Services:

Deck Cleaning around Portland Oregon

Decks are expensive to build and need proper care to be maintained. Water and sunlight will deteriote decks over time.

Decks can become slippery when slippery black mildew and/or algae grows on the wood. By freeing the wood of mildew and algae, it can be restored nears its original appearance and ready for staining or sealing. This makes the deck more attractive and safe to use again.

Pressure washers are great for concrete but should not be used as the primary method for cleaning wood decks. Excessive water pressure will: erode the soft grain, splinter surface grain, blast mildew deeper into the wood and leave grooves that keeps water from running off, create crevices that hold moisture, dirt and mildew.

Improper preparation of deck wood will make staining a waste of time and materials. And anyone who has stained a deck (especially 2x2 hand railing) will know that it's better to do it right the first time.

The necessary steps to clean a deck are as follows:

1. Clear the deck and surrounding area of pots, chairs tables etc.
2. Sweep or blow debris off the deck and railing
3. Apply a chemical stain stripper to the wood and keep it damp so it keeps working. This usually takes from one to 5 hours. The wood must be kept damp. I can go through from three to 12 gallons depending on the deck size. I've made a custom electric liquid mister to help me do this work. It's important to keep all the areas moist. Power rinsing in the next step will show if areas were missed and going back to the step of stripping the stain again takes up a lot of time.
4. Power rinse the stain stripper from the wood using low-pressure, high-volume, wide-spray wand tip. I use a pressure gauge mounted on my pressure washer and adjust the pressure way down to a safe level for the deck. It's important to make sure all the chemical stripper is removed from the wood.
5. Apply a pH neutralizer like Citric Acid to the wood to restore the pH.
6. After the wood reaches neutral pH, power rinse it from the wood using same low pressure setting.
7. Power blow water from the wood cracks and let the wood dry. I use a high air speed 300+ cfm commercial backpack blower for this and a handheld gas-powered blower for the tight areas.

I use a professional chemical stripper and brightner (products are biodegradable when used together). This removes: failed oil finishes, slippery mildew, algae and dirt. This leaves the wood clean and bright destroying the wood. After drying, it is ready for a good quality deck stain.

Deck, hot tub and table before cleaning (below)


Deck scum(below)


Cleaned and brightened deck boards (below)

For pictures of the deck, hot tub and table staining, please continue to deck staining.

FAQ

Closeup of 6 month old failed stain on deck - stain from Home Depot - Behr
Photo by Brad Lewis

Why should the deck be stripped clean instead of just pressure washing?

Pressure washing the stain off will remove the soft grain of the wood and leave the stain (most of it) still attached to the hard grain. When this old stain fails, the new stain will be removed with it and leave a board part with and part without stain. In short, if the wood is not stripped clean, the new stain will fail much sooner (like 6 months).

Will the stain remove kill my plants? Is it bad for the environment?

The chemical stripper that I use will not kill your plants, and it is biodegradable