order to avoid costly maintenance later on, it is always a good idea to keep a wood deck clean.

If there is debris clogging up the spaces between the deck boards, they will eventually trap moisture, which will in turn encourage mildew and rot. A garden hose with a powerful nozzle can be used to blast out the debris, and the remaining debris can just be pushed out with a putty knife or a handsaw. If you live in an area where mold and mildew frequently grow, then you need to clean it more often to safely remove spots and so they do not appear again.

To return the wood to its natural tone, use a stiff fiber brush on a long handle to thoroughly scrub the surface with a sudsy mixture of water and laundry detergent, working in small areas and rinsing periodically. Unprotected wood like cedar and redwood can be vulnerable to exposure from the suns ultraviolet rays and water from snow, rainfall and dew, in which the water can eventually cause the wood to rot.

Wood is generally composed of small, microscopic cells. When a small piece of wood is viewed through a microscope, it looks like a honeycomb. Particles larger than the cells can be blown or washed away, while smaller particles will fall into the cells and eventually accumulate over time. When these cells are filled, the color of the combined particles will degrade the wood color, resulting in an ugly, grungy gray shade. It is therefore important to properly finish the wood, and adequate preserving and storing will depend on the following:

1. A clean wood surface.

2. Wood is saturated with high sold finish.

Water, freezing and thawing, sunlight, mold and mildew will all cause the wood to rapidly deteriorate without the proper protection. The natural wood resins and color will be washed out as water is absorbed into the wood, and rain water will also cause the growth of algae, mold and mildew, which will in turn lead to rotting.