I gave my electrical print cleaning a strong training this weekend. I cleared 1,100 square foot composite deck, 100 feet and a 16 foot long staircase. The project stretched for two days. The development I cleaned was marketed years ago as maintenance -free. Bah Humbug!
Allow me to provide a context. When I was a young carpenter, I bought my wood from Hyde Park Lumber Co. in Cincinnati. The orange and blue big box retailers were not yet a shimmer in the eye of the founders.
I went to the wooden company to buy materials and saw a poster on the counter that advertised new, maintenance -free pressure -free wood advertising. Yes, once that the pressure -treated wood wood was a new thing! The manufacturers thought it was a maintenance -free one. As far as I can judge this, you may have supported your claim, such as railways, supply poles, pierpholes and other sneakers outdoors are usually not maintained after installation.
We all found that the claim was wrong. Print -treated wood requires comprehensive maintenance. You often have to clean and seal a wooden deck every two years. You may be looking for the sacred grail of a non-penial sealer. Huge cracks, distortions, splinters etc. are in their future if they do not maintain their external treated wood.
This reality led to the first generation of composed terraces. I remember when Trex was introduced. It dominated the marketplace, although it was pretty unattractive. It was also marketed as maintenance -free.
You and millions of other homeowners demanded a more realistic composite cover material. Generations two and three of Verbund decks followed. And frankly, the manufacturers did a good job to make it look realistic – So much that my own composite deck made a compliment from her that must be obeyed. My wife is a tough critic when it comes to products that try to imitate wood.
The maintenance -free claims are still thrown around by many retailers, sellers, builders, conversions, etc. I know better when I hear it, and possibly you too. Decks get dirty. They promote algae, moss and lichen growth. Some deciduous trees bomb decks with an ultra-fine-aerosol from sugar. This provides food for mildew, mold and algae.
This is the battle that I solved here in my house in New Hampshire. My deck is surrounded by both leaves and evergreen trees. We get plenty of precipitation. My deck and maybe your deck is nothing more than a huge petri dish.
I clean my composite deck every few years. The decisive factor is how bad the pollen season is in a certain year. This year the pollen was so difficult that I thought, green snow covered my deck. Hard dusts wash a large part of the green dust into the Winnisquamsee, but some pits in my deck into the shaped wooden grain.
Cleaning composite decks can give its useful life for years. The grooves between my cocking can be clogged with organic rubble. These debris keeps moisture. My composite decking has the traditional wood fiber and plastic core, but the top is solid plastic. This cap with the embossed grain and the varied color creates the real look.
The edges of the deck have to dry out. This prevents this from plugged into the cracks. Make sure you clean the grooves of your composite deck.
You increase safety when cleaning your deck. I call algae green ice. I will never forget when I fell on a damp algae surface for the first time. I was on the college and one of my geology professors set myself and my partner John to paint his house. A roof over his veranda had a sloping wooden roof. Algae covered the wood shake.
I cleaned the stucco house before I paint it. The roof got wet and without warning I slipped onto the wet algae. I didn't fall off the roof, but it was a close call. Holding algae from your deck can prevent a broken hip or wrist.
Pressure laundering takes time. You can carry out faster cleaning with soapy water and a softer push broom. A quick cleaning of twice a season removes the sugar that attaches algae growth before a pressure disc is required.
The company lawyers for some Deck manufacturers have agreed again in the optimistic marketing managers. You will now see clever descriptions such as “minimal maintenance”. If it is minimal, I want it to have a maximum maintenance, depending on how much time I spent last weekend!
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