How to Refinish a Deck - Part 2

Step 1: Cleaning





Since my deck has no previous finish I luckily do not have to worry about stripping or sanding the old finish. I will simply use a cleaner/brightener. I chose the Behr product no.63. You can find all the information on their website HERE.





Basically I bought the cleaner/brightener and a pressurized sprayer from Home Depot. The pressurized sprayer ran about $30 but was definately worth it. I mixed up a gallon of no. 63 with 4 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket and then poured it 2.5 gallons at a time into the sprayer.

I sprayed the deck down while my wife scrubbed with a brush in between taking care of the baby. It all worked out pretty well even though she had to bail halfway through to entertain what the DR. refers to as a "Wild man."

I finished the deck alternating between spraying and scrubbing. The only problem I had is that you need to keep the deck moist with the cleaner while you are working. I had to rush the deck project through the week to be ready for a party on the weekend so it was a hot day that I chose to do this procedure, too hot. The cleaner was drying too quickly so it didn't foam up well. I was still able to keep it pretty well moist before spraying it off with the garden hose.

It came out very well. I think it would have come out better if I waited for a cooler day like the directions state but I am happy with the results. Simply put, here is the procedure:

1. Lightly dampen surfaces with water prior to cleaning.
   
2. Apply solution liberally with a plastic container pump sprayer, brush, mop or roller.
   
3. Keep the surface wet for 10-15 minutes. Reapply solution as needed to keep the surface wet and foaming during the cleaning period.
   
4. Scrub surface using a stiff bristle broom or brush. The solution will foam.
   
5. After the 10-15 minute cleaning period, rinse the surface using a garden hose with nozzle at maximum pressure.

In the next post I will talk about the waterproofer I used.

How to Refinish a Deck - Part 1

Alright, sorry to everyone who has been waiting for me to start posting again. I have been through a pretty long span of being burnt out, and coupled with the new baby, I just haven't been able to even watch a home improvement show in months.

However, I am back at it now. The first project is to get my deck back in shape. I have a wood deck and it has never been waterproofed. Since it is pressure treated it is not in bad shape, it just needs a good cleaning and then an application of waterproofer.

The first name that comes to mind of course is Thompson's so I did a little research. It turns out that Thompson's is just a paraffin wax coating so of course it repels rain, but it does absolutely nothing for UV, the major player when it comes to weathering. Also, it wears off in 3-4 months. I am a big fan of researching products and then doing it right the first time. I decided to stay away from Thompson's Waterseal.

The products I decided to go with are made buy Behr, and available at your local Home Depot. The first step in refinishing the deck is going to be to give it a good healthy washing. Stay tuned for the details on that in the next post.

Construction Has Haulted

That is right, all construction on the house has ground to a hault, hence the long pause between postings. It seems that our new Foreman (my 2 month old son) takes the opinion that work is unimportant compared to his attention.

Oh well. It is funny because I actually believed I would go on working on the house after he arrived. No matter what I had heard I was confident that I would press on. I still fix things here and there but the combination of the summer along with the baby means that inside jobs are on hold.

You won't catch me inside coping a miter or spreading mastic as long as the weather is nice and I can get outside. Besides, I have been training for my 38 mile Charity ride this Sunday (there is still time to donate to the cause, just hit the "Tour de Cure" link on the right). My activities look like this now-a-days:

However, I have done a little work in the garden and I will begin to update on that regularly. Stay tuned and the posts will start coming a lot more frequently, I promise.