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New or Gray looking Decks/Wood
When cleaning Wood or Decks, use a cleaning product similar to Restore-A-Deck or the Defy Wood Deck Cleaner. This will open the pores and remove any graying and or dirt. This is important even for new wood. New wood has a mill glaze that should be removed prior to any stain application. For removal of old coatings see Wood and Deck Stripping.
- Wet deck down thoroughly with water. Take extra care to pre-rinse vegetation.
- Apply Deck Cleaner following manufacturer’s directions. Most cleaners can be applied with a pump-up sprayer. The cleaner should dwell on the wood for 5-15 minutes. Make sure that you mist the deck with water if it starts to dry. Use protective clothing, glasses,and gloves. We sell environmentally friendly products but they can still cause a reaction to skin and eyes.
- Pressure Wash or Hand Scrub the wood to remove dirt, graying, mold, mildew. See here for proper pressure washing instructions. If there is a previous coating and it starts to come off unevenly, then you may want to consider using a Deck Stripper. This will ensure a more even appearance when stained.
- When done washing take time to rinse all wood, home, vegetation, etc to remove the cleaner residue,grime, and wood fibers.
- Use a Wood Deck Brightener to “brighten” the wood and neutralize the cleaner back to the proper pH balance for the wood. This should dwell on the wood for 5-15 minutes. Once done make sure to rinse the wood, home, vegetation, etc.
- Wood should dry for 48 hours prior to a Deck Stain application.
*Make sure that you follow all manufacturers instructions.
Other Related Must Reads!
- 101 Wood Deck Restoration Tips
- 10 Myths for Wood and Deck Restoration
- Stain a Deck in Two Hours
- Wood and Deck Stripping Tips
- Wood and Deck Brightening Tips
- Wood and Deck Pressure Washing Tips
[quote name=”Emily Blauvelt”]After cleaning and brightening do you have to immediately stain when it’s dry or can you wait a week or so?[/quote]
Try to stain within 2 weeks of the prep.
After cleaning and brightening do you have to immediately stain when it’s dry or can you wait a week or so?
Best to test first but in most scenarios, it does not harm them.
I am ready to prep my 1yr old treated pine deck w/ anodized aluminum bronze railing balusters made by “Deckorators” and sold by Lowes. Do I need to worry about RAD prep kit chemicals damaging or discoloring these balusters?? Please advise. Thanks…
Use water with some dish soap like Dawn. You do not want to sue anything to aggressive that could harm the finish.
I stained my deck a year ago with Armstrong Sequoia stain and am impressed by how well it has held up. Not necessary to re-stain this year(hurray!). Just want to clean it to remove dirt, mold that has accumulated. What do you suggest? Many thanks for always being so helpful…especially through by deck staining process last year!
Wood filler will not work on outside decking. There is nothing you can do about the holes. I would return the Sikkens.
Had deck pressure washed. It took up all the old stain but really looks beaten up. Will use pole sander and planning on coat or two of SIKKENS stain but what do I do with the wood holes on this pressure treated wood deck? thanks for help. M
We use the Powersolve product for our deck cleaning services. It has increased our efficiency and overall results. Deck cleaning is no longer as hard as it used to be.
Any of the [b]wood cleaners we carry will work just fine. This will remove the graying and restore the wood to it’s natural color. As far as the removing stains, it has alot to do with what the stain is and how deep it is. I would also suggest you use a [b][url=http://www.opwdecks.com/exoticwoodstains.htm]hardwood stain ([url]http://www.opwdecks.com/wooddeckcleaners.htm[/url])[/b] to treat the teak after you are finished.
We have outdoor furniture which is made out of plantation teak wood. After two years the teak wood is definitely not looking as great as before and it also has some stains. Which product could we use to make the teak wood look better again and to remove the stains?