How To Repair A Open Outdoor Deck

If your shabby old deck has become a source of shame, at that place'due south ordinarily a fix short of replacing it. Assuming the structure is audio, your deck can exist restored. Depending on the desired expect, you can spruce upwardly a worn-out deck with a new stain or paint-based protective seal.

A deck rejuvenation project like this can be washed in 2 days, just for homeowners who choose to apply stain, it'due south best to spread the work over two weekends to ensure the wood is completely dry out before you apply the stain. You also demand a clear weather forecast, as a paint-based sealant coating requires 48 hours to dry before being exposed to rain or farthermost humidity.

Footstep-by-Footstep Instructions for Sprucing up a Worn Deck

By doing the work yourself, most decks tin be rejuvenated for a lot less than the toll of replacement—and certainly for less than hiring a professional. The following are some techniques you tin can utilise to give an old deck a new lease on life.

Audit and Prep the Deck

Steps:

Begin by inspecting the entire deck. Pay special attention to any function that's in directly contact with the footing, such as the posts, stair stringers, or joists that are at ground level. If you can sink the tip of a screwdriver into a mail service or joist, it means yous've got rot.
Remove any damaged deck boards and cut off the rotted portion—all the way dorsum to the centerline of the nearest joist.
Use deck screws to reattach the good end, then cutting a slice of similar decking to make full the gap, and screw it to the joists.
Check the handrails and balusters, then replace any damaged sections. Use a v-in-ane tool to remove big splinters and reset raised nailheads with the nailset and hammer.

Protect the Environs

Steps:

Tape plastic sheeting over the siding from the decking up to about waist pinnacle. Cover or remove anything below the deck as well.
The level of lawn and leaf protection depends on the type and concentration of the chemicals you cull.
For weak solutions and "constitute-friendly" cleaners, mist the plants beforehand then the chemicals won't become absorbed by the leaves after using the cleaner. Powerful corrosive agents can fire leaves on contact—in that case, you should comprehend nearby plants with plastic sheeting.

Make clean Decks that Weren't Previously Stained

For decks that are non stained, a good scrub is the next footstep. While in that location are abundant deck cleaners on the market, a DIY cleaning solution will work simply fine.

Here's a deck cleaner you can make yourself. Recommended by the U.South. Section of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory, information technology'due south good for mildew and dirt.

Ingredients:

i qt. sodium hypochlorite solution (household bleach)
⅓ cup powdered laundry detergent
3 qts. warm water

Steps:

In a five-gallon plastic saucepan, add the bleach and detergent to the water
And then, brush the cleaner onto the deck.
Rinse thoroughly, per directions beneath, and allow the deck to dry overnight before applying a finish.

Apply Stripper to Previously Stained Decks

For previously stained decks:

Fill a pump sprayer with the recommended stripper and suit up with protective gear, including goggles, rubber boots, and gloves.
Working in twenty-foursquare-foot sections, saturate the deck boards and handrails.
Let the stripper stand for 15 minutes, and then use a push broom or brush with synthetic bristles to work the stripper into the coated areas.
Watch your footing—moisture decking is glace.

Rinse the Deck

Affix a 40-caste fan tip to a pressure washer and fix it to spray between 1,500 and 2,500 psi for pressure-treated wood. For non-pressure level-treated wood like redwood, pressure washing is still recommended. If you're worried almost gouging the wood from the ability sprayer, use a scrub brush and gentle cleaning solution instead.
Wearing your protective gear, work from an inside corner outward, using long, controlled strokes to push the stripper or cleaner off the ends of the boards.
Proceed the tip about six inches from the forest's surface and repeat several times until the runoff changes from foamy to clear.

Sand Everything Smooth

Steps:

Once the wood has dried, don a dust mask and employ a sanding pole and 50-grit newspaper to roughly scuff the entire deck, including the handrail and balusters. Always sand with the grain.
Sweep or vacuum any dust.

Test the Surface on Decks that Were Previously Stained

To cheque for any residual sealant:

Cascade a capful or two of h2o on unlike surface areas—high traffic and low traffic, shady and sunny, exposed and covered, new and old.
The water should soak into the wood quickly, in less than a minute.
If it beads up, you lot'll need to strip and sand those areas again, and then redo the water exam.

For Staining

Once all of the repairs accept been fabricated and the deck is clean, it'southward time to apply a protective finish. Articulate finishes and transparent stains are fine for new woods, but for older decks, using a semi-transparent stain is commonly recommended. The grain all the same shows through, but the pigment gives the one-time wood a make clean, uniform colour and helps any new forest alloy in.

The pigment also provides actress protection from the damaging furnishings of the sun and will last longer than clear finishes. An advantage of stain, unlike paint, is that stain is captivated by the forest and does non course a film on its surface, so it will not peel or chip.

Before stain can be applied, the wood must dry out, or it won't absorb the finish. Three or 4 consecutive days without rain is enough time in well-nigh climates. (When in doubt, bank check with a moisture meter; when it reads fifteen percent or less, the forest is ready to coat.) Sweep the deck make clean before applying stain.

Stain the Railings

Using a synthetic filament brush slightly wider than the deck'south boards, apply the stain full-strength in the same order y'all scrubbed: meridian rails, balusters and posts, bottom rails, and so the decking.
Castor upward drips and runs immediately. For an even color, stir the stain frequently during application.

Tip: Stop all 4 sides of each baluster before moving on to the next one.

Stain the Deck

Brush the deck's boards one at a fourth dimension with long, even strokes, working with the grain.
Keep a moisture border to avoid lap marks, and immediately castor out whatsoever pools of stain.
For actress protection, a clear h2o repellent can be practical afterward the stain dries.
When y'all're finished, let the deck dry for at least ii days before replacing the furniture or walking on information technology.

For Applying a Paint-Based Protective Seal

In one case the wood is dry out, make full any gouges, holes, and cracks deeper or wider than ¼ inch with a paintable acrylic caulk.
Employ a putty knife to scrape off the backlog, then allow the caulk to prepare until it skins over, probably 30 minutes.

Glaze the Balusters

Steps:

Use a small roller or a castor to coat all the vertical surfaces with the solid-color sealant.
If your deck requires more than one gallon, combine equal parts from multiple cans to ensure the color is evenly mixed.
Once the seal dries, look for any missed gaps or cracks, fill up them with caulk, and reseal them when the caulk is dry out.

Cut in

Before blanket the deck, use the paintbrush to piece of work the paint into the gaps between deck boards, which will be hard to reach with the thick resurfacing pigment

Fill in the Field with Paint

Steps:

Use a corded drill/driver and a stout mixing paddle to thoroughly mix your resurfacing paint, blending batches if you have more than one.
Working from a back corner, use a heavily saturated roller and slight pressure to push a dewdrop of the paint alee of the roller into the surface cracks—in one direction just.

Note: Using a thick-napped roller will non work. Do non roll back and forth, as it will skin the blanket off.

Suspension the Movie

The coating is and so thick that it will bridge the gap between boards on well-nigh decks.

Run the 5-in-i tool along the gaps to break the film, letting the excess drip down along the edges.
Permit the first coat to dry for 4 to vi hours. When the surface is no longer tacky, start the second coat.

Cover problem areas

For cupped boards, use a small roller and go across the width of each board to apply the coating.

Apply Cease Coat and Fill up Cracks

Wait to apply cease coat until dry weather is expected for 48 hours post-awarding. Apply the stop coat in the same style as you applied the initial glaze, roofing all surfaces. Have care to fill whatsoever visible fissures and cracks in boards.

Tip: Using a four-inch roller on the second pass does a nice job of filling whatever remaining cracks because it fits perfectly between the edges of the boards.

Smooth the Finish

Optional: If you want a less textured finish on the handrails, employ the bit brush to back-brush the 2d glaze while it'southward withal wet.

Now comes the hardest part: Allow the cease coat to dry for at least 24 hours before walking on it, and four days before placing whatever furniture on it. Oh, and make certain to not let it rain for 48 hours after you finish.