How to look after your Deck?
We love our decks, especially on Waiheke, but are we good at looking after them? To help here's an FAQ to answer some of the questions if you want to maintain your deck yourselves.
Deckcare Guide to maintaining your deck
Often there's the "what I need to maintain my deck' surprise I see in peoples eyes when I mention maintaining your deck. Sure, you can do nothing and leave your deck to the elements, but if your've got shaded parts of your deck, you'll find in 20 to 40 years, it might need a lot of remedial work, or replacement. Deck woods in NZ are mainly tanalised, and that starts wearing off within 6 months after your new decks installed. Often water soaks straight into old decks and people wonder why it's rotting, even if they've cleaned it. To protect it, you need to not use sodium-hypochlorite (bleach based cleansers) which is very toxic for the wood and breaks down the wood's lignin that is 20-30% of the wood structure. Plus bleach spray is harmful for plants, us, kids and our pets. Oxalic acid-based cleaners are better, but still can kill plants, so are they any good for us? Sometimes old fashioned products like white vinegar, or soapy water tackles mould with a deck scrub-brush. But here's some more helpful tips below on how to look after your deck.
Should I paint my deck?
The general answer is 'NO'. Should you decide it's a great idea, then you'd need to seal all four sides of the wood in paint. If one or more sides is exposed, then the damp will come in through the non-painted side and make the painted side bubble and blister.
Should I use 30 Seconds to clean my deck?
I'd NOT recommend it personally. It may say it's not bleach, but if the cartin contains sodium-hypochlorite, this is commonly know as bleach. As i mentioned before, bleach and wood don't go well together if you're wanting the wood to keep it's integral structure long term.
Each deck needs a solution based on it's condition. You could use an oxalic acid-based cleaner for more heavy duty cleaning (but it can still damage plants and potentially us), or for just a good clean at a fraction of the price, white vinegar or dishwashing liquid. Scrub it in using a deck-brush, leave for a while and then rinse, rinse, rinse. Scrubbing is hard work and can take hours, so it's not a job for the light-hearted.
Should I waterblast my deck?
The short answer is, if your skilled and know what you're doing, if not, I wouldn't. Waterblasting or pressure washing at a high PSI, close to the wood can easily damage the wood (especially soft wood like pine) by opening the fibres (the wood will look furry) and exposing them more to the elements. Mould loves furry wood grains and you'll invite mould spores to do their magic, making your deck even harder to maintain. Furry wood can be rectified by sanding your deck, but this is a big job and you ideally need to know what you're doing to do it well. Waterblasting can also take a lot longer than expected if your deck hasn't been look after recently.
Should I oil or stain my deck?
If you'd like your extremely expensive deck to last and look good, yes. Because the tanalised chemicals in deck woods start to depreciate after 6 months, it's good to consider an oil or stain to protect your precious deck. But oil, or stain? Both are a good option, ir depends on what you'd like your deck to look like. Like most things, don't go cheap like Cabot's, you'll get what you pay for and find you're coating again in 6 months. For oils Intergrain UltraDeck is good and their stain range is also. CD50 is way more expensive, but does it last any longer? I'd recommend 3 coats in shaded places, 2 in sunny and to recoat annually to keep the protective layer up-to-scratch. Pre work for oiling and staining and when to coat your deck is another story all together, so to avoid bubbling.
Should I bang in deck nails?
Due to cool/warm expansion and contraction of wood in exposed conditions, galvanised nails can raise in your deck boards, or in some cases become loose in their sockets altogether. Don't just hammer in the raised nails, use a counter-sink tool to make sure you don't 'bruise' the wood and leave a big dent around it. But before you counter-sink it, check if the nail is loose or can be lifted. If it is loose, replace it with a longer stainless steel screw to hold it down as a more long-term maintenance solution, otherwise you'll be banging that nail each year, and every other one like it.