Cleaning and Restaining Deck

Does anyone have any recommendations on someone to clean/restain decks? My husband has been so busy with work and hasnt had a chance yet to do it. Or what have you used to clean/stain deck (I've heard Cabot stain is good)? Thanks!

Cleaning and Restaining Deck

We did get one estimate and it was so expensive to clean and restain it. I was just wondering if anyone had any recommendations on companies you may have used? Thanks!

Cleaning and Restaining Deck

We got a few estimates they were all very expensive. We did it ourselves and it came out great. It's a weekend of work depending on the size of your deck - ours is large.

Re: Cleaning and Restaining Deck

What sort of cleaning do you need? Are there years of mildew that needs to come off? Old paint/stain? A good powerwasher should do the trick fairly quickly. It's a good investment if you own a house, since you can clean the house siding, deck, car, sidewalks, etc. If you don't want to buy one, you can rent them from HD or a tool rental place.

How big is the deck?

Cleaning and Restaining Deck

Our deck is pretty big--about 900 square feet my husband said. I think we will wind up having to get a powerwasher, since our siding eventually needs to be cleaned too. The deck was last stained about 2 yrs ago right before we moved in. Some of the stain is now coming off, so it definitely needs redoing. This is our first home, so we are learning as we go along. Maybe a silly question, but I've been told 2 different things--when you use a powerwasher did you use a cleaner first or using the powerwasher is enough. There really is not a lot of mildew or anything, except maybe for one small area. Then I guess its just the time factor to do the stain, which I assume takes the longest. I guess we just have to make a point to take the time and do it. So many things to do with not as many hours to do it. Thanks so much!

Message edited 7/14/2013 9:15:31 PM.

Re: Cleaning and Restaining Deck

I've powerwashed several decks, and two of them were thick with mildew. So much so that you could literally slide around on the wood like an ice rink! Just plain water in the powerwasher took care of all of it. I've never used the cleaning solutions. Just more cost and chemicals. The water seems to work just fine. It also takes care of any loose paint or stain on the deck. If you're keeping the same color, or close to it, you don't need to strip the deck totally clean, just get the loose stuff up and recoat. That's what I do. It's only if you're changing colors that you need to get absolutely everything up.

Re: Cleaning and Restaining Deck

Great! I'm going to order the powerwasher today

Cleaning and Restaining Deck

Thanks so much!!

Cleaning and Restaining Deck

I did about 500 sq ft of deck - power washed it and painted myself and I was 6 months pregaant at the time

power washing in the summer is not too bad- just wear old clothes- I did not use a chemical and the deck I powerwashed had not been cleaned in probably 10 years and it got it cleaned

just be careful the tip you use powerwashing - some can eat through the wood so read the instuctions

I am not sure what stain we got from HD but it was more like a paint on stain and that was easier - I looked for one that would last a ffew years

Cleaning and Restaining Deck

Thank you! I will be going to the store to get the stain in the next few days. Someone told me Cabot was a good stain to use (at Ace hardware). Did you use one of the painting pads that is supposed to get a couple of the slats at once or just a regular paint roller? It seems like I will be doing it myself since my husband has been so busy at work lately.

Re: Cleaning and Restaining Deck

we just powerwashed it... in the process of re-painting it. We are trying out this new paint called "deck over" by behr's, supposed to last a while but we'll see... the last paint we used only lasted 2 years.